Tom Schirmacher

What do you do as a broadcaster for the hockey games?
We volunteer our time at the radio station — we finished our 26th year just last month. There is a group of us that plan the travel and expenses, getting some advertising and underwriters. But primarily, I am the play-by-play guy. I follow the action and relay what I see over the radio.

What are some great memories you have had in your career?
The first year, the team went to the national championship back in ’82. It was the semifinal game...the first game we ever broadcast on the road. So that was pretty neat; we didn’t know what to expect. Then winning the national championship in ’83, that was a high point. What even beat that was the 1985 championship, because I had been around the program for two to three years. I know a lot of the guys on the team...they were in classes with me, and I considered them friends. When they won that championship, that was a very special time. It was neat to see. There have been so many great games, but it’s more the friendships that I have had at the radio station that have been the special moments. Is that why do you do it, the friendships? We have a really good time. I have been very lucky...it has never been a job. I have never gotten paid, so no one’s ever really told me how to do it, or what I have to say. And I’ve been very fortunate that the producers — I have had a few producers over the 26 years — have basically let me pick who I want to have as my second on the radio. They have usually been my closest friends.

How did you end up at RIT?
I am a local resident, born and raised right here. I was looking for colleges and thought that the co-op experience was going to be a great thing.

How did you get into broadcasting here at RIT?
I knew a couple guys from school that worked for the student television station in my freshman year. They said they wanted to cover some hockey games and asked if I was willing to do it. We did about five or six home games that year for student television. Two years after that (during my junior year), my friends Toni and Matt both worked down at the radio station. I was walking by and Toni said, “We’re thinking of doing the hockey games. I know you did the TV...would you be interested in trying the radio?” That’s really how it started, back in 1982.

What’s kept you broadcasting all these years?
It’s a great hobby. To me, it’s just been fun. I don’t want say it’s a way to give back. To me, the team has always won. It has been so exciting to be part of that winning tradition. The coaches have more than welcomed us — you know, as we get older, I hang out more with the coaches than the players. You are very welcome there. It is a neat hobby...I travel and I get to see some neat places, and I’ve seen some great places. And like I said before, I got to do my hobby with my best friends.

Where are some cool places you have gotten to go?
Up in Minnesota, north of anything; Huntsville, Alabama, which is south of anything. We have gone as far west as Air Force, Omaha, Nebraska and just about every place in the Northeast with a rink.

Is hockey your favorite sport?
Baseball is my favorite sport. I am a Blue Jay fan or a Brewer fan. The dream World Series would be the Brewers and the Blue Jays. My little guy just eats and breathes the Toronto Blue Jays. But baseball, I can study stats and stuff like that. Hockey is a more exciting game at times.

So what will you do in your retirement?
I still plan on coming to a lot of RIT games. It’s very funny because my eleven-year old son said, “You know dad, you have only sat with me for one period of the eleven years I have been around, it’s time to sit with me.” I am really looking forward to sitting with my eleven-year old. I coach this team, he will be a pee-wee next year. I missed probably half of the [RIT] games this year, just doing the coaching responsibilities with this team. He is only going to be eleven once, so I plan on spending more time with my son and my daughter.