Toby Corriston | Sports Broadcaster

About 45 minutes before kickoff, my boss called and said the scheduled color commentator had gone home sick. He needed someone to fill in, and I happened to be the closest person available. So I hopped in the car and headed to the stadium.

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I've always loved football, but I've never focused on being a football color analyst. Most of my experience has been in play-by-play. I'd covered plenty of college football as a reporter, but calling a game as the color analyst was a completely different challenge.

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On the drive over, I had pronunciation guides pulled up just trying to learn the rosters. During timeouts and between quarters, I was digging through stats and notes, hoping to find anything that could add to the broadcast.

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Looking back, that's why I wanted to include this game here. It's not because everything came out perfectly. It didn't. It's because this was one of those nights that reminded me what live sports is all about. Sometimes the plan changes. Sometimes you don't have all week to prepare. You just say yes, do the work, and figure it out.

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I learned a lot that night, had a lot of fun, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.