Isabel Hetherington & Emily Wood
Sports Editors
The start of a new year also brings a new anchor to the Rams Sport Report, junior Johnny Osterndorf. When TV Broadcasting teacher Roman Cebulski declared that a new anchor spot would open, many jumped at the chance to pursue a higher role in the weekly announcements.
Mr. Cebulski created the new spot as an opportunity to get more students in front of the camera. “We want to get as many students as involved in the broadcasts or anything TV related. So, it is something that we feel the need to do,” he said. “We want to open up more opportunities and right now we only have one sportscaster and we would like to get more people involved.”
To make the decision of who should receive the position, tryouts were held after school. “We had an open casting call, where students were given a script. Brendon gave them information as far as scores, games and things of that nature and then they were able to do a little bit of creative writing with it,” Mr. Cebulski said. “We held try out after school and then the decision was made.”
Many tried out as it offers experience for pursuing an anchor position in the future. “The Rams Sports Report is the way you work yourself up to be a main anchor,” Johnny said.
After watching auditions, the current anchors and Mr. Cebulski had the final voice in the decision. “We made our decision based on what we saw from each participant’s mock Rams Sports Report,” he said.
Senior anchor Molly Joyce attributes Johnny’s new position to his strong work ethic. “The TV Broadcasting program has always been about dedication,” she said. “Johnny is someone in the class who works very hard, and obviously when we are putting on a live broadcast every Friday, we want to have someone who will put in the time and effort throughout the week that would really show off when we are on air.”
After announcing for football games in the fall, Johnny developed a greater interest in announcing. “I am interested in sports and I think it’s more interesting to report on topics you’re interested in,” he said. “I loved announcing the football games in the fall, and once the season ended I wanted to continuebroadcasting sports, so I went out for the Sports Report.”
Johnny’s passion and experience gave him an advantage when applying for the position. “You’ve got to know sports. It was more difficult for the people who didn’t necessarily know the ins and outs of sports,” Mr. Cebulski said. “You have to be confident with your ability to vocalize what is going on. Johnny knows sports and loves sports, which helps with the writing. He knows the game, knows when to include stuff and when not to.”
To prep for his new role, Johnny looked to Brendon for guidance. “Brendon has really shown me the ropes of broadcasting and has brought me under his wing,” he said. “He’s been a huge help throughout this whole process.”
Johnny will continue to shadow Brendon for the remaining of third quarter and plans to step into the rotation soon after that. Having two sports casters, instead of just one, will be a major convenience to the Morning Announcements. “The goal is to have them rotate every other week, the same as last year with Taylor and Brendon,” Mr. Cebulski said. “It just gives us more flexibility for if someone’s sick and we need someone to fill in, it just makes a lot more sense.”
Johnny’s addition is not the only change thr class is making tox the Morning Announcements: more underclassmen will be introduced as the year progresses. “We are trying to give everyone more opportunities,” Mr. Cebulski said. “It is not like the decision is made and that’s it for the year. Once people are ready then we will work them into the cycles as well. When people are ready to go on camera, then we will put them on.”
As for Johnny, students should expect to see him cracking jokes and running the play-by-play. “I want to get better at broadcasting. I want to have the school remember my name and enjoy watching me,” Johnny said. “Since the bell usually rings during the end of the Sports Report, my goal is to get people to stick around to watch me.”
To catch up on last week’s morning announcements click here.
