I tracked down MIX 103 for the game and got a really good signal. As we entered the building I looked over at the announcers table to see if I could spot the "caller". He had a headset on and was stationed just below the upper deck of the gym. I decided to find a seat on the opposite side of the gym where there weren't as many people.
We sat and watched the game as the Twin Falls Bruins pulled ahead to create a cushion of 10 points. As we entered half time the announcer on the radio made a comment that he was having trouble staying connected to the radio station by cell phone. He mentioned that his cell phone was running low on battery and he wasn't sure how much of the game he could call. I thought it was interesting that he was using a cell phone.
As we entered the final minutes, the announcer started to get very anxious, his cell phone was dieing and I could see from across the gym that he was frantically searching for someone that had a cell phone. The radio station then went to commercial because the connection had been lost. I thought for sure that someone else in the gym would notice that he needed help. I sat for a few seconds waiting to see what would happen. After seeing the frustration and the announcer almost giving up on calling the final minutes of the game I quickly turned to Andy to see if he had his cell phone. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and I asked, "is your phone charged?". He checked and nodded that it was. I said, "are you sure it is fully charged?" He said yes and showed me the bars on the phone. I then told him to run the phone over to the radio announcer on the other side of the gym. He looked at me like I was crazy. He shrugged his shoulders and said, "here, you take it over." So, I grabbed his phone and ran down the steps and up the other side of the gym. I reached through the fence on the upper deck and held the cell phone and asked if he needed a cell phone.
He looked up, saw the phone and grabbed it out of my hand looking for the microphone jack. He quickly found it and plugged in his headset. There was less than 3 minutes on the clock and they were completely off the air. I could tell he was in a hurry as he quickly tried to figure out how to dial the radio station number. After a couple of attempts he got connected and once again began calling the game. He gave me a big thumbs up after reconnecting with the station. Andy and I returned to our seats to enjoy the rest of the game.
The Bruins won the game by 10 points and secured their spot at a birth at the State Tournament. Andy and I returned to the announcers table after the game to pick up his phone. After they had done the interview with the coach, he was very kind to mention that we had saved the program by letting him use our cell phone.
I found out after the game that the announcer is the husband of Kate's first grade teacher. I also found out that most of the games that are called on MIX 103 are done by cell phone.
Needless to say, it was an exciting game in many different ways.
