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The University of Miami boasts one of the most
successful collegiate athletic programs of the past twenty years, yet
all too often coverage of the Hurricanes is pushed to the back of the
sports section and relegated to a discussion of X's and O's.
The man behind the UM mike -- Jay Rokeach
It's easy to lose track of the 'canes in South Florida
with all that's going on. There are numerous professional sports
franchises vying for the public's attention and dollar, a
proliferation of competing colleges and a tropical, cosmopolitan life
style that all too often is a distraction in itself.
Because of the number of things to do, write about and
see, the offbeat stories about the dedicated individuals that typify a
successful athletic program like the one at UM often are missed or
woefully under-reported.
And I have come to conclude that just because we don't
live in a small market like Tallahassee or Gainesville or Morgantown
doesn't mean that the UM deserves any less attention than the teams
from those smaller areas.
Some of my most poignant childhood memories are from
Hurricane sporting events. I watched breathlessly as Greg Ellena
realized every Little Leaguer's dream of going from bullpen catcher to
World Series hero. Greg Lovelady repeated that feat last year. I stood
inconsolable in the upper deck of the Orange Bowl's south side after
Doug Flutie broke my heart with his 'hail Mary' pass and I still
believe that Phelan dropped the ball. I almost jumped onto the court
when I saw little Kevin Presto try to resuscitate Hurricane basketball
single-handedly, then stared in disbelief 10 years later when James,
Jennings, Helmsley and Bland finished the job. And, I raised my arms
triumphantly as Randall Hill caught a pass on fourth down and forever
against the hated "Golden Dormers" to seal Hurricane
pre-eminence once and for all.
Over two decades as a sports fan, I've seen the
Hurricanes go from national laughingstock to national champion, seen
the doormat "Suntan-U" campus evolve into an athletic
training ground unrivaled perhaps in the history of college sports.
Yet as powerful as it was for me, Jay Rokeach has
watched the changes more intensely than anyone else, with the possible
exception of the late Sonny Hirsch. Rokeach has been the public
address announcer for Hurricane baseball for 32 years and the UM
basketball and football announcer for more than a decade.
So, it makes sense then that the first 'Canes Corner
column should hold a conversation with Rokeach, an individual who
truly knows and loves the University of Miami.
Rokeach almost passed the opportunity by to announce
games for the University of Miami, and I mean that literally.
Rokeach had decided to apply for the basketball
manager's position at UM during his freshman year at the school and
was actually on his way to the coach's office when he decided to stop
by the baseball field and ask the Coach Ron Fraser if he needed any
help.
"He said yes and right away he put me to work
cleaning uniforms," Rokeach said jokingly.
And while that might sound like an inauspicious debut,
in the context of the state of the program at the time, it's not all
that surprising.
"There wasn't any Mark Light Stadium back
then," he explained, "just a backstop and a field. I had a
record player to play 78's during the games and sometimes the wind
would just pick them up off it. Coach Fraser built the program to
where it is today."
Fraser and Rokeach solidified a friendship through the
years that continues to this day. The night I stopped by to talk with
him he was heading out to dinner with Fraser.
Not surprisingly, Rokeach's admiration for the
considerable time and effort Fraser put in to build the UM baseball
program is obvious.
"I spent my first 25 years here with Coach
Fraser," Rokeach said, "and he was so into his promotions.
It was like working with P.T. Barnum."
The first promotion that Rokeach remembers was
"Dinner on the Diamond", which became a Hurricane tradition.
But, Rokeach recalls "looking at him like he was nuts" when
Fraser first proposed the idea.
Other promotions included an oyster-eating contest, a
lobster bake when the University of Maine team came to town, a used
car giveaway, income tax night and bathing suit night, with ladies who
showed up in suits getting free admission to the game. There was even
a "Big Feet" night soon after Tad Foote was selected as the
University of Miami's new President.
Through it all, Rokeach was the constant, the emcee
who was there to make everything work smoothly, often with little
fanfare outside of the immediate circle of 'cane baseball diehards.
That's not to say he never received recognition for
his distinctive style and dedication to the program. I recall when I
was seven years old and attending my first UM baseball game, I told my
Dad that he sounded like the voice of God.
For his first 20 years with Hurricane baseball,
Rokeach received a Rolex wristwatch commemorating the Tenth Man Award
from Hurricane alumni.
Rick Remmert, UM's first marketing director, helped
engineer the whole thing, including organizing the surprise and
raising the money to pay for it.
"I asked him if the watch he was wearing was a
real Rolex," Remmert said with a laugh, "and when he said no
I went ahead and put it together."
Even other teams recognized Rokeach's special flair.
He was the Florida Marlins announcer for five years, including the
year the team won the World Series year, and he even announced part of
game at the University of Maine.
"They let me get on the mike in Maine," he
said. "They used to listen to the games from Miami on the radio
up in Orono, and when I traveled up there for a game one year they
asked me to do it for a couple of innings."
But, while the attention is certainly flattering for
Rokeach, who also handles the music and the official scoring, he's
quick to add, "I still love it after all this time."
And his emotional attachment to the team after all
these years is still unquestionable.
"Even though I don't take the losses quite as
hard as I used to, they definitely still affect me," he
concluded.
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