About Me
I realized when I was 8 years old that covering sports -- not
playing them -- was my destiny. Making contact just once,
fouling a ball off, in an entire Little League season tipped me
off that my career on the field would never amount to much.
I'm pretty happy the way things turned out.
My career has taken me from Alaska to Italy and everywhere
in between.
I began as a teenaged weekly newspaper columnist at The
Home News Tribune (N.J.) from 2000-04, before working at
The Daily Orange student newspaper at Syracuse University
from 2004-07, including a stint as assistant sports editor.
But broadcast media has always been my true love. I spent the summer of 2005 as one
of two commentators for the Mat-Su Miners of the Alaska Baseball League. In 2006, I
interned for NBC Sports at the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. Later that year, I held all
play-by-play duties for the Orleans Cardinals of the Cape Cod Baseball League. All the
while, I worked in a number of on- and off-air capacities for student station 89.1
WJPZ-FM on the Syracuse campus during the school year.
After graduating from SU in 2007 with a degree in broadcast
journalism, I took over as Director of Broadcasting and Media
Relations for the Anderson Joes of the South Coast League.
There, I called play-by-play of all 90 Joes games for ESPN-1280,
as well as producing all written and multimedia content for the
team's Web site and acting as liaison to more than 15 media
outlets covering the Joes.
Most recently, I just completed my first season as the Director of
Broadcasting and Media Relations for the South Atlantic League's
Hickory Crawdads, Class-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, in my
first job with an affiliated minor league baseball team.
My newest venture now finds me in the role of studio host and producer for Villanova
Wildcats football with the Villanova ISP Sports Network.
I've found that broadcasters play some of the most important roles in covering sports.
We all have a kindred connection to a radio voice or TV personality from our favorite
teams as youths, helping enhance and increase the enjoyment of the game.
Having grown up in New Jersey, I was subject in the New York City market to some of
the best -- and worst -- broadcasters in the nation.
The one thing I aspire to more than anything else in my career is to be one of the good
ones, someone fans connect to and forge a special bond with themselves. If someday
some listener or viewer recalls me as part of what made them love sports just a little bit
more, I'll know I have accomplished all I ever wanted.
playing them -- was my destiny. Making contact just once,
fouling a ball off, in an entire Little League season tipped me
off that my career on the field would never amount to much.
I'm pretty happy the way things turned out.
My career has taken me from Alaska to Italy and everywhere
in between.
I began as a teenaged weekly newspaper columnist at The
Home News Tribune (N.J.) from 2000-04, before working at
The Daily Orange student newspaper at Syracuse University
from 2004-07, including a stint as assistant sports editor.
But broadcast media has always been my true love. I spent the summer of 2005 as one
of two commentators for the Mat-Su Miners of the Alaska Baseball League. In 2006, I
interned for NBC Sports at the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. Later that year, I held all
play-by-play duties for the Orleans Cardinals of the Cape Cod Baseball League. All the
while, I worked in a number of on- and off-air capacities for student station 89.1
WJPZ-FM on the Syracuse campus during the school year.
After graduating from SU in 2007 with a degree in broadcast
journalism, I took over as Director of Broadcasting and Media
Relations for the Anderson Joes of the South Coast League.
There, I called play-by-play of all 90 Joes games for ESPN-1280,
as well as producing all written and multimedia content for the
team's Web site and acting as liaison to more than 15 media
outlets covering the Joes.
Most recently, I just completed my first season as the Director of
Broadcasting and Media Relations for the South Atlantic League's
Hickory Crawdads, Class-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, in my
first job with an affiliated minor league baseball team.
My newest venture now finds me in the role of studio host and producer for Villanova
Wildcats football with the Villanova ISP Sports Network.
I've found that broadcasters play some of the most important roles in covering sports.
We all have a kindred connection to a radio voice or TV personality from our favorite
teams as youths, helping enhance and increase the enjoyment of the game.
Having grown up in New Jersey, I was subject in the New York City market to some of
the best -- and worst -- broadcasters in the nation.
The one thing I aspire to more than anything else in my career is to be one of the good
ones, someone fans connect to and forge a special bond with themselves. If someday
some listener or viewer recalls me as part of what made them love sports just a little bit
more, I'll know I have accomplished all I ever wanted.
Mike Janela
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