Feb. Issue (1)

February 18, 2021
The Spectator | www.vsuspectator.com Page 11
Mike Chason still on the mic for VSU
Alora Bethay
Staff Writer
aabethay@valdosta.edu
Mike Chason, the voice of
VSU’s basketball games, a former
Blazer and former Spectator
sports editor’s career has been
nothing short of legendary.
Chason began his journey with
the Blazers in the fall of 1970
with a major in history, and a plan
to attend law school. This was
until he became interested in the
Spectator in 1972, which sparked
an entirely new career path.
“My friend Chris Coffman was
the editor of the Spectator and he
wanted me to be the sports editor
since I loved sports and athletics,”
Chason said.
Chason says his favorite experience
during his time as the sports
editor was traveling to Kansas
City with the men’s basketball
team in 1973. Here, the Blazers
won against the three-time
defending champions Kentucky
State in the first round of the
NAIA Tournament.
After graduating from VSU in
1974, Chason decided to incorporate
his love for sports with his
newfound passion for journalism
and began his career as a sportswriter
for the Valdosta Daily
Times in 1974.
Chason was quickly promoted
to sports editor for the Valdosta
Photo Courtesy of Valdosta Daily Times
Radio announcer Mike Chason gives play-by-play coverage of VSU’s first-round Gulf South Conference Tournament
game against Montevallo on March 3, 2020. Chason has been the voice of the Blazers since 1990.
Daily Times in 1976 and remained
there until 1979, continuing to
cover VSU Sports.
From there, Chason became the
Director of Public Relations for
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural
College in Tifton but continued
to have a relationship with the
coaches at VSU.
In 1990, Chason and head
coach James Dominey set out to
utilize Chason’s radio experience
and broadcast the VSU basketball
games on the radio.
“James Dominey was a good
friend of mine, and I got together
with him and neither the men’s
nor the women’s games were on
the radio,” Chason said. “And I
formed my own company called
Chason Enterprises, bought time
from a local radio station, went
out and sold the ads and then got
16 games on the air.”
The next season, Dominey and
Chason got all the men’s basketball
games on the radio and even
got some of the women’s basketball
games on the air too.
“Herb Reinhart came as athletics
director in 1992, and he hired
me to do the basketball games
on the radio and also the football
games,” Chason said. “I was also
the voice of Valdosta State football
for six years.”
Though Chason stepped away
from being the voice of VSU football
due to family commitments,
he remains the voice of both the
men’s and the women’s home
basketball games.
“I told my wife when I no
longer get excited about going to
the game and doing the game on
the air, that’s when I would quit,
but I still have that excitement,”
he said.
After 31 years, Chason has developed
his communication style
on the air, which he said came
from watching sports television
broadcasts as a child rather than
listening on the radio.
“In my first year as a broadcaster,
my radio broadcast was more
like a television broadcast,” Chason
said. “I taped every game that
I broadcasted and when I listened
to them back, I said, ‘you’ve got
to speed up because the people
listening aren’t seeing anything,
so you’ve got to describe more.’
So, I developed my own style.”
Chason says his love for basketball
was inherited from his parents
who played basketball at Pine
Grove Highschool in Georgia.
Chason is dedicating this season
to his father, Willie Berg Chason,
who passed away on Oct. 11,
2020.
“My dad loved Valdosta State
basketball and brought me to my
first Valdosta State game in the
early 60s,” Chason said.
For future journalists and communicators
Chason offers these
words of advice:
“Write as much as possible. Every
day put pen to paper and write
something. Also, take the opportunity
to communicate in different
ways. It’s not like you can just go
out there and be a good communicator,
you have to practice the art
of communication.”
Chason’s broadcast for the
men’s basketball team is on
WDDQ Talk 92.1 FM and
talk921.com and the women’s
basketball team broadcast is on
WJEM 94.3FM Fox Sports Radio
and online at foxsportsvaldosta.
com. Listen out for his signature
sign off:
“I thank God for the ability,
Aloha until next time.”
Blazers baseball sweeps Miss. College, falls to Lee
Austin Bruce
Staff Writer
abruce@valdosta.edu
After opening the season with a sweep of
Mississippi College, Blazers baseball came
up short in their first road series of the
season against Lee.
Only two of the originally scheduled
three games were played, with the third
game on Feb. 13 being cancelled due to
inclement weather.
The Blazers lost Friday’s doubleheader
against the Flames 6-4 in the first game and
10-7 in the second game. The Blazers are
now 1-9 against the Flames in their last 10
matchups.
The Blazers will be back at home on
Feb. 19 and Feb. 20 for a three-game series
against Auburn Montgomery (4-2).
In the first game, VSU held a 1-0 lead
against Lee after scoring at the top of the
third inning before Lee tied things up in the
bottom of the fifth. The Flames then scored
five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning,
which put them ahead for good.
In the second game, Lee built up a 10-3
lead heading into the eighth inning thanks
to three separate spurts of runs in the third,
sixth and seventh innings. The Blazers
scored four runs in the final two innings,
but their comeback attempt was thwarted
when David Maberry was tagged out on
third base.
Despite the losses, the team was aware of
what to expect out of Lee.
“We know that it is going to be a
monumental task to take on Lee, a team
that has really had our number as of late,”
Head Coach Greg Guilliams said on Feb.
10. “They have one of the best pitchers in
the Gulf South Conference. We know that
there are some things that simply won’t go
our way, so we have to make sure we are
prepared to tackle whatever this season
throws at us.”
As for their season-opening sweep of
Mississippi College, the bats were scorching
hot for the Blazers throughout the
series, averaging 10 runs for the entire
series and having a series batting average of
.410. The Blazers also kept the Choctaws in
check defensively during the series, giving
up just three runs.
EJ Doskow, a redshirt sophomore communications
major and third baseman,
led the team in the series with seven hits,
including one home run.
“My family was in town for the series,
so it felt like everything just fell into place
for me to have a huge impact on the series,”
Doskow said.
Photo Courtesy of VSU
Senior outfielder Chase Coker rounds first base after getting a hit vs Mississippi College at home on Feb. 8, 2021. The Blazers swept
Mississippi College, finishing the weekend 3-0 before falling to Lee in a doubleheader on Feb. 12, 2021.