About halfway in the story of the ‘66 Big Creek-Bluefield game and Bob Turner is great!
Passing the mic
Jim Nelson reflects on being the voice of the Beavers
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
BLUEFIELD — High school football fans glued to their radios will hear a new voice Friday night when the classic Beaver-Graham Game gets underway at Mitchell Stadium, but many of them will always remember the voice that for years gave them the playby- play and painted a word picture of all the action.
James A. “Jim” Nelson Jr., has been the announcer who tells the people who can’t make it to the Beaver-Graham Game and other sporting events what is happening, using his voice and wits to paint a picture of the ongoing action while giving them the information they need to understand what’s happening on the football field or the basketball court. For years, he’s been the voice of the Beavers.
Nelson will not be giving the playby- play at this year’s Beaver-Graham Game. He came to Mitchell Stadium Friday and spoke about what his experiences behind the microphone have
James A. ‘Jim’ Nelson Jr., has been the announcer who tells the people who can’t make it to the Beaver-Graham Game and other sporting events what is happening, using his voice and wits to paint a picture of the ongoing action while giving them the information they need to understand the action on the football field or the basketball court. For years, he’s been the voice of the Beavers. Staff photo by Tara Wyatt
Continued from A-1
meant to him.
“No sir, I’m not,” Nelson replied when asked about announcing Friday’s game. “I have basically said goodbye to folks and they have been very hospitable to me.”
There is more to delivering a play-by-play than sitting behind a microphone and watching a game. A lot of preparation goes into each broadcast, and the pace is very demanding.
“I’ll be 74 and just a bit and with what I have going on in my life, the prep work is so time consuming,” Nelson said. “Memorizing all the skill position players on other teams, calling coaches, trading spot charts, finding out what trends other teams have, all that type of stuff. History of the series, then writing a scripted pregame so that I don’t stumbled and stutter. All of those things really take it out of you, to repeatedly learn all those skill position players by number and name so you don’t look down at a roster while the plays are occurring. And then sometimes riding on school buses. This old body is not built for something that’s school bus-kid sized.”
Nelson stressed that while he is departing, people have been very hospitable to him.
“It’s been a venture of pure joy on my part,” he said of his radio career. He remembers how a love ofsports and a chance event led him to doing play-byplays behind the microphone. His father, Dr. Jim Nelson, started him down that path.
“I always liked sports. My dad kind of cultivated that in me when I was a little guy,” Nelson recalled. “And I would travel with him. He shot film for Merrill Gainer when he was the coach and a little later on, I realized I was not going to be the next West Virginia University star athlete; so I thought the next best thing – since I lived and died by the radio broadcasts – was to try and become a radio broadcaster; and I just had that sort as a pipe dream.”
This dream suddenly came to fruition when an inappropriate outburst over the airwaves suddenly opened up a slot for him.
“In 1966, Bluefield was playing Big Creek at Big Creek and there was a heated rivalry there because our head coach, Merrill Gainer, had come from Big Creek to Bluefield,” Nelson said. “It’s all cataloged in some ways in the “Rocket Boys” movie. One of the things that occurred was there was no press box. We were on the top floor of the schoolhouse at Big Creek because it was right behind the home team bleachers. It was in a classroom. So the principal at Big Creek at the time was a very energetic gentleman and he knew that Ed Elliott was the mayor, and all I did was keep stats and have my 30 seconds of fame at the half and after the game.”
Passions ran high when Big Creek moved ahead.
“And when Big Creek had jumped out to a lead on Bluefield and as the clock grew shorter and it was fairly apparent that Bluefield was not going to be able to stage a comeback to win, Mr. Turner, the principal, came into the room and he grabbed the microphone from Ed Elliott, the mayor; and he said something to the effect of ‘All right, Bluefield, how’s Gainer going to help you now?’ and Ed called him a name like a ‘beady-eyed monster’ or something like that,” Nelson recalled.
The radio station’s general manager, John C. Shott, was listening to that football game. He did not like what he had just heard, so he called Big Creek High School and there happened to be somebody in the main office. The phone was answered and Shott had a message.
“And they picked up the phone and he said who he was and what he was going to do, Nelson said, ‘You tell Mr. Elliott the play-by-play guy, if he doesn’t take this phone call he’s fired right now.’ When that got back up to Ed, in the middle of the broadcast, there was the engineer and me, and he said when we come out of this commercial break, you’ve got play-by-play.”
Nelson didn’t have time to get nervous about going on the air; but as soon as he covered one or two plays, his nervousness left and he realized that he really enjoyed it.
“And when Ed came back after a tongue-lashing of a few minutes, he said, ‘I’m ready to get back’ and I said, ‘Mr. Elliott, I’ve got this one if you don’t mind,’ and so Ed was gracious enough to let me broadcast with him for a period of time,” Nelson said. “And that’s how it all sort of got started. Totally by accident.”
Nelson was at West Virginia University from 1967 to 1971. When he came back to Bluefield, he was able to get back into broadcasting.
One thing led to another and Elliott, with his responsibilities and his business, and with the city, decided to step away and the station let Nelson move into the main microphone slot and start doing play-by-play announcing for sports. Nelson kept broadcasting high school sports until he stepped away around 2000 when his wife had some health issues.
“When I did, there were a couple of gentlemen I knew pretty well and they were doing Beaver ball, so Bob Graham over at Princeton invited me to come with him and I was going to do it for one year, then some things happened over in Princeton and that one year ended up being 12,” Nelson said.
From 1996 to 2000, Nelson’s oldest son, Drew, was on Graham’s footballteam. Drew recentlyretired as a career Marine.
“So as a dad I got to broadcast games when he was suiting up for the G-Men,” he said. He then went to Princeton to do play-by-plays for sports and where the people were “extremely nice” even though there was an intense Bluefield and Princeton rivalry.
Being at so many football and basketball games let Nelson witness many milestone moments in many people’s lives.
“I was always treated wonderfully and I realized at some point when I saw these great things, you know, I’m sort of Forrest Gump. I just happened to be at the scene of so many memorable events in this area, and then to see the student athletes who play here go on to really great things,” he said.” I’m at the scene at what’s so memorable and God’s blessed me with the memory to string the beads and tell the stories.”
Nelson said the key experience for him was watching young men arrive as freshman and – with good coaching and some “hard love” at times – grow and develop into leaders and outstanding student athletes.
“And some go on to success on the football field or the basketball court, but a lot of them go on to success in life, and it’s those life lessons,” he added.
A new voice will be delivering this year’s play-by-play at the Beaver-Graham Game. Nelson said he saw new announcer Zack Helton when he was “a budding broadcaster” announcing games in Richlands, Va.
“We hit it off famously and I’ve watched Zach grow as a sportscaster and a young man and he’s polished his craft,” Nelson said.
Nelson emphasized again that there is more to be a sports announcer than simply sitting behind a microphone and talking about what’s happening. The announcer is serving the fans who can’t come to the game.
“I think the role of the individual doing play-byplay is to describe the scene as objectively, but reflect the enthusiasm of the game and let those fans that would give their eyeteeth to be here but can’t, we hope that we paint a word picture that is not bloviating, but an accurate, three-dimensional picture of what’s going on,” he said. “When I’m most fulfilled, it’s doing that. It’s an adrenaline rush. There’s a satisfaction to having done it well. Not because of who I am, but because of the product and the Bluefield-Beaver community and the area. They’re the ones that are special, the moms and dads and the other fans so invested for so long.”
“If Norman Rockwell was going to paint a picture of Friday night lights in a non-metro community, he’d paint one of Beaver-Graham,” Nelson declared.
— Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com
Passing the mic
Jim Nelson reflects on being the voice of the Beavers
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
BLUEFIELD — High school football fans glued to their radios will hear a new voice Friday night when the classic Beaver-Graham Game gets underway at Mitchell Stadium, but many of them will always remember the voice that for years gave them the playby- play and painted a word picture of all the action.
James A. “Jim” Nelson Jr., has been the announcer who tells the people who can’t make it to the Beaver-Graham Game and other sporting events what is happening, using his voice and wits to paint a picture of the ongoing action while giving them the information they need to understand what’s happening on the football field or the basketball court. For years, he’s been the voice of the Beavers.
Nelson will not be giving the playby- play at this year’s Beaver-Graham Game. He came to Mitchell Stadium Friday and spoke about what his experiences behind the microphone have
James A. ‘Jim’ Nelson Jr., has been the announcer who tells the people who can’t make it to the Beaver-Graham Game and other sporting events what is happening, using his voice and wits to paint a picture of the ongoing action while giving them the information they need to understand the action on the football field or the basketball court. For years, he’s been the voice of the Beavers. Staff photo by Tara Wyatt
Continued from A-1
meant to him.
“No sir, I’m not,” Nelson replied when asked about announcing Friday’s game. “I have basically said goodbye to folks and they have been very hospitable to me.”
There is more to delivering a play-by-play than sitting behind a microphone and watching a game. A lot of preparation goes into each broadcast, and the pace is very demanding.
“I’ll be 74 and just a bit and with what I have going on in my life, the prep work is so time consuming,” Nelson said. “Memorizing all the skill position players on other teams, calling coaches, trading spot charts, finding out what trends other teams have, all that type of stuff. History of the series, then writing a scripted pregame so that I don’t stumbled and stutter. All of those things really take it out of you, to repeatedly learn all those skill position players by number and name so you don’t look down at a roster while the plays are occurring. And then sometimes riding on school buses. This old body is not built for something that’s school bus-kid sized.”
Nelson stressed that while he is departing, people have been very hospitable to him.
“It’s been a venture of pure joy on my part,” he said of his radio career. He remembers how a love ofsports and a chance event led him to doing play-byplays behind the microphone. His father, Dr. Jim Nelson, started him down that path.
“I always liked sports. My dad kind of cultivated that in me when I was a little guy,” Nelson recalled. “And I would travel with him. He shot film for Merrill Gainer when he was the coach and a little later on, I realized I was not going to be the next West Virginia University star athlete; so I thought the next best thing – since I lived and died by the radio broadcasts – was to try and become a radio broadcaster; and I just had that sort as a pipe dream.”
This dream suddenly came to fruition when an inappropriate outburst over the airwaves suddenly opened up a slot for him.
“In 1966, Bluefield was playing Big Creek at Big Creek and there was a heated rivalry there because our head coach, Merrill Gainer, had come from Big Creek to Bluefield,” Nelson said. “It’s all cataloged in some ways in the “Rocket Boys” movie. One of the things that occurred was there was no press box. We were on the top floor of the schoolhouse at Big Creek because it was right behind the home team bleachers. It was in a classroom. So the principal at Big Creek at the time was a very energetic gentleman and he knew that Ed Elliott was the mayor, and all I did was keep stats and have my 30 seconds of fame at the half and after the game.”
Passions ran high when Big Creek moved ahead.
“And when Big Creek had jumped out to a lead on Bluefield and as the clock grew shorter and it was fairly apparent that Bluefield was not going to be able to stage a comeback to win, Mr. Turner, the principal, came into the room and he grabbed the microphone from Ed Elliott, the mayor; and he said something to the effect of ‘All right, Bluefield, how’s Gainer going to help you now?’ and Ed called him a name like a ‘beady-eyed monster’ or something like that,” Nelson recalled.
The radio station’s general manager, John C. Shott, was listening to that football game. He did not like what he had just heard, so he called Big Creek High School and there happened to be somebody in the main office. The phone was answered and Shott had a message.
“And they picked up the phone and he said who he was and what he was going to do, Nelson said, ‘You tell Mr. Elliott the play-by-play guy, if he doesn’t take this phone call he’s fired right now.’ When that got back up to Ed, in the middle of the broadcast, there was the engineer and me, and he said when we come out of this commercial break, you’ve got play-by-play.”
Nelson didn’t have time to get nervous about going on the air; but as soon as he covered one or two plays, his nervousness left and he realized that he really enjoyed it.
“And when Ed came back after a tongue-lashing of a few minutes, he said, ‘I’m ready to get back’ and I said, ‘Mr. Elliott, I’ve got this one if you don’t mind,’ and so Ed was gracious enough to let me broadcast with him for a period of time,” Nelson said. “And that’s how it all sort of got started. Totally by accident.”
Nelson was at West Virginia University from 1967 to 1971. When he came back to Bluefield, he was able to get back into broadcasting.
One thing led to another and Elliott, with his responsibilities and his business, and with the city, decided to step away and the station let Nelson move into the main microphone slot and start doing play-by-play announcing for sports. Nelson kept broadcasting high school sports until he stepped away around 2000 when his wife had some health issues.
“When I did, there were a couple of gentlemen I knew pretty well and they were doing Beaver ball, so Bob Graham over at Princeton invited me to come with him and I was going to do it for one year, then some things happened over in Princeton and that one year ended up being 12,” Nelson said.
From 1996 to 2000, Nelson’s oldest son, Drew, was on Graham’s footballteam. Drew recentlyretired as a career Marine.
“So as a dad I got to broadcast games when he was suiting up for the G-Men,” he said. He then went to Princeton to do play-by-plays for sports and where the people were “extremely nice” even though there was an intense Bluefield and Princeton rivalry.
Being at so many football and basketball games let Nelson witness many milestone moments in many people’s lives.
“I was always treated wonderfully and I realized at some point when I saw these great things, you know, I’m sort of Forrest Gump. I just happened to be at the scene of so many memorable events in this area, and then to see the student athletes who play here go on to really great things,” he said.” I’m at the scene at what’s so memorable and God’s blessed me with the memory to string the beads and tell the stories.”
Nelson said the key experience for him was watching young men arrive as freshman and – with good coaching and some “hard love” at times – grow and develop into leaders and outstanding student athletes.
“And some go on to success on the football field or the basketball court, but a lot of them go on to success in life, and it’s those life lessons,” he added.
A new voice will be delivering this year’s play-by-play at the Beaver-Graham Game. Nelson said he saw new announcer Zack Helton when he was “a budding broadcaster” announcing games in Richlands, Va.
“We hit it off famously and I’ve watched Zach grow as a sportscaster and a young man and he’s polished his craft,” Nelson said.
Nelson emphasized again that there is more to be a sports announcer than simply sitting behind a microphone and talking about what’s happening. The announcer is serving the fans who can’t come to the game.
“I think the role of the individual doing play-byplay is to describe the scene as objectively, but reflect the enthusiasm of the game and let those fans that would give their eyeteeth to be here but can’t, we hope that we paint a word picture that is not bloviating, but an accurate, three-dimensional picture of what’s going on,” he said. “When I’m most fulfilled, it’s doing that. It’s an adrenaline rush. There’s a satisfaction to having done it well. Not because of who I am, but because of the product and the Bluefield-Beaver community and the area. They’re the ones that are special, the moms and dads and the other fans so invested for so long.”
“If Norman Rockwell was going to paint a picture of Friday night lights in a non-metro community, he’d paint one of Beaver-Graham,” Nelson declared.
— Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com
