by Dominic Apap ‘24, Spectrum Staff Writer

Shamrocks pack the stands for sporting events as much as ever, but the CC Media Team exposes the games to those who cannot attend in person. Juniors Josh Rothert and Lucas Jraiche are at the forefront of broadcasting the games, with Rothert delivering play-by-play and Jraiche providing color commentary. The two provide vivid analysis for what takes place on the field.

Mrs. Teed, who helped create the media team last fall, complemented their ability to “give audiences the full and complete story each time they broadcast a game.” 

She also described the on-air chemistry Rothert and Jraiche have. 

“They play off of each other and complement each other well just as a play-by-play announcer and color commentator should. They sound natural, and the audience gets excited with them!”

Rothert and Jraiche exuded this excitement when Brayden Courser sacked DeWitt’s quarterback on fourth down. Rothert cited the stream’s steadily rising viewer count, which reached 1,000 at points during the night.

Rothert elaborated on how much time he devotes every week to his craft, especially when stats at the high school level are difficult to find. 

“Preparation is key. I want to know absolutely everything about a team before the game starts so that I can organize speaking points and reference points for during the game. In a typical week, I watch anywhere from 4-6 hours of film on the opponent, and I touch up on the film for us.

"Before Boys' Bowl, I think I watched 16 hours of film on De La Salle,” he added.

This preparation easens in-game adjustments.  “We mute ourselves and make quick conversation to prepare for whatever we want to address next. We have the rosters at our disposal, sometimes we get access to statsheets, and then we have our own notes to reference.” Jraiche said they “script [the] intro, but the rest is spontaneous.”

Jraiche knows these broadcasts wouldn’t be possible without their production crew. “Mrs. Teed and Mr. Miller have given us every opportunity to succeed. Ben Flake and Nick Williams were and continue to be great at growing the program. Without the streamers, cameras, editors, and everyone else, I don’t know where we’d be.”

Rothert also touched on how much help he has. “Nobody sees what we have going on behind the scenes, but I let every single one of our guys know that they are more important to the success of the streams. We have a team of about 20 people that commit their time to record footage, run the cameras, run the stream setup, produce, organize, brainstorm, and work hard to promote and put on a show.”

One of the leaders of that production crew, Senior Nick Williams, helps manage the cameras, the elgato stream deck, and OBS, the software that runs the stream. “Every game day, we show up about an hour and a half early to start setting up for the day. We set everything up using our supplies to ensure our audience receives the best viewing experience possible.”

Another student who works behind the scenes, Junior Tyler Stewart, remarked that he enjoys “contributing to the CC experience by making it easier for friends and family who can't attend the game [able to watch it].”

Mrs. Teed also gave her spin on the media team. “I like to think of the media arts as problem solving. Often, students have to troubleshoot technology and think on their feet, and they do a great job! The media team students will tell you that the feeling of completing a successful broadcast is an excitement like no other!”

As for opportunities after leaving CC, Rothert definitely sees himself as the next great play-by-play broadcaster at a major network. “I've been researching colleges strictly for broadcast journalism and sports media, so I definitely see this in my future after high school.”

Jraiche is definitely contemplating a future in broadcasting as well. “Broadcasting is something I’ve definitely thought about as a career, but I haven’t really made a decision on if I’m gonna put all my eggs in one basket for that being my professional career.”

Rothert gave one final note of his experience: “I have a lot of fun doing it. It really culminates the whole school week leading up to the football game on Friday night. We miss out on the student section, but I think we have the best job.”

This article first appeared in the Vol. 89, No. 2 issue of the Detroit Catholic Central Spectrum.