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Show Marcroft calls it on the air ! ; f :- k "Howard couldn't do one game," Bill said, "so I did the play by play. A few days later I got a letter from a fan in Moab who had watched the broadcast. He said he knew who the players parents were, what their grade point was, and everying else about them. The only thing he didn't know was what down it was and how many yards there were to go." Since that time Bill has improved, however, he feels that it is still hard to keep completely objective when doing a game. "Being a University graduate," he says, "I am naturally partial to the U. Doing most games I feel that I can do a pretty good job, when I run into trouble is when we play BYU." Marcroft even does something some-thing special on BYU broadcasts. "I tell the fans at the first of the broadcast, that I will try to be objective, but being a U alum it will be hard. I ask them to understand," under-stand," says Marcroft, "if I happen hap-pen to let some of the alumni in where the sportscaster should be." As long as the voice stays on the side of the "Big Red" Utah fans will understand. ) By BRUCE WOODBURY 4 Chronicle Staff voice is familiar. Each Satur-S- T it can be heard floating over 'Iff air waves into numerous foot-:i foot-:i fans' radios describing the i! L of that particular after-i:L's after-i:L's gridiron encounter, ''.voice is there, just like clock-k clock-k every time the Utah Red-Si Red-Si W take the field to bring the jion to the fan in the comfort his own living room. (ti' , r .": Marcroft, Sports director of a; (TV is the man behind the ice 'and every week he goes iere the Utes go to bring the iy by play back to the home t cording to Marcroft, doing the jadcast of a football game is ire complicated than most Dpe realize. When the Utes are tying in Ute Stadium the broad-tt broad-tt booth is filled with so many i: Dple that it looks like an alumni '' rtyis going on. ir-: sides Marcroft and his techni-m, techni-m, there is a stat man, usually iry Barber, and two former Ute I hletes to help Bill with the I Voadcast. Arnie Ferrin, the rmer Utah All-American basket- Oidl player is familiar to most fans 1 the man who gives the various tistics over the air. Clint (i irdin, ex-Ute quarterback under .. II Meek, is the man who tells the fategy and gives the analysis of lat happened on each play. sides the above named people ere are also two spotters in the loth to aid Marcroft with his ay by play. In front of the . otters are two boards 12 inches s.j 20 inches. The offensive and i ifensive players of each team are riited on the board in different : jlors. As the plays take place the eiotters point to the board to let ! arcroft know what player made s.iegood block or the tackle. ' ill feels that the spotters are very important, "Calling the play by ';jay I have to follow the ball all ie time. The spotters help me to Ick up any of the action that ikes place on another part of the leld." 't iScause the avid fans are usually :i the home games, Marcroft trys give more background informa- during these broadcasts. On road, however, it is a different Bill Marcroft, the voice of the Utes, will give fans the play by play of the UTEP-Utah game . story. "I feel that my job is to call the plays as I see them," said Marcroft, "but I also try to paint a mental picture in the fans mind of what the action looks like on the field." He does this by giving both teams alignment on the play such as where the backs are lined up and what formation they are in. Road games also present another problem for Marcroft. "Because of limited funds we can't take the whole staff on the road so we have to make do with what we have." For instance, in the first game of the year at Oregon, Marcroft Mar-croft was using John Dixon, the executive Vice President of the University and a top notch surgeon sur-geon as his stat man." I had a hard time reading the stats in that game," says Bill, "because they were written out like a doctors prescription." Being a sportscaster was not always Marcroft's dream. When he graduated from the University in speech and theater he wanted to be an actor. However, after serving serv-ing four years in the Air Force his acting break didn't come so he became an emcee for the old Carlson Theater on a local television tele-vision station. After that T.V. became his life. He began doing sports as a color man for Bill Howard on the T.V. Prep Game of the Week. Because he was color man he knew all the facts and figures about the players. This knowledge got him into trouble the first time he did play by play. |