PEORIA – Lee Hall has taken his international radio career for the past three months without ever leaving his living room.
Former sports broadcaster WEEK-TV caught a pop-up party doing a virtual, play-by-play broadcast of professional basketball leagues in Italy and Puerto Rico.
He worked in one of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A. He worked in four matches with the voice of Grises De Humacao at Puerto Rico’s top pro circuit, Baloncesto Superior Nacional – scattered in April, May and early June.
“They were virtual broadcasts, I did from my living room,” said Hall, 59. “There were previous NBA first-round picks and ex-NBA players on all Puerto Rican rosters. Lots of talent in both leagues. And a lot of fun doing that.”
Hall would fill in the place of Craig Fata, the announcer he met when Fata was the voice of Bloomington’s minor league basketball team, Central Illinois Drive (trained by A.J. Gaiton and later renamed Bloomington Flex) a decade ago.
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Fata went on to a deal with FIBA Americas, where he participated in international league matches. “I saw him playing a game in Italy, and I reached out to him on Facebook and we got in touch with him,” Hall said.
When Fata had to step away from the microphone temporarily, he arranged for Hall to fill up.
“Victor Mansor was a chromatographer,” Hall said. “He was on broadcast, default, from Miami. He played and coached in the Puerto Rican League.”
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Mansour was unable to do one of the Puerto Rican games, leaving it to Hall to find a replacement. He reached out to someone with Peoria connections and a great basketball background.
“I got Curly Boo Johnson to fill the void,” said Hall, the former Harlem Globetrotters star. “It was so much fun, I was doing a play from Peoria, and Curley doing the commentary from Arizona.
“The lights in the arena went out during the match five times. The fifth time was in overtime. They didn’t come back again.”
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“For some reason, this Grises De Humacao team wanted to broadcast a game in English,” Hall said. “I don’t know why. But I’m sure I’m glad I reached out to Craig and had the opportunity to do so.”
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Calling matches with NBA ties
The Italy game featured Matteo Spagnolo, the 19-year-old combo guard who is expected to reach 52nd place in the upcoming NBA draft.
He first appeared in the Italian system when he was only 14 years old.
Puerto Rican League teams have had a lot of players with NBA ties.
Power forward Terrence Jones (Kentucky NCAA champion in 2012) was Houston’s number one pick in 2012 and plays for Indios de Mayagüez at the Baloncesto Superior Nacional.
Earl Clark, a first-round pick for the Phoenix Suns in 2009 and playing Kobe Bryant on the Lakers, was on the PSN team.
So was Malcolm Miller, Reggie Miller’s cousin and a member of the NBA Raptors in 2019. He played for Humacao in one of the broadcast Hall games.
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“The challenge with something like a virtual broadcast with a partner is that you tend to step on each other,” Hall said. “I went out and bought a laptop and a headphone like baby clothes, and that was great. That’s all I had. The production crew was great.”
How ‘side rain’ helped him
Hall was ready. The longtime veteran broadcaster presented IHSA’s television productions for the state football and basketball finals, and called Joliet Catholic State baseball a semifinal and a final.
The 2019 IHSA soccer game has turned out to be a perfect setup for FIBA virtual work.
“It was raining so hard that it was coming sideways that day,” Hall said with a laugh. “The press box had no windows, it had garage doors. We had to close them to prevent all equipment from soaking.
“So we couldn’t see the field anymore, we just sat there watching broadcasts on TV in the enclosure, playing with toys and colour. That was before COVID, so I think we were pioneers in virtual broadcasting in afar.”
His partner that day was veteran IHSA commentator Jack McInerney.
Now Jack is an old Marine, Hall said. “I remember what he said that day.” “We fly on machines.”
“It turned out to be a training run for me.”
Dave Eminian is a sports columnist for the Journal Star, covering men’s basketball for the Bradley, Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the sports column Cleve In The Eve for pjstar.com. You can reach him at 686-3206 or [email protected] Follow him on Twitter @icetimecleve.