Each fall, thousands of fans from across Clarkston show up to watch the Wolves play’and win, more often than not’another game of football.
But staging the game involves a good deal of effort from many who, for the most part, operate behind the scenes.
Volunteers man the gates, sell tickets, prepare and sell food, then clean up and close down after long lines of hungry, chilly fans have gone home.
Band, cheer and pom members work and practice as diligently as the football players to keep the crowd entertained.
And somebody’s got to turn on the lights, keep score and stats, and let fans know what’s happening down on the field.
Up in the press box, Dale Ryan’he’s known as ‘the voice of the Wolves?’takes his announcer’s gig seriously.
But, with the finesse of someone who’s been on the job a long time, and someone who has a solid, dependable team behind him, Ryan is able to give the play-by-play like a proand still enjoy his time with the guys.
‘We have a lot of fun up there, we’re kidding around a lot,? he said, noting the atmosphere tends to get tense when the game gets tense. ‘We’re all fans and the guys like to talk and think about what’s going to happen on this next play, or if the referees make a bad call they’re up there yakking and yakking.?
It’s times like that, he said, when focus and concentration on the game becomes imperative.
‘I have to sit there and keep my composure and try to keep my thoughts straight,? he said, ‘so out don’t come out on the loudspeaker with something these guys are saying.?
The antics have, on occasion, gotten a bit too boisterous, he said, and he’s had to ask his cohorts to hold things down a bit.
But, he countered, the excitement can generate fresh material, and he’ll often find an opportunity to use that material over the air.
For example: ‘Well, folks, that was the old flea-flicker play.?
Or, he said, he’ll hear one of stat man Charly Robinson’s familiar word embellishments.
‘Trickeration,? said Ryan, is the latest expression bouncing around the press box.
More than anything, though, Ryan is up in the box every week for the community, the families and the kids.
The Clarkston Schools, he said, possess an important element that makes so many of the programs successful.
‘The coaches,? he said. ‘They care about these kids.?
As highly as Ryan regards the school, its staff and programs, the opinion seems to reflect right back at him.
‘Dale always takes a great deal of pride in what he does,? said Dan Fife, Clarkston’s athletic director. ‘He’s a great spokesman for Clarkston, and a great spokesman for Clarkston athletics.?
Fife said he likes to keep the athletic department staffed with folks who understand the importance of treating visiting players and fans with high regard.
‘I just think it’s good to be a good host all the time,? he said. ‘People who come to Clarkston feel like they’ve been treated with respect.?
And for anyone who gets behind a microphone, he said, it starts with getting saying the names properly.
‘We make sure we get the right pronunciation,? Fife said. ‘It makes those parents proud to hear their kids names over the loud speaker, and to hear the right pronunciation, not just ‘number 46.??
Ryan and Neil Granlund, who announces Wolves? soccer and hockey, epitomize the spirit of caring about what they do, as well as the people for whom they do it, Fife continued.
‘When you have somebody like that, who takes that passion into their, job it always works well,? he said. ‘So having those guys here works out well for our program. It’s hard to people with that kind of zest and zeal.?
Granlund, a retired Sashabaw Middle School teacher, echoes the others in sentiment: He does it for the kids.
‘We try to name as many athletes as we possibly can,? he said. ‘We always give credit where credit is due and try to be fair to both teams. We decided a long time ago that’s the way we wanted to be.?
As announcers of different sports in the same town, however, Ryan and Granlund have an ongoing rivalry about who rightfully owns the ‘Voice of the Wolves? title.
But it’s all in good fun.
Granlund’with a chuckle’explains how he waits for Ryan to appear, then gets behind the microphone and fires off the joke.
‘I tell everybody ‘this is the real voice of the Wolves speaking,?? Granlund said. ‘But I’ve got to see Dale in attendance before I do that.?
And it doesn’t stop there.
The guys in the press box, Granlund said, are always waiting in good-natured anticipation for Ryan to make a mistake. Then they let him have it.
‘We warn him he only gets one mistake,? said Granlund. ‘We wait for him to say anything wrong and the whole press box gets on his case.?
All jokes aside, though Granlund said the group ‘works very well together.?
Although he is the Voice of the Wolves, Ryan knows he’s not the only voice out there, and said he tries to avoid talking when cheerleaders are cheering or the band is playing.
He’s also happy to give others a shot at the airwaves.
‘At any second he’s willing to step away from the microphone and let others have at it,? said Dr. Bruce Mercado, who volunteers his Friday evenings to serve as Ryan’s home team spotter’the guy who watches the entire game through binoculars and tells Ryan which athletes were involved in which plays.
As a fellow Clarkston Optimists club member, Mercado was the high bidder for a package Ryan assembled for an Optimist auction; the winner and his family were invited to spend homecoming game that year up in the press box.
One thing led to another, said Mercado, and before long he was offered a chace to spot on an ongoing basis.
That was about 15 years ago.
Today, it’s something he looks forward to each weekend in the fall.
‘It’s my opportunity,? he said, ‘to do some male bonding.?