Years ago – when she was still honing her craft – sometimes it seemed like – she was reaching. Like she was using the voice she practiced into the spoon with – just a liiiiiiiitle bit too contrived. Like she was workin’ it out herself. Not utterly unbelievable – but her voice was not altogether winsome, perhaps, in her own mind. So, she jacked up the amps on her “now I’m speaking into the microphone voice,” and gushed with a sound only slightly unnatural. But – then she polished her tone. She sharpened her craft. She got better. Much better. To her credit – she really did. To the point where for the last four years, she’s been dishing her sound bits like a boss – pretty much seamless. Smooth as a marble floor. Actually – quite nicely done. No two ways about it.
Besides the game, then, part of the feel-good of the 2017 Monday Night Football kick-off was about Beth Mowins, yes? Absolutely.
Wait, wait! What? What’s the score?
Yep – Ms. Beth Mowins became the first woman in 30 years to call an NFL game. As in, she did the play-by-play, with real-time analysis. And she was great!!
Kavitha Davidson weighed in with a perspective that immediately impressed me as profound –
“Mowins is just doing her job. She doesn’t need to be a symbol or a harbinger for progress. But if something as seemingly unassuming as a woman calling a nationally televised NFL game can at once anger and inspire at the level it did last night, she’s absolutely doing something right.”
Fair play to you, Ms. Mowins. And, good on ya!
By Dr. Rodney J. Blackman
Dr. Rodney J. Blackman is the Chair of Recreation Management at the United States Sports Academy, and can be reached at rblackman@ussa.edu.