Friends of the Program Podcast No. 2

This week’s Friends of the Program podcast is available for download now on the Gamecock iTunes store. Andy Demetra’s guest this week is Ken Pomeroy, author of the Pomeroy Ratings and kenpom.com, and a nationally respected statistics guru.  He tells us some of the interesting “hidden” stats in the SEC to date.

You can listen to the podcast and download it here for free using this link.

Friends of the Program Podcast No. 1

Men’s basketball play-by-play announcer Andy Demetra debuts the first edition of the Friends of the Program podcast today. Today’s featured guest is senior college basketball writer for CBSSports.com, Gary Parrish. Demetra also profiles Gamecock freshman Lakeem Jackson in Courtside Confidential. Click here to download the podcast from the Gamecock iTunes store or listen to the podcast below.

Cocks Crow: Men’s Soccer, N.C. State QB, Men’s Golf

• Solid 4-0 win last night for the men’s soccer team in an exhibition match vs. High Point.  The game was well-attended, including by yours truly.
• Profile story about a player our defense will definitely be focusing on next Thursday: N.C. State quarterback Russell Wilson.
• Three of the four Gamecock golfers competing in the 2009 U.S. Amateur Championship have advanced to the match
  play portion of the event by finishing in the top 64 of stroke play qualifying.  Sophomore Wesley Bryan, senior Patrick Rada and 2008
  graduate Mark Anderson continue play this morning.

More on Andy Demetra

Our Media Relations Director Steve Fink recently forwarded me an e-mail he received about our new radio voice for men’s basketball and baseball.   I thought it  would be good to share with our readers:

Steve, this is Rudy Martzke, the long-time USA Today TV Sports Columnist who retired four years ago.

Prior to USA Today I spent eight years in the front offices of pro basketball teams, two in the NBA and two in the NBA. The last team was the ABA Spirits of St. Louis, where I was the general manager and launched new Syracuse grad Bob Costas’ career by selecting him as our team broadcaster.

Since retiring I have gone into sports consulting. One of my clients is Career Sports and Entertainment, a sports agency in Atlanta, for whom I recommend sportscasters and advise young broadcasters how to achieve their ultimate goals.
Of my many sportscaster pupils, I consider Andy Demetra to have the most potential. Still in his 20’s, he already has a national position with ISP radio calling various sports. And I understand he has a connection to the University of South Carolina.

I believe Andy possesses all the attributes needed to succeed as the Gamecocks basketball and baseball play-by-play broadcaster as well as the football postgame host – sharp voice, knowing the nuances of the game to stay ahead of the action, superior knowledge of the players, coaches and team history, understanding when to raise and lower his voice depending on how the play unfolds and the ability to set up and bring in his analyst partner.

I hope you give Andy the utmost consideration for this important broadcast position. I am convinced he will be a great choice.

Sincerely,
Rudy Martzke
USA Today retired.

The Closer: SEC Gridiron LIVE, Demetra and N.C. State Tix

• Fox Sports South is launching a new weekly SEC football show called SEC Gridiron LIVE. The show will air on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET and will debut on September 2nd.  Since we’re fans of social media, be sure to check out their Twitter and Facebook page for the show.  The show will incorporate elements of social media into the program, including reading fans’ tweets and showing photos posted to their Facebook page.  Make sure the Gamecocks are represented well!
• Andy Demetra was named the new radio voice for men’s basketball and baseball.  Demetra was the former voice for women’s basketball at South Carolina.  He also received the 2005 and 2006 South Carolina Broadcasters Association Radio Sportscaster of the Year award.
• Received some info from the ticket office today – the N.C. State football game is completely sold out.  Our ticket office as well as the Wolfpack ticket office does not have any more tickets.  Should be a great crowd next Thursday night.