Phil Elson is really good at what he does. Yes, I realize that sounds like a very biased opinion, but there’s actually facts to back up my claim. Three, to be exact.
Earlier this week, Elson won Arkansas Sportscaster of the Year. It was his second in as many years and third overall, with the first coming in 2009. It takes a lot of talent and respect to even win one these awards, let alone the three he’s won in the last decade.
Life is good right now for Elson. Along with being the voice of Arkansas baseball and women’s basketball, he recently joined ESPN Arkansas in September to do a weekday afternoon show. That means his plate is normally full on a daily basis, but it also means his voice is heard all across the state of Arkansas. What’s funny, is that you can find Elson several days throughout the year in Fayetteville, the home of the Razorbacks, calling baseball and basketball. But it was in another Fayetteville where his journey began.
Originally from Pittsburgh, the long-winding road of Elson’s career began at 18 years old in 1995 as a Minor League Baseball intern for the South Atlantic League in Fayetteville, NC. From there, he would move to a new city for each of the next six years.
In 1996, Elson moved back to Pittsburgh to intern for the Pirates doing media relations. That season, he taught himself how to score a game, a critical component to anyone doing media relations at the time. As a 20-year-old in 1997 it was another new city, as Elson found himself interning for a Double A team in Akron, Ohio. But it was in 1998 where he caught his first broadcasting break. Leaving Akron the year prior for a new opportunity on the west coast in the Pioneer League, Elson was able to talk his way into being a color commentator. The team had never heard him do a game before, because, well, he’d never done one. He was being paid peanuts and doing media relations, but his first big break had come at 21 years old.
In 1999, Elson was the play-by-play voice of the Ogden Raptors. What’s strange, is the team offered him the job the year before, sight unseen. It was a break that seemed abnormal in the business, regardless, he was really starting to feel fortunate with how things were going in his career. Not only was Elson doing play-by-play for the first time in his life, he was also the lone voice on the broadcast. That experience proved to be invaluable.
The new millennium saw Elson in the California League in Stockton, doing games for the Mudville Nine. He called 140 games and was, yet again, in a new city. In 2001, Elson was hired by Arkansas Travelers of Texas League. His career had taken him from coast-to-coast and everywhere else in between.
Elson was the first person the Travelers ever sent on road games. Before, the team had only done home broadcasts. For the next 14 years, Elson was riding Texas League busses and doing everything else that goes along with Minor League Baseball, such as advertising, making the website, doing stats, writing game stories and handling official scoring.
During his long stint with the Travelers, Elson was also able to call women’s basketball for Arkansas-Little Rock. For eight years, he was combining doing two sports, along with another opportunity that came along with Henderson State in 2011 to call football games. Calling games is what Elson did. And he was really good at it.
In 2011, Elson picked up fill-in roles for Arkansas baseball games. Though it wasn’t full-time or permanent, he used the opportunity to establish relationships. That would prove to be key. In the summer of 2014, Chuck Barrett stepped down from his duties of calling Razorback baseball and soon after, Elson was named as the new-play-by-play voice.
Along with being granted the duties of Arkansas baseball, he was also named the voice of Razorbacks women’s basketball, as well. In terms of hosting a sports radio show, Elson had experience with a station outside Little Rock, producing and hosting on a limited basis, until an ownership change saw people being let go. Now, his new opportunity at ESPN Arkansas as a co-host of Halftime has seen him blossom into a successful show host.
“I was nervous about doing a show with him at first,” said co-host Tye Richardson. “I didn’t know how the chemistry would mesh. In all honesty, it’s been a blast. Phil has a great sense of humor and we play off the young millennial & middle age guy dynamic throughout the show. He can be serious and joke around on some occasions which some guys can’t do. He also adds a different element to the station concerning Arkansas baseball, which we haven’t had before. We don’t agree on everything, but we respect each other’s opinions. That’s pretty much the best thing you can ask for in a co-host.”
TM: What’s the advantage of being the voice of the baseball team and doing a local show?
PE: I think it put me in a place where I could even have a talk show. I don’t know what it’s like, yet, to do this with baseball, because I just started doing the show in September. It will be really interesting, because you’re doing two different kinds of broadcasts for a good chunk of days. Plus, we’re on a lot of stations.
The baseball team, if it’s not the largest network in college baseball, it’s one of them. That puts you in a lot of people’s ears. We haven’t seen the impact of what it’s like for our show, yet, because once baseball season starts, and people are already counting down, our show is going to be the place to be for an inside look at the program, Without doing the baseball games, I don’t think doing this show would have been a possibility.
TM: What are some of the biggest differences between calling baseball and women’s hoops?
PE: The sports are just completely different, but that’s been something I’ve been used to. I used to do minor league baseball and UALR women’s basketball at the same time.
I guess the challenge for me, is that I’ve been around baseball a lot longer, and while I know basketball, I’m just in the baseball culture a little bit more. I’ve hungout in a lot of clubhouses and a lot of dugouts during batting practice. I’ve hung around the batting cage and gotten tips from all types of people. That came from Minor League Baseball and I’ve tried to take the same approach with college baseball.
It’s kind of hard to do with basketball, because it’s a culture I’m a part of, but maybe not as in the weeds as baseball. But I really like covering women’s basketball, because it’s fun and everyone is really nice.
TM: What’s going to happen when Arkansas had a mid-week game on the road or you’re traveling on a Thursday to Baton Rouge to play LSU. How do you still fulfill your commitment to your daily show at ESPN Arkansas?
PE: There may be a couple days, here and there, where it’s an issue but our timeslot lends itself to not being a problem. Noon-2 works when your travel is after 3:00. What’s great about this show is that I’m mobile. The show is based out of Fort Smith, I’m doing it in Little Rock, where I live. But I’m also doing it from Bud Walton Arena or a hotel in Knoxville, or Mizzou Arena and Baum Stadium as well as other ballparks in the SEC.
To be able to pull that off, I don’t think that will be a problem. What that becomes, is added attraction to the show. Our first really big road series that I’m going to be able to do, is against Texas in Austin. How awesome is it going to be doing the show from Disch-Falk Field? I’ll be doing the show and leading right into the broadcast that’s on the same station. That’s awesome.
TM: How humbled are you that you’ve won your third Sportscaster of the Year award?
PE: What’s humbling, is seeing the other names of people that have won it the same number of times. They’re the greats, when it comes to sports casting history in this state. I don’t look at myself in the same way as them.
Guys like Paul Eells, Chuck Barrett, Bud Campbell, Steve Sullivan, it’s very humbling to even be considered in that group. What’s also really humbling is that the people who have a sense of what you really do, voted for me. You definitely care what your listeners think, you care what your bosses think and even I want our coaches at Arkansas to hear good things about the broadcast. But when it comes from people that actually do this, it carries a different weight.
Tyler McComas is a columnist for BSM and a sports radio talk show host in Norman, OK where he hosts afternoon drive for SportsTalk 1400. You can find him on Twitter @Tyler_McComas or you can email him at TylerMcComas08@yahoo.com.
