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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. You had the experience to get on the air and to be a part of Syracuse athletics and to do what you love to do. But you also had the sense that, "Okay, these are some of the people too, that can help me get better jobs that may be competing with me for jobs one day, that may be hiring me for jobs one day." It's also important to set up this network of Syracuse grads that you can count on and sort of bounce ideas off of.

John Boccacino: One of the best parts, and you brought up the, lack of a better word, the Newhouse Mafia, the Newhouse connections. We all look out for our own. What led to your break in sports casting and what role did Syracuse or did Newhouse kind of have in helping launch your career?

Beth Mowins: Well, interestingly enough, Bob Costaswas the voice of the Olympics back then and his good friend was a Coney Island, Dave Cohen, who used to call a lot of local sports here in Syracuse. Dave went off one winter to call the Olympics, the winter Olympics with NBC and with Bob. So that opened up the window of opportunity for a few weeks or a month or so in this winter to take over calling SU basketball games and a lot of SU women's basketball games. Beth Mowins Cuse Conversations Podcast (Completed 11/14/19) Page 3 of 7 Transcript by Rev.com This transcript was exported on Nov 15, 2019 - view latest version here.

Beth Mowins: So that really kind of got me in with the local sports scene, if you will. I started calling a lot more women's basketball games. That led to a job with the Big East Conference. They we're doing a game of the week for the very first time. That ultimately led to folks at ESPN seeing my work. At that time, there weren't really any other women that were calling play-by-play, so I was able to carve out a nice little niche for myself of calling a lot of women's sports and then having an opportunity to prove myself and then start nudging people, "Hey, how about throwing me a men's game and let me show you what I can do on those?" And so that's kind of how everything got started.

John Boccacino: It's unfair, the question I have to ask you, but you get judged differently being a female when you're calling National Football League games, and it's not fair because you know the sport inside and out, but there's people that still have that stigma. They want to hear a man call the sport. How do you fight through that and does that bother you at some point that there's that bias out there?

Beth Mowins: I can honestly say I've gotten great advice over the years and I didn't grow up in the social media era. So I know it's a lot different for women today and can be a lot tougher to avoid that kind of negativity and stay away from it. But honestly, I have been able to just set that aside. The NFL a few years ago, had a great phrase they called, "Who's in your huddle?" And that's kind of the visual I tell people. All these other voices, you know, you love to hear the cheering and sure you're going to hear some jears too, but they don't matter.

Beth Mowins: It's the people in your huddle that you have to listen to: your coworkers, your friends, and your people in the business that will tell you the truth and be honest with you and help you get better, and it's your bosses and it's the Syracuse community really, that I respect so much and that those are the people that I had listened to with the understanding that everybody has a voice, but not everybody's supposed to have a microphone. I certainly don't want to give them mine by buying into all of those opinions that quite honestly, they don't matter to me. You hear it. Sometimes it hurts, but for the most part, you can't let them determine your happiness and determine how you go about doing your job.

John Boccacino: And you've worked too damn hard to let outside people come and have any sort of influence whatsoever on where your career is headed.

Beth Mowins: Yeah, and you develop confidence over the years. It's preparation and it's repetition. And I know how I go about preparing for every game no matter what it is. In fact, I do have a lot more information than the regular Joe. So that's something that gives me a lot of confidence to go in and just rely on all the great training I've had over the years to call a good game.

John Boccacino: How would you describe your style of play-by-play? What you want to deliver to the audience?

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Beth Mowins: I want it to be as conversational as possible. I want it to feel like we could be sitting with you on your couch at home. I want it to be informative, but also entertaining, have a lot of laughs. We're all in this together and we're all having a lot of fun. I think that the best way to be able to do that is to be prepared for anything and everything so that when you arrive at the stadium or in the arena, you're making last minute preparations. But for the most part you're relaxed and you're ready to have a good time. I want people to hear that in my voice and in my call. [inaudible] I wish you were here with me.

John Boccacino: Take us back to the very first time you were thrilled, you're blessed enough to call Syracuse game after you graduated. What was the game? What was the opponent and what were your nerves like?

Beth Mowins: Gosh, I've been in this for so long, I wish I could remember. If there's one thing I could tell my younger self, it would be to keep a journal and just write down all the places you've been to and all the games you've called. I honestly can't remember the exact moment, but I do remember the emotions. It most certainly would have been a basketball game and to just be able to sit down court side and again, having grown up here. I was in the building when Pearl Washington made his half court shot. I was sitting up in the nosebleeds with my brothers when the football team upset number one Nebraska.

Beth Mowins: So all those memories of steamy September nights in the dome or those freezing cold February nights where everybody in town wanted to be there for St. John's or Georgetown or BC and to have been in those seats and then to have had an opportunity to be in the seat court side to bring that atmosphere to everybody watching at home was just, it was just a thrill of a lifetime. It really was, and it still is every time I come back. Those memories all come flooding back.

John Boccacino: What is it like? You get to come back and to be at the Glickman, we're honoring the greatest of the greatest and Sandy Montag has done a fantastic job with his company, giving so many people a start for their careers. You see so many Syracuse alums together. What emotions flood through you when you come back on campus?

Beth Mowins: You remember your younger self and how hungry you were, how hopeful you were, how you had your whole career in front of you and you weren't really sure what path it was going to take or what directions and twists and turns you were going to have to make. You just had that confidence in you that I'm going to figure out a way to do what I love to do and I'm passionate about and it won't feel like I've worked a day in my life. That's kind of the way it feels every time you come back here. You remember that kid and those dreams that you had and not really sure how you were going to get there, but for so many of us, Sandy had such a big hand in helping us do it that it's really cool to be a part of a night like this with the Glickman.

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John Boccacino: What role did Sandy have in your career? What kind of help did he happen to provide or guidance or feedback?

Beth Mowins: Well, you always knew that he was there and you always knew that he had Syracuse people's backs and that he was the smartest guy in the room. So there was always a sense that if you ever needed anything, he would be there to help. Then when I did come on as a client with Sandy, it was a big change in my career and a big change in how much I was getting paid to do my job that I love to do. So I like to say that he not only changed careers, but he's changed lives with all that he has done for the university and all of its alums.

John Boccacino: When you look back on your career so far, is there a game or a moment or a couple of moments that stand out to you as, "Boy, those are like my highlights. Those are the ones I'm going to be telling my family about for the rest of time,"?

Beth Mowins: Yeah. I think there are certainly a couple that stand out with the NFL would be, you know the NFL on CBS, which is something that I grew up watching as a kid and dreamed about being a part of and then certainly, Monday night football for a couple of years, having the opportunity to work on one of the most iconic sports programs in history of television. Those were really special moments and you knew that there was a lot of eyeballs watching you and wishing you well and hoping that you could at those moments where you want to be at your best, you can come through and be at your best. I was really proud of our whole crew for those opportunities and those moments and what we were able to do as a team. Those were really special memories.

John Boccacino: One of the best parts I love about talking to alumni is the love they have for the current students, passing on advice, helping students get to where they want to go with their careers. What advice do you give to current students especially, who want to get into sports casting, which we know is so competitive and so cut throat and there's so many people out there trying to do it. What's your words of wisdom?

Beth Mowins: I always wanted to do this and quite frankly, I didn't really have a fallback position because there will be highs and lows. There will be ups and downs and you just have to keep the faith and you have to keep working. It is a people business. I always remind people, you have to work the phones or you have to work your text messages and you have to be pushy at times to go after the things that you want to try and get and make those connections with people to help you kind of get where you want to go. I've never been hired by a stranger. It's somebody that I worked with, or somebody that I worked with put in a good word for me, or I knew a guy that knew a guy that knew the guy that was hiring. Things like that, it's all connected and it's all about the people. The best part is that we have the best people here at Syracuse. So you're already ahead in that race.

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John Boccacino: When it comes to your career moving forward, what's next for you? Are there any big ambitions you want to tackle as far as maybe a sport that you've been longing to get into or haven't had a chance for or a major event involving sports casts?

Beth Mowins: Oh gosh, there's always the Superbowl, the World Series, the NBA Finals, the Olympics. I grew up a huge Yankee fan, calling a Yankee game. I grew up a big... My dad, big Irish Catholic family. We're big Notre Dame fans of football. I haven't had a chance to call a Notre Dame game yet. So there's always things out there that, that you want to continue to strive for and work for. You hope you put yourself in a position to be available for those opportunities when they come.

John Boccacino: Well, Beth, we really appreciate you stopping by here to make some time.

Beth Mowins: Thank you.

John Boccacino: I hear we have a guy, Mike Tirico. Have you heard of him? He might call some Notre Dame games.

Beth Mowins: Rumor has it, he's in the building. Yeah, [crosstalk] Maybe I can sneak in the booth and turn his mic off and get in there.

John Boccacino: We'll get the Orange Network to look out for ourselves. Beth, thank you so much for your time.

Beth Mowins: [inaudible] Appreciate it.

John Boccacino: My pleasure. You can catch Beth Mowins on ESPN 2, Saturday afternoon and she handles the college football play-by-play duties when number 18 Memphis takes on Houston. Thanks for checking out the latest installment of the 'Cues Conversations Podcast. You can find our podcast on all of your major podcasting platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and Spotify. You can also find our podcast at alumni.SYR.edu/cuescoversations, and anchor.fm/cuesconversations. My name is John Boccacicno signing off for the QS Conversations Podcast.

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