Beth Mowins G'90
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This transcript was exported on Nov 15, 2019 - view latest version here. John Boccacino: Hello and welcome back to the 'Cuse Conversations Podcast. We are the only podcast being produced by Syracuse University alumni for Syracuse University alumni. My name is John Boccacino and I am the Communications Specialist in the Office of Alumni Engagement here at Syracuse University. I'm also a proud 2003 graduate of the S.I. Newhouse School Of Public Communications with a Broadcast Journalism degree. On today's podcast, we catch up with trailblazing sportscaster, Beth Mowins . Mowins earned her Master's degree in Communications from Newhouse in 1990 and she also made history as the first woman to handle play-by-play duties for a Monday night football game. Mowins, a Syracuse native, has carved out an impressive sports broadcasting career, calling both men's and women's college basketball, along with college football and pro football. A member of the W.A.E.R. Hall of Fame, Mowins was in town recently for the annual Marty Glickman Award. She shares her orange success story as a pioneering and trailblazing sportscaster. John Boccacino: We're thrilled here on 'Cues Conversations to have Beth Mowins here sitting with us talking about her orange success story here at the Glickman Awards at Newhouse. Beth, it's a pleasure have you back on campus. Beth Mowins: Well, first of all, thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it. It's always great to be able to come back here and for the Glickman Award, which is the highest honor that that we can bestow and to see so many great people that come back here and are still so involved in the university, in the Newhouse and really helping today's students become so much better and so much more prepared for their journey ahead. John Boccacino: It's amazing. We all have that resource. We all have somebody who lit that fire, that spark that really got us going towards our career. Who is your biggest influence in your sports casting career? Beth Mowins: Wow. Well, I think for a lot of women that were coming of age in, in the late seventies and early eighties, Phyllis George was one of the first women that we saw on TV that was covering sports on the old NFL Today Show on CBS. So that was really the first person that sort of planted the seed that I could do this. I knew from a very young age that I wanted to be in sports casting. Then really it was just a matter of listening and watching a lot of different sports. And it was people like Marty and then Marv Albert and Bob Costas and so many of the Syracuse guys of that generation and Dick Stockton that were doing play-by- play. Beth Mowins: I was instantly drawn to the play-by-play side of things. I would watch games and realize, "Okay, well the analyst is usually a former coach or an Olympic gold medalist or a former All Star. That probably won't be me, but that other guy, I could probably do his job." So that's how I kind of got into play-by-play, and then just listening to all the greats of that era, Enberg and Summerall and Keith Jackson and all those guys. Now it's nice to see there are a few more female voices out there calling play-by-play that maybe will inspire the next generation. Beth Mowins Cuse Conversations Podcast (Completed 11/14/19) Page 1 of 7 Transcript by Rev.com This transcript was exported on Nov 15, 2019 - view latest version here. John Boccacino: It's amazing. A lot of the names that you mentioned, of course, were here in Newhouse 3, do happen to have Newhouse and Syracuse connections. How can you describe what your Syracuse Newhouse education did to prepare you for your career? Beth Mowins: Well, I was actually not really sure if I needed a master's or if I should get out there and get to work right away. So when the opportunity arose to be a part of Newhouse... I'm originally from here and I grew up knowing that this was the Mecca, this was the place to be if you wanted to be a sportscaster. So I jumped at that opportunity to be involved in the very, actually, the very first master's program that they ran here. It quickly became apparent to me just how important this alumni base is, how important the Syracuse name is. Beth Mowins: Even today when you're out on a job, people get sick of running into all the Syracuse alumni that are always on the job and we're always talking about Syracuse and talking about Faegan's and talking about Marshall Street. Everywhere you go, there are Syracuse people in front of the camera, behind the camera, in the production truck, in the studio and it really is a conversation starter everywhere you go. It's an opportunity to pick people's brains and learn about the business everywhere you go. It's just been invaluable in terms of how much it's helped my career. John Boccacino: Give us a little insight into your background. What made you want to be involved in broadcasting and sports play-by-play? Beth Mowins: Well, I am the daughter of a high school basketball coach. My dad Lenny, who is a proud Le Moyne alum and so we always go back and forth about Le Moyne and Syracuse. My mom was a huge sports fan and I grew up with three brothers and all the little kids in our neighborhood, all the boys and girls, we all played sports and all ran around all day long until the sun went down. It was second nature to me to not only be playing sports all the time, whether it was kickball or wiffle ball, to also have a running commentary while I was playing or I would play for awhile and then I'd hustle off to the side and actually start calling the game in front of all the other kids. So that's really where it got started for me just up in North Syracuse. My sports experiences as a kid were all Syracuse University. So it was a childhood growing up at the Carrier Dome and the old Manley Field House . That's really where I was first bitten by the bug and knew exactly what I wanted to do. John Boccacino: And then what was that transition to get you into Syracuse? I know a lot of people look at education and they might want to go further away from home to develop themselves, but you clearly didn't have to travel too far to get to your college. What made Syracuse University and Newhouse the perfect place for you? Beth Mowins: Well, I think it was just because you knew all of the people that had been here before from Marty Glickman and Marv Albert and Bob Costas and then Beth Mowins Cuse Conversations Podcast (Completed 11/14/19) Page 2 of 7 Transcript by Rev.com This transcript was exported on Nov 15, 2019 - view latest version here. eventually to some more of my contemporaries. When I first started out interning at the local CBS affiliate, actually while I was still in high school, Mike Terico was working there. I was around Ian Eagle . Then once I started coming here, I was around Ian Eagle who was also interning there. So you knew this was the place that you needed to be. Beth Mowins: Also I think, as an added bonus being close to home, it was really easy for me to get into the market working nights and weekends and summers because I could still stay at home over the summer and still work in the business. Back in those days, it was the old super sports. You could work on productions. While I was still in high school, call-in local high school events, and then a lot of local Syracuse games, whether it was volleyball or basketball or football or lacrosse, a wide variety of things that I was actually able to start calling at a very young age even before I got here and then was able to continue it when I was here. John Boccacino: We are very blessed here at Syracuse to have a great broadcast school, two amazing radio stations in WJPZ and WAER. I know you're a WAER Hall of Fame inductee. Congratulations on that honor. What did you learn at AER and how did that help prepare and play a role in your career development? Beth Mowins: Well, I think you know when you arrive here and you look around that there are so many talented people here and they all kind of want to do the same thing that you do. So it can be a very competitive place, but I think it's also a very positive thing because we're constantly pushing each other. You're constantly striving to get better and to sort of compare yourself to how everybody else is doing. I see the work ethic that other people are putting in. I've got to match that and I've got to try and exceed that and constantly be pushing myself to get better and better. Beth Mowins: That was one of the things I loved about AER.