Chaminade Student Has Air About Him : Himelstein Broadcasts Play-by-Play of High School’s Football Games

It’s late in the first half at Chaminade High, and everyone and their technical adviser knows why the receiver just dropped that pass.

“He heard footsteps on that one. He tried to run before he had possession of the football.”

Soon, Chaminade, moving left to right on your radio dial, has the opponent pinned deep in its own territory.

“It’s third and a mile. They need to put the ball in the end zone if they want to get back in this game.”

Finally, Chaminade holds a 28-0 lead as the final seconds tick away. Victory is imminent. Or, to put it another way. . . .

“The game is in the refrigerator.”

You’re listening to 107.1 FM-- “the Chaminade Eagles’ radio network” --where cliches come crackling over the airwaves about as often as John Madden bellows “Boom!”

Senior Scott Himelstein, the voice of the Eagles, provides play-by-play while sidekick Thom Conrad, a 44-year-old former football coach turned aspiring sportscaster, adds color commentary.

Together, the unlikely broadcast team won’t account for even a fraction of a point in the Arbitron ratings.

Their low-power signal barely extends beyond the goal posts at Chaminade High. And plenty of rough edges still need to be smoothed in production and performance.

But Himelstein, who met Conrad over the summer at a sports-broadcasting camp in Irvine, has proved himself a savvy program director by arranging live cameos throughout the season by a handful of notable sports broadcasters.

And for listeners, Chaminade’s not-so-big broadcast of 1994 is adding spice to what so far rates as a superb season.

“The people love it,” said Ed Croson, the school’s athletic director. “They all bring radios and listen. The kid has started something.”

So have the Eagles, who are 2-0 and have outscored opponents, 49-0. Himelstein and Conrad, who plan to broadcast every home game this season, have not missed a snap. And while they’re not exactly cruising on the air with the greatest of ease, things are bound to improve.

Chaminade is playing El Camino Real, and the pair’s headsets are not functioning properly. So, they take turns speaking into a hand-held microphone. A woman clad in Chaminade colors--navy blue and orange--drops by the booth to offer encouragement and a suggestion.

“Hold the microphone closer to your mouth,” she tells Himelstein. “You’re fading in and out.”

Himelstein gives thanks and takes note.

“People who have heard (the broadcast) say it’s really good,” Himelstein said. “But I know there’s still a lot I need to work on, like setting up plays. You know, like ‘I-formation, slot right. . . .’ Stuff like that.”

So he’s not Pat Summerall. This is, after all, a learning experience. And Himelstein, who maintains a 3.5 grade-point average in advanced-placement courses at the college preparatory school, characteristically cracks the books when it comes to broadcasting.

He spends hours preparing for a game, researching the opponent, clipping newspaper stories. Two hours before kickoff, he arrives armed with stacks of cassette tapes, piles of papers, binoculars and a bulging briefcase.

“The toughest part is getting all the background information,” Himelstein said. “Even though there’s a lot of information in the newspaper, there’s a lot more to it than just what’s written. Now that we’re bringing statistics into the broadcast, all that stuff has to be included.”

Himelstein has gained an understanding of the game from Conrad, who lives in Fullerton and has worked as an assistant coach at several high schools over the past 20 years. But Himelstein’s hustle, Conrad says, is what makes the show go.

“The guy doesn’t go to sleep,” Conrad said. “He’s a very hard worker and very conscientious. He has all the bases covered.”

Himelstein, also the school’s public-address announcer for basketball and baseball, spent six months conceiving the program, then convinced the school’s administration to help fund the project by purchasing an FM transmitter--”a little kit you can buy,” Himelstein says--that cost about $2,000.

Himelstein has helped subsidize the project by rounding up local sponsors and charging $60 for a pair of 30-second commercials.

“This kickoff is brought to you by Sid’s Seafood House in Canoga Park.”

The broadcast begins with a pregame chat between Conrad and Chaminade Coach Rich Lawson and culminates with a postgame interview with the game’s star player.

At halftime, Himelstein welcomes a visitor into the booth, usually a fellow broadcaster.

Last week, Rory Markas, sports anchor for KCBS-TV in Los Angeles, dropped by to discuss the labor disputes surrounding major league baseball and the National Hockey League.

Himelstein’s classmates crowded the door while the light of a television camera lit up the press box. The interview was broadcast the same evening on Markas’ 11 p.m. sportscast.

Himelstein claims to have commitments from Kings’ announcer Bob Miller, and television sportscasters Fred Roggin of KNBC and Gary Cruz of KCAL. Currently, he is courting radio talk-show host Jim Rome of XTRA.

He met them all at the broadcasting camp, which he first attended in 1993. And he has made the most of rubbing shoulders.

Himelstein spends free time flipping the dials, studying the methods and deliveries of broadcast personalities. He talks rapidly and begins many sentences with the words, “In this business. . . . “

“In this business,” Himelstein said, “it isn’t so much what you know as it is who you know. You don’t need to be aggressive, but you’ve got to be assertive. I remember Jim Rome telling me: ‘Never give up.’ If you’re gonna make it in this business, you gotta keep trying.”