An Open Letter To Sports Broadcasting

Dear Sports Broadcasting,

I never even considered wanting to be here. I have always been a behind the scenes type of person and the camera tended to scare me. However, when I reached this school’s campus and asked “how can I major in baseball?”, I found a love that I never could have expected.

The intricacies of this field extend farther than I could ever put into words, but I hope to accomplish some of it. The joys of watching your work evolve and be enjoyed in real time is a feeling like no other. The fact that there are people out there who can listen to their favorite sports on the radio and I am the reason they can is something that I am so proud of. 

I remember being half asleep in the backseat of my parents car on the ride home from  a late night Braves game, listening to the man on the radio explain the last inning of the Braves win. I remember screaming in the living room when the Braves won in extra innings. I remember watching the live feed in my dorm room as Freddie Freeman caught the ball at first base, winning the 2021 World Series. Baseball has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, and now I have the opportunity to bring it to other people. 

Working in radio brings the best of both worlds. While I am still becoming comfortable with being on camera, you have shown me a whole different world that I am so happy to be a part of. It’s more of a struggle, but the payout is immense. Listening to the crack of the bat, the cheers after a touchdown, or the squeak of shoes on hardwood are things out of movies. 

There is only one female play-by-play broadcaster in Major League Baseball, but I know there will be more, and I expect to be one of them. I hope you know that I intend to keep the integrity of this field as best I can and hope to serve you well. 

Thank you for letting a little girl live out her dreams.

I’ll see you soon,

Maddie Reid