This September, WEIS Radio will be celebrating its 60th year of broadcasting. It will also be the station’s 38th year of broadcasting football games.
As part of the station’s diamond anniversary celebration, Sports Director Shannon Fagan will have a series of Q&A features on some of the personalities who have called or been behind the scenes of sporting events around the station’s coverage area in years past.
This week’s installment of “Behind the Mic” is Ty Storey.
Q: How special is it for you to have been a part of WEIS’s 60-year broadcast history?
A: “It’s beyond special. For me, growing up in this community my entire life, WEIS is just the name you always knew, whether it was tuning in on Sundays for the Gospel Jubilee or seeing them at any of the big events in the local area, and of course listening in throughout the day. The special part about it to me is how connected we all are to this local area, and I know for me I’ve always prided myself on being someone from Cherokee County, Alabama. It’s always been bigger picture for me, so being able to be a part of such an important part of our local community knowing the love and respect WEIS gets, it means the world to me.”
Q: What piqued your interest in sports broadcasting? Any influences?
A: “Very different ones here and there. Obviously, growing up an Alabama fan from the moment my Mamaw and Papaw stole me one day from my Auburn parents to get professional pictures in a full Bama getup, the great broadcasters for the Crimson Tide have always been big influences. Eli Gold, Chris Stewart, and all the other great folks that make up the staff over there with the Crimson Tide Sports Network, for me I was always so drawn in by their way of presenting things. And there are so many different TV broadcasting icons in sports that brought me up as well, like watching old SportsCenters and getting to see guys like Scott Van Pelt and the late-great Stuart Scott, and they had and still have so much fun with it.
“Another big influence, because I’d not be genuine to myself if I didn’t mention these names, is wrestling commentators. I am an unashamed pro wrestling fan and I still to this day get inspiration and influence in the way I push my voice and enunciate from those voices. Jim Ross, Michael Cole, Tony Schiavone, all the great color commentators like Jerry Lawler and Corey Graves, and recently Pat McAfee, who is also just a guy who has so much fun with this … inspirations, influences, they meet every criteria and just hooked me to want to come into this and stay in this.
“As another note though, the fact I am in broadcasting at all is beyond crazy, especially if you ask literally anyone who knew me growing up. I was horrifically introverted, I chose silence so much more than actually sharing my voice. I’m not sure what switch fully clicked in me around the end of my junior year of high school or start of my senior year, but whatever switch it was I found my voice personally a lot more, I felt more okay putting myself out there, I was less scared. I’m still anxious on a daily basis. I’m still an introvert that would usually end up going to a corner and not saying anything, but I’m more confident in the person I’ve become to find a way to pursue what I love. It’s what managed me to go be part of the student radio at the University of Alabama. It’s what had me leap at the chance to work in Scottsboro for K98, and it’s what led me here.”
Q: How was it that you came to WEIS? How many years have you worked here?
A: “So once November comes around, I’ll have officially been with WEIS for five years. Remembering every little detail is hard, but I know I was working over in Scottsboro with the radio there. Unfortunately I was considering stepping away from radio because making that long drive at the time was becoming a lot harder and I felt like something was missing. I took a job at a call center in Rome, which also didn’t end fantastically, but those are the breaks.
“I remember I had gotten a message of from Joey Weaver. We had known each other for a while because of going to the same church and what not. He knew I was doing my own radio stuff, so he actually came to me because going into that 2016-17 season. Shane McElwee was doing basketball with the station, and I think he ended up having some big outside work commitments come up where he wasn’t going to be able work the season. Joey remembered that I was getting my foot into the door, and he asked if I would be interested, which I said yes immediately to because at that time, I’d been waiting for an opportunity to be able to do my own sports broadcast. I had the chance to do like one or two basketball games for the student radio at Bama, but in Scottsboro, I was only a producer and occasionally my voice slipped onto their scoreboard show. So for me, hearing that I could be closer to home, have my dream opportunity, and work with the teams and schools and people I know and love, I was interested immediately.
“From there, Joey got my name over to (WEIS station manager) Jerry (Baker). I had the opportunity to speak with the boss man, and on November 22, 2016, I got to take over right at the start of the season and ride the wave all the way until the end. Somehow I’m still here, so I guess I’m doing something right.”
Q: What’s it been like for you to work with someone as innovative as Jerry Baker?
A: “Jerry Baker is without a doubt one of my favorite people to get a full picture about. I’ve seen how late and how hard he works to make sure the engine that is WEIS works as smoothly as possible. You can’t help but have an infinite amount of respect for someone like that. He’s the guy that will let you know every different way he has gone about doing things since he got his start in this business, all the ways he had to adapt, every up and down, and he will do it with a smile on his face.
“Genuinely, I’ve had many days coming in where I’ve just sat in his office needing to talk about something and I end up just listening to every story or word of advice and just soaking in how this guy has done this for so long, and he still finds the ability to do it as well if not better than he did back years ago now. There isn’t a person I’ve met yet like Jerry, and that’s because you can’t replicate that kind of business mind, or that kind of dedication to your craft to the point where everyone knows your name and knows you put your best foot forward as much as possible. Now do Jerry and I butt heads from time to time, the veteran of all this versus the young gun? Absolutely, and I admit that because at the end of the day, we both have learned to listen and learn off of each other from those different perspectives. I know it’s made me better in radio and for that, and I’m just forever grateful.”
Q: Do you have any memorable broadcasts you’d like to share?
A: “I’ve got a good few. You always remember your first, Sand Rock versus Glencoe, on November 22, 2016. It was a lot of fun getting to see Wildcat teams get wins that night and for that to be where I made all my first stumbles into hopefully becoming a little better at doing all of this.
“Speaking of Sand Rock, anything from their 2017-18 girls seasons would make it because being a part of that journey with them getting all the way to the state championship game. Kirby DeBoard, Savannah Blackwell and all of the girls on that team were just an incredible squad to watch play.
“I’ve also had the honor to see a couple of state championship runs for Spring Garden, so that’s also up there. It’s so hard to replicate the stuff that Ricky Austin does with those girls. Of course any Cedar Bluff games as well, because that’s my school. I played on that boys team in 2012-13 when they were state runner-up in 1A. I’m a Tiger for life. It was definitely an honor to get to call the end of Joe Carpenter’s career at Cedar Bluff, because that man taught me so many great life lessons that really shaped my maturity and overall confidence in myself, plus he’s been one of my biggest fans with my radio stuff.
“There was also an area tournament game, I struggle to remember which season, but it was a girls game I believe between Asbury and Collinsville. Asbury had this late run in the game and managed to upset Collinsville on their home floor. I still replay a lot of the emotion of that game in my head. And there are also a lot of games over the past couple of seasons I could throw out there, where I’ve had the chance to call games with Logan Maddox as my partner. I’ve had so many fun ones.
“One more very important one, but not so much memorable in the sense of the game but for what it means to me, I lost my Papaw earlier this year due to COVID, on the morning of January 16th. That night before, I was working a game over at the Warrior Dome between Cherokee County and Ashville. Two very impressive area wins for the Warriors in boys and girls action. Nas Diamond and Connor Elrod were going off in the boys game, and Mary Hayes Johnson was having a field day for the girls. It was just a lot of fun. Personally, I felt like that was the best set of games I’d ever called, because I was hitting on every note. I didn’t slip on my words. I felt so confident and professional and really felt like I was showing my worth on the mic.
“Papaw was in the hospital that night. My mom luckily got the chance to be there with him in his final hours and they made it a point to listen to me call those games. I called them immediately after the game. My mom said Papaw wanted to hear me call some more. I got to talk to him and he told me how good I did and how much he loved me. I didn’t think that would be the last time I talked to him, but I am forever blessed that me following my dream he always supported me. It was one of the last bits of things he got to experience here. So by no means any offense to the buzzer beaters, the area championships, the blowouts, or any other games I call. Cherokee County versus Ashville on January 15th, 2021, those games will be the games I hold close to me for the rest of my life.”
Q: You’re also known for being behind the scenes of other productions, like the Buttram, Hawkins and Hopper Scoreboard Show and the Easy Street End Zone Show. Could you talk about what goes on behind the scenes of those productions?
A: “I think the phrase ‘if I speak, I would get in trouble’ comes to mind. But in all seriousness, being able to be part of that side of things is just as fun to me as being able to be prominently on the mic.
“With the End Zone Show, getting to know how much has gone into continuously improving that show since its inception, and getting to play part on the production end, it’s a lot of fun. I always like poking fun with the song choices coming out of breaks with Scott (Wright) and Coach (Russell) Jacoway. Getting to hear the different perspectives on previewing the upcoming games is so great to hear. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a group of guys have so much fun with college pick-em ever and I love it.
“On that note, I’d like to put it on record I could easily take the pick-em trophy if they ever let me be involved weekly. Feel free to insert a laugh track here in your heads if you are reading this.
“With the Scoreboard Show, that is madness. It’s the big reason why we call the studio the “Cave of Chaos.” It’s nonstop trying to get all the scores piled up for our coverage area teams, trying to make sure everyone that calls in gets their time, making sure the guys don’t kill each other with their own opposing viewpoints on certain things that pop up. It’s a blast.
“Shout of to all the people we get to cater our shows during football season, because that makes the behind the scenes part the most fun. Who doesn’t love some nice food while enjoying talk about football?”
Q: Just as a follow up, what’s it been like working with Joey Weaver, Tony Hathcock and the others on those shows?
A: “Joey, Tony, and Mr. Electrifying himself Drew Hall, all the great guests we have on the show like Terry from Talladega or Coach Jason Howard with his disco fever intro music. It’s all together packaged as a fun experience that is so hard to replicate. Doing the Scoreboard Show with Joey, Tony, Drew, and all these others, it’s more than just running down scores, getting a few calls to talk game details. They make it interesting to sit through those hours gathering up scores. They keep it entertaining. The best way to describe it is we treat the Scoreboard Show like a group of guys meeting on a Friday night and shooting on everything that has happened like friends. Those guys are friends until the end for me, and that’s even for all the different backgrounds we come from. Those are my brothers. And all I can say going into this upcoming season, you haven’t seen anything yet, because all together we’ve only just touched briefly on what the big picture and vision is.”
Q: You’re also the graphics designer for the WEIS website. What led to your interest in that?
A: “It’s a very funny thing with that. I actually got into graphics sort of back in middle school. I remember I used to go into my mom’s office when she was the bookkeeper at Cedar Bluff after school, or over into the vice principal’s office if he was gone for the day. I went on their computer and opened up Microsoft paint and started to make all different sorts of things.
“The biggest thing I used to do was make posters for the upcoming sports games for the school, mostly during football season. I made up a simple helmet picture that I colored with the Cedar Bluff red and white and the logo or something close to it, and the same for the team they were facing. Then I would print out like 10-20 of them and tape them to the walls of the school.
“I always found it as something I enjoyed, and even though I never really took it that seriously, it expanded as I got into radio. I saw how much a graphical presence on social media and our website and all the other things, how much that makes a difference with having people want to stick around. I think around my second or third season, I started dabbling in Photoshop-like programs and improving our overall image. I taught myself solely how to do all these different things.
“I think I still have a long way to go, but I always appreciate all the compliments, and even the criticism I get of my work because I want to be able to get better and give people a good image of what we are all about here. I turned a simple hobby into a way of making myself more versatile, so that’s just an easy win in my book.
Q: Any advice for anyone interested in a radio career?
A: “As I said before, I come into this as an introvert and I think for anyone who has had this dream in the back of their head but always been afraid of putting themselves out there, the best advice I can give is it’s okay to feel the way you do. It’s okay to be scared. It’s okay to need to ask 100 questions. It’s okay to listen to someone else give you advice. Once that mic turns on and you flow into the things you know and that you are interested in, it comes naturally. That’s a big part too. I fully understand if people want to put on these big personas for radio or whatever the case may be, but I find it so easy to be natural and genuine and that has worked. You’re going to get a lot more people loving what you do when they know that is the real you talking. Be different from the mold, be your unique self, be special in your own right. Learn from what works, what doesn’t, what could work if you just added a little more of yourself into it.
“Radio works best when you aren’t forcing something you’re really not. It’s the same as anything big you want to do career-wise in life. If you are your genuine self, you will find the way to succeed nine times out of 10, and for that one out of 10 when you don’t, getting back up is a lot easier than you might think. If I can somehow be doing all of this, and I am by no means special or some big shot who thinks they are 100 percent right all the time or wants to just focus on their personal success, I am a normal dude that grew up here. And sometimes, with a bit of patience and self confidence, that’s all you need.”
