Aug. 26, 2008
The voice of the Lobos already is on the air. Listen to KKOB-AM (770) and you can hear sound bites of Scott Galetti doing his play-by-play thing.
He sounds pretty good.
The voice of the Lobos is doing the grunt work, too. You can find him at just about every University of New Mexico football practice stalking the sidelines which translates into a broadcaster doing his homework.
The UNM practices are Galetti’s classroom. You can see his eyes whipping over the players, memorizing numbers, learning tidbits about Rocky Long football.
So, any pressure on the new guy in the KKOB booth?
He hasn’t been a full-time broadcaster in seven years. He hasn’t called a football game in two years. He replaces Mike Roberts, the voice of the Lobos for the past four decades.
“I’m a little nervous. A little excited,” said Galetti. “I’m taking over for a legend in Mike, but once I say my first word, there won’t be any time to get nervous.
“You think a little bit about being rusty, but the thing I’ve had here at UNM that I haven’t had before is the chance to be at every practice. Once you know the players, it’s just like getting back in the saddle.”
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“I’m ready. I already have my (spotting) boards done and I know just about every Lobo. I also have a good feel for what it means to be a part of the Lobo community and how important the Lobos are to them. It’s such a family atmosphere. The Lobos are like New Mexico’s pro team.” Scott Galetti |
Galetti’s background includes radio, TV, media relations and sports writing. But the man has always leaned toward the spoken word and away from the written word.
“When I was in school, I hated to read,” he said. “Oh, I would read the sports page, but I wasn’t a big reader. It turned out I needed glasses. But I vowed that I’d never be a writer.
“What’s funny is that writing taught me to prepare for games better and watch games differently. A writer doesn’t just watch the ball. A writer tries to follow everything. I picked up a lot of skills as a writer that will help me for this. But I missed broadcasting in the worse way.”
In a way, broadcasting was Galetti’s self-proclaimed destiny. About three weeks before his fourth birthday, Galetti’s father sat him in front of a reel-to-reel recorder and asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up.
“I wasn’t even four yet and I said ‘play-by-play,” he said.
So, that’s what Galetti set out to do. He grew up in the Los Angeles area and would take cassette recorders into Dodgers, Angels, Lakers and Kings games.
“I’d buy the cheapest ticket, go sit in the stands and dummy the play-by-play,” he said. “I remember one time I did it in Shea Stadium (New York Mets) and a guy threw a beer on me. Then they apologized for doing it and bought me a beer. I don’t think my play-by-play was bothering them. They were just messing around. When you are in the cheap seats in New York, you never know what’s going to happen.”
Galetti won’t have a bad seat on Aug. 30 when he describes the Lobos’ Mountain West Conference battle with TCU. He’ll be high in the pressbox alongside his color man, Josh Bazinet, a former Lobo.
“I’m ready,” said Galetti. “I already have my (spotting) boards done and I know just about every Lobo. I also have a good feel for what it means to be a part of the Lobo community and how important the Lobos are to them. It’s such a family atmosphere. The Lobos are like New Mexico’s pro team.
“This is by far the biggest job I’ve ever had in my career. There’s pressure, but all I can do is be prepared and do my best.”
Yeah, it will be a special day for Galetti. A big game. A new gig.
It also will be his 48th birthday.