Athletics Director Eric Hyman on Radio Today

South Carolina Athletics Director Eric Hyman will be on the radio today at 3 p.m. You can listen live on 107.5 FM or online at 1075thegame.com.

Inside the Roost Tonight

Tune into “Inside the Roost” tonight on 107.5 FM as host Derek Scott and Athletics Director Eric Hyman discuss issues related to Gamecock Athletics from Staybridges Suites on Huger Street in Columbia. Tonight’s guests will be baseball coach Ray Tanner and former Gamecock and Heisman Trophy winner George Rogers.

If you’ve got a question you’d like to ask anyone on the show, send an e-mail to roost@ispsports.com, call locally at 404-6100 or 1-866-667-1075. You can also submit your question in the comments section of this post and we’ll get it over.

Inside the Roost Tonight

The first Inside the Roost show of the 2009-2010 year airs tonight at 7 p.m. from Staybridge Suites on Huger Street in Columbia.  Hosted by Athletics Director Eric Hyman, tonight’s guests will be Todd Ellis and Tommy Suggs of the Gamecock Radio Network football broadcast team.  You can listen live on 107.5 FM or on the Internet at 107.5’s website.

Live Sports Radio

When I travel to South Carolina road games, I need a way to listen to the Gamecock broadcast while I’m in the stadium.  Live Sports Radio is my solution – it’s a mini-radio that fits onto your ear.  It fits easily in your pocket when you’re not wearing it.  The device has five “stations” that can carry the broadcast and also has FM radio capability.

Purchase your own Live Sports Radio by clicking here.

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.

Weekend Update: Play-by-play job

Expect a big announcement concerning our new play-by-play announcer for men’s basketball and baseball in the next few days.  I’m sure many of you are wondering what the process was for selecting the new announcer.

For starters, ISP, the entity that serves as the athletics department’s media rights holder and employs the broadcasters for all South Carolina athletics television and radio broadcasts, received 250 applications.  This reflects well on our program as it shows that this is a position that a lot of people in the industry are interested in.

But how do you pare down a list of 250 people to just one?  ISP, a company which has a long history of expertise in the radio business, trimmed the list to twelve of the strongest candidates.  At that point, ISP and the athletics department formed a focus group comprised of students at the university, Gamecock Club members, athletic department staff and ISP staff.  This group listened to recordings of each candidate calling a basketball and a baseball game.  From that, they selected what they believed to be the three strongest individuals and brought them in to meet with other athletic department staff as well as Coach Darrin Horn and Coach Ray Tanner.  Based on those discussions and in-person interviews, the focus group provided ISP with a recommendation for them to make their hire.  Stay tuned to GamecocksOnline.com to see who you will be hearing this season on the Gamecock Radio Network.

Cocks Crow: Terry Cousin, Football Tee

• Expect to hear the voice of another former Gamecock this fall when listening to the Gamecock Radio Network during football games.  Duce Staley, the network’s sideline reporter for the last two season, could not commit to the full season this year due to various time conflicts in his schedule.  Stepping in will be Terry Cousin, a four-year letterman for the Gamecocks from 1993 to 1996 and a 12-year NFL veteran.  While Duce won’t be patrolling the sidelines every weekend, you still may hear from him time to time on the network.  I’m looking forward to hearing Terry on the Gamecock Radio Network.
• Check out the new 2009 Football t-shirt – what do you think of the design?
• Big day on tap for the blog – we’re continuing with No. 5 and 6 of the Flashback countdown, run another “Know a Gamecock” feature as well as unveil the blog’s new name.