The voice of Elon ... Phoenix
Tucker's unique style brings life
to home football games
Brian Paglia / Reporter
Two things have remained constant in the past seven years of
Elon football: wins have been few, and first downs have
become a show in itself for Elon fans.
When the refs walk the 10 yards down the sideline to set up
for the next set of downs, fans now wait for it, anticipating
it with their hands in the air until the voice of public
announcer Byron Tucker declares over the speakers:
"That's an Elon first down!" Hands all over the
bleachers drop at the sound, mimicking the referees; and then
there is reassurance after a second for pause as the crowd
roars along with Tucker, "PHOENIX!"
It has been seven years since Tucker first coined his
personal patronage for Elon football. He can recall the game
when he first said the line.
"It was basically an accident," Tucker admits.
The game was hardly exciting for the students and locals in
attendance, as Elon was getting a thorough pounding from some
Southern Conference opponent, which one Tucker can't
quite remember. But he does know it was such a bad showing
that when Elon finally got a first-down sometime in the
second half, Tucker said the magic six words. Understandably,
there was an extra bit of excitement in his voice as he
praised the Elon team from his box, and the Elon faithful
went crazy.
"I saw and heard the reaction from the crowd and it
just kinda stuck," Tucker said about the first time he
used the phrase.
This will be Tucker's seventh year as the public
announcer for Elon home football games, but he first came to
the trade as a sophomore at Williams High School in
Burlington years ago. A young kid with an interest in radio,
Tucker took a part-time job at the local WBAG
Burlington-Graham station as a disc jockey playing top 40
hits. The program director, Bill Diffy, and veteran DJs Bob
Fondrich and Jim Conklin helped tutor the young Tucker in his
early days. When he graduated from Williams with two years of
on-the-air experience under his built, Tucker took a
full-time job at a brand new station that was just getting
started in Graham: WSML 1200 AM.
"It was a big deal for me," Tucker said. "The
station was new, all the equipment was brand new, and I was
really enjoying myself."
Three years later, though, Tucker moved on from full-time
radio to work as a UPS manager. It was a good job that was
willing to pay him through college. So he attended UNC-G,
never graduating, but polishing his craft by taking
broadcasting classes as he kept up with his hobby in radio on
the side.
Burlington has a funny way of bringing the pure-breeds
together, the people who have had no other place to call
home. It was just a simple meeting one day at a Burlington
Indians game, the Cleveland Indians' Rookie League team,
which brought together Tucker and then public announcer for
the Indians, Trip Durham, who is now associate athletics
director for Marketing, Promotions and Home Game Management
at Elon. The two developed a friendship, and as Durham became
overwhelmed by his numerous responsibilities, he began to
train Tucker to public address announcer. Byron was eased in
to doing more and more games for the Indians, as Durham was
hired by Elon. When Elon's public announcer resigned, it
was Tucker whom Durham called about the opening. And the rest
is history.
For seven years now, the passion behind the calm voice at
Elon home football games has been consistently fueled by the
same things that made broadcasting meaningful for Byron
Tucker as a sophomore at Williams. His life-long passion for
sports has sustained his mission for injecting passion into
the crowds at whatever game he is announcing, whether it be
football, basketball, or soccer.
"I want to get the crowd into the ballgame, especially
when things aren't going well," Tucker said.
"It's crowd response and that's what it's
all about."
There is also an element of loyalty for Tucker in this
endeavor. Besides being a native Burlington resident, his
daughter graduated from Elon in 1999 with a degree in
corporate communications and his son is a paid fireman at the
Elon Fire Department.
"I've always been a part of this community."
Tucker wishes he could do more for the players who never get
their name called over the big speakers.
"Sometimes I feel bad because I can't give
recognition to every single player involved," Tucker
said. "Most of the time it's just 'Mayer with
the catch,' or 'Hall with the run.' But there are
so many other players who make a single play possible."
Yet at the end of the day, Tucker just wants to leave his
mark on the crowd, and create a fervently unified
relationship between the players and fans felt throughout the
stadium.
"I just think it's everybody's responsibility
to be motivated," Tucker said. "It's not just
my job."
Contact Brian Paglia at pendulum@elon.edu or
278-7247.
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Brian Paglia / Photographer