THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 28, 1994 TAG: 9408250202
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 58 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JEFF ZEIGLER, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
WGAI is your everyday, average AM radio station. There is nothing unusual or different about it. By day, local, folksy talk shows and syrupy, adult contemporary tunes drip from the airwaves at 560 on the dial. But come Friday nights in the fall, the airwaves come alive with the sound of football. Local football.
Bob DeBlois and Jimmy Jones have been the local football broadcasting team at WGAI for the past five years. DeBlois is the usually straight play-by-play man. Jones is the often bombastic, sometimes smug, color man. Love them or hate them, the crew has picked up quite a following in the Albemarle area.
``It's just a lot of fun and we have a good time at it,'' said DeBlois, the sports director. ``People really get into local football. Even non-sports fans are avid listeners. They tune in to find out what we're going to say.''
What they say is what has earned them the reputation of ``telling it like it is.''
``We try to do a professional broadcast,'' DeBlois said. ``Some people care more about their image and are not concerned so much about doing a good broadcast.''
``I don't cover anything up,'' Jones said. ``If that's the way it is, that's the way it is.''
Jones is a story in himself. He graduated from the Currituck County schools without stepping on a varsity playing field. He has worked for 30 years as a salesman and has not received a dime for his announcing. Jones, who has been accused of sounding like Dick Vitale, is also running for the Currituck County School Board in his spare time.
``I do it for the enjoyment and my love of sports,'' Jones said. ``I haven't copied anybody's style. Everybody accuses me of following Vitale, but it's not true. The more comfortable I get, the more I'm myself.''
DeBlois, who studied broadcast journalism at the University of Tennessee and Virginia Commonwealth University, said he can tell people are tuned in to WGAI on Friday nights.
``We see a lot of people with headsets on at the games we're at,'' DeBlois said. ``Also, on Mondays we'll get a lot of messages at the studio, both good and bad. They were more negative at the beginning, but now they are used to how our style is. They're going to hear the good plays and the bad plays. I think they appreciate the honesty.''
Another unique aspect of WGAI's football coverage is its depth. DeBlois does a coaches show a half-hour before the featured game of the week in which he talks to all of the area coaches about the night's competition. DeBlois and Jones also conduct pre-game, halftime and post-game interviews with coaches during their game of the week. And, unlike most other local stations, WGAI covers a broad range of teams.
``Bob likes to go to different places every week,'' Jones said. ``I like the idea of moving around. Some of these places are too small to have their own station. But they need their notoriety.'' MEMO: GAMES ON WGAI
Sept. 2 - Hertford County at Currituck
Sept. 9 - Currituck at Camden
Sept. 16 - Edenton-Holmes at Northeastern
Sept. 23 - Currituck at Northeastern
Sept. 30 - Gates at Camden
Oct. 7 - Gates at Perquimans
Oct. 14 - Manteo at Currituck
Oct. 21 - Northern Nash at Northeastern
Oct. 28 - Roanoke Rapids at Currituck
Nov. 4 - Currituck at Edenton-Holmes or Camden at Perquimans by CNB