Play by play with John Emmett

RICHMOND, Va. — Through modern technology, sports broadcasting has evolved into a world of ever-present video coverage. That transition has passively ushered us away from the dwindling number of game callers who can paint the whole picture with their words. The Richmond Coliseum remains the lone SPHL venue from which no video broadcast exists. Through that perceived shortcoming, those unable to attend the games have come to depend on Renegades’ play-by-play man John Emmett. As a student and avid follower of some of sports finest announcers, Emmett has developed into one of the finest in the business. His ability to illustrate the action with unbiased emotion, humor and wit has earned him the respect of Renegade foes as well as their fans. One needs only an internet connection and a comfortable chair to enjoy hockey in much the same way as past generations did. “John Emmett is probably the best hockey announcer we’ve ever had in Richmond, and we’re thrilled to have him back this coming season,” Renegades owner/general manager Allan B. Harvie, Jr. said. “He has a way of explaining things so well, yet he keeps it simple. Whether you are new to hockey or a seasoned veteran, you feel like you’re sitting beside him watching the game in person.” From the early days of his youth in San Francisco, Emmett felt the allure of the business. “Allegedly I marched into a family meeting when I was three years old and blurted out that I was going to be a sportscaster,” Emmett said. “But what really got me going was my seventh birthday present – a Panasonic AM transistor radio. The first thing I found when I turned it on was a San Francisco Giants game with Lon Simmons and Russ Hodges. Then I went up the dial a little bit and heard Harry Caray. Up the dial a little further was Vin Scully covering the Dodgers on KFI… I was just enthralled by it. That was pretty much the moment I decided what I wanted to do.” His fascination with hockey began with following the Bay Area’s California Seals. “We started going to Seal games when I was eight or nine, but by that time I was already hooked. I had listened to them on the radio every night,” Emmett said. His participation in high school baseball, college football and rec-league hockey gave him first-hand knowledge on several different sports. Time spent wearing the stripes as a USA Hockey official lent itself to a better understanding of life on both sides of the whistle. A degree in Radio/TV from San Francisco State University laid the foundation for his career, which began in 1985 as Sports Director for KTOB radio in Petaluma, Ca. His broadcasting jobs have included baseball, football, basketball, soccer and junior hockey. “I wouldn’t trade my time working Major Juniors in the Western League for anything. For anybody who wants to experience the hockey culture,

there’s nothing like Saturday night in Swift Current or Kamloops or Moose Jaw,” Emmett said. “Very few American broadcasters get a chance to work in juniors, and they miss out on the soul of the game. It was an amazing experience.” That experience had to come to an end. Knowing that his wife-to-be Lori had grown tired of Kennewick, WA. where he worked for the WHL Tri-City Americans, Emmett had his eyes on the road. Opportunity arose in early 1998 while he covered the Memorial Cup Tournament in Spokane. After being introduced to ECHL South Carolina coach Rick Vaive by a mutual friend, Emmett learned that the Stingrays broadcaster had moved on to the AHL. He contacted the team’s general manager, but the job had already been offered to another broadcaster; Andy Davis of the Richmond Renegades. “I thought about it and called (ECHL Renegades owner) Harry Feuerstein. One thing led to another, and that was how I came to Richmond,” Emmett said. He and Lori have been in the area ever since, and live in nearby Mechanicsville with three-year-old twin sons Nolan and Sean. Richmond has benefited from his work with various pro teams that have come and gone — among them arena football’s Richmond Speed, the ECHL Renegades and the UHL Riverdogs. Emmett’s voice has been a constant for hockey fans over the past decade, and they’ve ridden the highs and lows along with him. Richmond’s double-overtime loss in Game 7 of the ’99 Kelly Cup finals ranks among his most exciting games ever called. Other favorite ECHL memories include players such as Ryan Kraft, Maxime Gingras and Darren Wetherill. Not surprisingly, Emmett is a big fan of the Vandermeers as well. “I’ve enjoyed them so much as people and as players. Pete’s a great story, still plugging at it the old-fashioned way and finally getting up to the NHL last year,” Emmett said. As Emmett considers speed his favorite attribute in a hockey player, he found the ECHL product almost unwatchable in Richmond’s last years in the league. “Trenton started it with that trapping style… you’d see guys who could barely skate get signed just to stand in the neutral zone and hold up the play,” he said. “But that style was getting coaches NHL jobs back then, and Trenton had a couple of coaches move up pretty quickly. Others with similar ambition started coaching the same style, just getting big guys to hook, hold and just hang on all over the ice.” The Renegades’ ECHL days ended following the 2002-03 season. New owners ushered in the Riverdogs in 2004, along with a new league (UHL) and a supposed new beginning. Mercifully, their vision lasted just two seasons, the second one without Emmett behind the mic. “The Riverdogs final season was an embarrassing disaster… I didn’t even go to a game,” Emmett lamented. His hockey-announcing career had hit low tide about that same time for other reasons as well. “I got really discouraged a couple of years ago,” Emmett said . “Some bad things happened to some good people in the NHL. Pat Foley got fired by the Blackhawks. Curt Keilback, who had done the Phoenix Coyotes all the way back to the Winnipeg Jet days, was let go by some suit down there for vague reasons. It really soured me on the business for a while.” The 2006 birth of the SPHL Renegades rekindled interest in local hockey, and Harvie asked Emmett to come back and do the team’s home games. He accepted, and now looks forward to his tenth season as Richmond hockey’s play-by-play man. It seems to fit in well with the day job he has held since 2004; public relations manager for AAA baseball’s Richmond Braves. “It’s perfect – I do enough that I’m still a part of it, but I’m not in the office or on the buses – it’s a lot of fun,” Emmett said. The simultaneous arrival of USA Hockey’s new standard of play also pleased him. “It got rid of the slugs and made guys play,” Emmett said. “I wasn’t too sure about the whole two-line pass thing from a tradition standpoint, but I can see that it’s opened the game up. It’s definitely helped.” He enjoys the excitement and energy of the SPHL product, where a lot of overlooked but talented guys get a chance to prove their worth. “This is a league where guys who did well in Division III or Junior-A tend to wind up, and you’ve got to be a damn good hockey player to excel there. There’s definitely a place for this level of hockey, and it’s very entertaining because it’s unpredictable,” Emmett said. Quite a few SPHL Renegades have caught his eye. “I thought Danny White and Phil Youngclaus were good enough to play up a league or two. You can’t help but notice the energy of guys like Justin Joy and Denny Sicard. I loved Denny — that guy got everything out of himself he possibly could have, and he elevated his game in the playoffs. He kind of reminded me of Trevor Senn — he could really scoot, tried to hit everything he could, wouldn’t back down from anybody. He was awesome.” Emmett finds the SPHL to be a good fit for the ever-changing Richmond market. Change looms on the horizon for him as well. He will apparently relinquish his position with the Braves when the team leaves town in 2009. Time will tell how seriously that development tests his roots here. “I’d love to work at the highest level,” Emmett said. “I’ve tried really hard for a long time, but for whatever reason never got that bounce. Now my focus is a little different, and with this (Braves) closing down, I’ve got to reassess things a little bit. I have no idea what’s next at all.” Here’s hoping that his plans include the Richmond Renegades. Photo courtesy of Pattie Anderson and Richmond Renegades Contact the author at  tom.brandt@prockeynews.com