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pivalleygirl · Team Captain

ROY LANG III: Mudbugs' Mears lands NHL radio gig at 26
August 1, 2006
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He scooooooorrres!

Steve Mears is taking his brilliant verbs and descriptive adjectives and skating north -- where they actually have ice.

No longer will players for the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs pitchfork, snap, scoop and rip. Those duties will fall on the NHL's New York Islanders, the team Mears will do play-by-play for beginning with the 2006 season.

Who said the Central Hockey League doesn't produce NHL talent? Mears, 26, is the second straight Mudbugs' broadcaster to jump directly to The Show. Brandon Walker, Mears' predecessor, scored a front office job with Nashville.

Mearsio (a nickname bestowed upon him because of his idolization of legend Mario Lemieux) will take his booming voice, unmistakable enthusiasm and passion for the game to the Big Apple -- the largest media market in the country.

Apparently Shreveport-Bossier City has made the hockey map and the Islanders discovered the Bowling Green University product during a summer which has seen a flurry of activity among NHL broadcasters.

"When it comes to hockey play-by-play, Steve is one of the brightest young talents in North America," Islanders spokesman Chris Botta said. "After an extensive search in which we listened to more than a hundred applicants from every level of hockey, Steve was the definitive choice. Our fans are going to love the passion and energy he puts into his calls."

Mears' has a knack for keeping you dialed in. Hockey play-by-play on radio is perhaps the toughest such job in sports. The action is non-stop, there are few timeouts and an understanding of intangibles -- flow and momentum -- are crucial to the listener.

"The way he was able to describe what he was seeing on the ice. I felt like I was there seeing it myself," said Gaylin Dennis, a Mudbugs' season ticket holder and member of Mears' first booster family. "I had mixed emotions. I was like a proud parent sending a child off, but sad we're going to lose him. He's one of the best I've ever heard."

Dennis will miss hearing, "You can turn out the lights," with which Mears punctuated every Mudbugs victory. The fans on the island might not get that either as Mears says, "I might just put that phrase to bed with my Mudbugs career. I want to keep it simple up there."

Mears is a professional. And in the world of minor-league hockey that's not a given. There are plenty of off-the-wall broadcasters who take their allegiances to a frightening level.

There is no better example of Mears' talent than the 2004 CHL Finals.

The outcome was disastrous and Mears took it as hard as any member of the Bugs who wore a uniform that night, but to his credit, he never let his teal and purple shaded glasses mar his professionalism.

That fateful night of Game 7 in Laredo, Mears called it as he saw it and let the thousands of fans in Louisiana who couldn't make the trip know exactly what to think.

"I do not believe what I have just witnessed," Mears beckoned over the air waves from Laredo, Texas. "I do not believe the series has ended like this. It shouldn't have."

Mears has a chance to become a legend in this sport. There are only 30 such jobs in the world and it's unlikely more than a handful had the opportunity at his age.

That Mears era begins with New York's season opener Oct. 5 at Phoenix -- a team owned by Wayne Gretzky. However, Mears' shining moment may come two weeks later when the Islanders host the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Mears grew up a fan of No. 66, the Pens and their play-by-play master Mike Lange.

"I never thought my first chance to meet Mike would be as a colleague," Mears said. "I'd like to take him out to lunch one day. I feel like he was a teacher of mine, but I never met him -- it's kind of bizarre. Everything stems from him. He's the reason I got into this business."

It won't be long before others say the same about Mears.

Mudbugger07 · Stick Boy

Sad day

I wish him all the best in New York.
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gorillakido · Scout

im still trying to understand how our old announcer got a job with the providence bruins.

id rather watch paint dry than listen to that guy.
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