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In Front Of The Camera And Behind The Mic With Greg Rakestraw

Indy Eleven’s play-by-play announcer is a fixture in the Indianapolis sports media
Jack Bell (@JackBell} | Aug 25, 2016

The North American Soccer League’s TV universe has expanded this year to include the CBS Sports Network, which joins ONE World Sports, beIN SPORTS, and ESPN3 as national broadcast partners in the United States. Each week, NASL.com will speak with one of the people whose words paint the pictures of the beautiful game.

This week, Jack Bell spoke with Greg Rakestraw, 39, the play-by-play announcer for Indy Eleven. Rakestraw is an Indiana native who calls games on WISH-TV along with analyst Brad Hauter. The twosome has worked together since the Eleven began play in the North American Soccer League in 2014.

Bell: You call Indy Eleven games, but what’s your day job?

Rakestraw: I’m the program director of two all-sports radio stations in Indianapolis: FM 93.5 ESPN /1070 AM-107.5 FM The Fan radio. On 93.5 we have the Pacers, Colts, Butler basketball, IU football and the Indy 500; 107.5 is a sports station to clear ESPN Radio. I do a one-hour dedicated soccer show every Saturday at 9 a.m. with a focus on Indy Eleven, IU Soccer, Butler men’s and women’s soccer. We also talk about England’s Premier League, since I’m a fanboy, NASL, and MLS.

Bell: What is the listener interest focused on?

Rakestraw: The Colts are No. 1. The Pacers and IU Hoops vying for second depending on the season, then it varies: Purdue, Butler.

Bell: When it comes to sports, what gets you going?

Rakestraw: I really have a passion for all things Indiana sports. If I had to do the same thing over and over I’d probably get bored. But I love the variety my job affords me. There’s really not one thing that dominates all 12 months here and it’s great that we get to have four seasons here in Indy. Even if the Colts dominate the conversation, I don’t feel we have to talk about them every day. It’s just not the way sports fans are wired here. There’s a passion for all thing Indy and all levels – we do a lot of high schools, 15-to-20 state finals are on TV every year, a variety of sports including soccer.

In addition to Indy Eleven, in October I do the state finals on TV. It’s something I love and really enjoy.

Bell: A colleague here at the NASL interned with you and has told me you are a consummate professional. What does that description mean to you?

Rakestraw: I’m not like a lot of play-by-play guys with charts. I have a photographic memory and do the prep work. It’s like I’m in a class because I will write out notes about each team. That’s my preparation. If you sit with me in the booth I’ll have the night’s lineups and rosters, season stats, and my handwritten notes are what I have in front of me. I’ve done the team for three years so I think I know the league and the other players and teams. I’ve seen them before.

I know what Edmonton and the Cosmos have done over the years. I will probably spend anywhere from two-to-four hours a week prepping for each broadcast. The fact that we have that weekly show on Saturdays keeps me engaged, I’m always thinking about the game. The other thing I don’t do that other soccer play-by-play guys do is that I don’t try to revert to radio play-by-play. The soccer/hockey TV and radio calls are similar. But my background is more in basketball and that’s how I see the play in soccer.

Another thing I do during a broadcast is that I tell my color guy, listen you jump in with something to say when the ball is around the 18 so I can describe what’s going on and what’s about to happen. I tell the color guy that once the ball is at the top of the area to be quiet. In between the 18’s we don’t have to describe every single pass. We can be conversational and let the game play out and let the viewers see what’s going on. But around the 18, that’s go time.

For me, I try to adhere to the idea that less is more. You always have to fight the tendency to over talk. I’ve trained myself to let the broadcast breath. I view play-by-play as more of a commentary track. Part of my job is to make sure the color guy can explain why things are happening. The viewer can see who has the ball at his feet. I’ll try and point out what his options are, trying to be a play ahead of the play or in attacker’s mind.

Bell: Where does Indy Eleven fit into the local sporting landscape?

Rakestraw: It’s remarkable what the club has done on the grassroots level from Day 1. What piqued my interest as a radio program director as much as the soccer fan I am is that covering the team was a good business decision for the station. I knew the people in the team’s front office, and I knew about the successful International Champions Cup match in August 2013 at Lucas Oil Stadium. When the club introduced its first player, Kristian Nicht, on Oct. 1, 2013, they asked me to do the press conference because I had soccer knowledge.

I saw the crowd they had built up and number of season tickets sold, and thought, man they’ve got something here. The team sold 7,000 tickets before a ball had even been kicked. They clearly have a foothold in the Indianapolis market, and what is most promising is that the demographic is very young and very much millennial. Indianapolis has a vibrant downtown, all kinds of new buildings, more urban space for young people. We’re not at the point where we get a lot of Indy Eleven calls to our general sports-talk shows, but there is a clear affinity among a large chunk of the populace and a knowledge of the game. Now, with the team winning the Spring Season, there is the on-field production to match the interest off the field.

Bell: You mentioned that you’re an EPL fanboy, so I guess you’re a fan of the game.

Rakestraw: My first true experience was the 1994 World Cup the summer between high school and college. My introduction: I remember watching Brazil and the U.S. on July 4. My first roommate in college was a soccer player, I was a tennis player. I started hanging out with him and his teammates and watching the sport. I did PA and communications for my college soccer team. There was a team here, the Indiana Blast and it turns out that my color commentator now was playing for the Rockford Raptors the year I did their games. Those things are what really sparked my interest.

About that time I started watching English games as it became easier to watch on TV on Fox. That better access to games coincided with my career on radio and TV. I landed a cable gig broadcasting high school soccer and the first one was the fall 2009 state championship between Zionsville and Lake Central and on the field was Dylan Mares, who now plays for Indy Eleven. That’s how I got started and it just grew from there.

Bell: So which English team do you support?

Rakestraw: My team was Wigan, love that team. Last year I got swept up in Leicester City. I’m a fan of the little guys.

Bell: With the list of TV deals the NASL now has, it gives local broadcasters like yourself wider exposure. Have you received any feedback or reaction, or anything along those lines?

Rakestraw: We did one game that was on the CBS Sports Network and I got to keep the microphone flag. That was pretty cool. I was campaigning for a blazer, but only got a polo shirt. We had Bill (NASL Commissioner Bill Peterson) on our show three or four times in April. To me, it is by a factor of 10 how much better the league’s TV deals are now. To be on beIN SPORTS, CBS [Sports Network], and ESPN3 takes the game to where soccer people live.

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