TRAil of A TERRoRisT - Point Park University

Cavaliers’ Announcer Launched Career from Point ParkFred McLeodby Colleen C. DerdaFred McLeod (COM 1974)credits a senior-year internship and along-shot contact made during a baseballchampionship trip with helping tolaunch his television broadcasting career.The Cleveland Cavaliers’ play-by-playannouncer was a broadcast journalism/mass communication major and a pitcherat Point Park College in 1974 whenthe baseball team traveled to St. Joseph,Mo. for the National Association ofIntercollegiate Athletics College WorldSeries. Realizing that he would needto start in a small market, McLeod36 www.pointpark.educontacted the local television station andasked if he could send an audition tapeafter returning to Pittsburgh.“The station manager said he had ajob open in sports, and I should comecut a tape,” said McLeod. “I wentin and banged out a script and dida mock broadcast. I was completelynervous, but I had learned enough andwatched Sam Nover (the WPXI-TVveteran sportscaster) enough during myinternship that I was able to do it.”McLeod got the job and returned twoweeks after graduating.“It was baptism by fire,” says McLeod,noting that he made rookie mistakeswhile covering studio wrestling and othersports. “But that’s how you learn.”McLeod eventually moved to positionswith television stations in Steubenville,Ohio and San Francisco, Calif. By age24, he was working in Cleveland, Ohioas one of the youngest broadcasters in atop-10 market. The National Academyof Arts and Sciences recognized McLeodfor achievement in television during hisdistinguished career.Fred McLeod made his mark in Detroit,Mich. where he hosted a half-hour weeklysports show and served for 22 seasonsas the voice of the National BasketballAssociation’s (NBA) Detroit Pistons.Along the way he was the voice of theMajor League Baseball’s (MLB) DetroitTigers and National Football League’sDetroit Lions. He also took on playby-playduties for the MLB’s ClevelandIndians during an earlier Cleveland stint.He is back in his hometown, now in hisfourth season with the NBA’s Cavs.He feels well suited to the Cavaliers andbasketball in general. “I love the energyand the speed of the game,” he says.Plus, Cavaliers’ star LeBron James “is anannouncer’s dream.”The challenge announcing every game,McLeod says, is to enhance the play onthe court but not overshadow it.“A good play-by-play announcer describesthe excitement but doesn’t go over the top.”Fred McLeod writes about play-by-playannouncing for the Cavaliers in a blog,www.cavfanatic.com/fredmcleod/blog.