Eight national titles – all called on the radio. He’s also done local Radio. National radio. Television. Sports. News. Music.
But sports made him as close to a one-name icon as the state of Connecticut may have. Let’s face it. Connecticut is a small state, and in its sporting universe, there is no major pro sports team.
There is only UConn.
And after Jim Calhoun, Geno Auriemma, Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Ray Allen … the next most-known name for many: Joe D.
Joe D? Joe D!
Joe D’Ambrosio is his full name, and he called four national championships for the UConn Men’s basketball team and four for the women.
“I’m 8-0,” he acknowledged.
“I have to admit, I did make sure to enjoy the moment during the great days with UConn,” said Joe D, pointing to the late 90s and early 2000s as the heyday for radio in the state.
“I never took broadcasting those games for granted, and years later, people see me and still talk about the ’99 National Championship game, or the Kemba (Walker) shot against Pitt in the Big East tournament, or the football win in ’09 at Notre Dame.”
Unfortunately, his station lost broadcast rights a few years back, and he no longer had the marquee teams and the national rankings to talk about. In his late 60’s, Joe D had to call an audible if you will.
First, he did sports and news for the flagship morning show on Connecticut local juggernaut WTIC 1080 (of course, my station). When he became a free agent, he did some international travel and then came back ready to reinvent himself.
And that he did.
Now 70, it’s especially impressive not only because of his age (not sure I could do it at 52!) but also because of this insanely fragmented media world in which we live.
He DJs for a music radio station, WJMJ, works endlessly for the UConn athletics streaming service, and even does play-by-play for the local professional soccer team and a few high school games here and there, too.
“I love what I’m doing now,” said Joe D. “Playing music at WJMJ takes me back to how I started my career, and I still love being a part of the UConn scene.”
For UConn, he’s doing everything but basketball and football. Soccer. Hockey. Baseball. Lacrosse, both men’s and women’s. Recently, in a two-day span, he went from college soccer to volleyball, seamlessly. That means learning rosters from scratch and even doing a sport (volleyball) he had no previous experience announcing.
“That was an interesting two days,” he admitted. “I had never done volleyball before, and I really enjoyed it. It was like anything else, do as much preparation as possible, try and learn the rule book (or at least the important rules), and then go with the game flow.
“The interesting thing was doing both games by myself. It meant trying to balance talking too much but making sure I still slid in some analysis, especially with soccer.”
Streaming also presents a different approach. It’s radio and TV, as some people listen in the car but many watch on phones and computers. That definitely necessitated a slight shift in style. Sure, he allows some of the images to speak for themselves, but if you listen, the energy still feels like Joe D on the radio.
“Play-by-play has always been what I’ve enjoyed the most. Being able to paint the word picture for viewers or listeners is still enjoyable,” D’Ambrosio said.
Streaming or no streaming, in the end, he’s still a radio guy through and through.
“There will always be a place for radio,” he said. ”The immediacy that radio has — especially when it comes to being able to parse out information immediately — will never end. “I still love the ability to communicate with the unknown listener on the other side of the dial. The fact that I can entertain the listeners is still the best part of the job.”
If he had to pivot again, Joe D knows he could – because he’s a sports guy.
“I always think sports people are the most versatile broadcasters,” said D’Ambrosio, something many in the industry think as well (ahem, me!). “A sportscaster can do just about anything with time to prep.”
As for how much longer he wants to be on the air, it sounds like it’ll be a while.
“I don’t think I will be like John Sterling (Yankees radio announcer) and be 85, but as long as I’m sharp, I love it.”
Brian Shactman is a weekly columnist for Barrett News Radio. In addition to writing for BNM, Brian can be heard weekday mornings in Hartford, CT on 1080 WTIC hosting the popular morning program ‘Brian & Company’. During his career, Brian has worked for ESPN, CNBC, MSNBC, and local TV channels in Connecticut and Massachusetts. You can find him on Twitter @bshactman.
