Joe Schlobotnik, Making of a Sports Geek

1969 April 24

Born John Thomas Whelan in Kingston, NY.

1980-1987

Ran the manual scoreboard at Cantine Field for the adult amateur Saugerties Dutchmen baseball club, founded in 1980. When an electric scoreboard was added in 1983, I wrote to Jack Keeley, then Mohawk-Hudson Baseball League commissioner and now Dutchmen general manager, to lobby for keeping the manual scoreboard, which displayed inning-by-inning score.

1983-1986

Ran the electric scoreboard at Dietz Stadium, home of the Kingston Brewers and Athletics, which later merged to form the Kingston Colonials.

1983

My father and I travelled from Red Hook to St. Johnsville to attend dozens of MHBL games, some involving the Dutchmen, some not. We were given the "Seeya down the road Jack" award by Kingston Daily Freeman sports intern Jay Levy as the MHBL's most travelling fans.

1984-1985

First out-of-state roadtrips, as my mother, sister and I rode the team/fan bus to watch the Dutchmen compete in the Central Pennsylvania Tournament of Champions each year.

1985-1986

Public Address Announcer, Kingston Colonials. Since the scoreboard at Dietz was not insulated, I took to wearing rubber dishwashing gloves so I could touch the scoreboard controls while holding the mic and not get shocked. I also announced the occasional game at Dietz for the Kingston American Legion team.

1987

First baseman, Poughkeepsie Day School coed softball team.

1987-1990

While an undergraduate at Cornell University, attended every Big Red home football game, and made road trips to six of the other seven Ivy schools (Princeton in 1991 completed my tour). Made it to every one of Cornell's Ivy Football contests Senior year, including road trips to Harvard, Yale, and Columbia.

1989-1991

Infielder, assorted Cornell Astronomy softball teams.

1992

Defenseman and assistant manager, the Herpolhodes (UCSB Physics floor hockey team).

1992

Second baseman, State Street Blend (UCSB Physics softball team).

1992-1997

Constructed and refined a "Playoff Possibilities Spreadsheet" to help me project possible outcomes of the NFL's deliciously byzantine tiebreaker system.

1993 November 19-21

Mark Anbinder's and my wild road trip, consisting of my first Cornell-Harvard hockey game (Friday night, Ithaca, NY), the 100th Cornell-Penn football game (Saturday afternoon, Philadelphia, PA) and the last day of our respective Star Trek and gaming conventions (Sunday, Springfield, MA). This was the first of many college hockey roadtrips for me.

1994

A six-month stay in England gave me a chance to learn and appreciate cricket (and snooker). I even played a few limited-overs matches with the graduate side at St. John's College, Cambridge. After playing Twelfth Man for a while I finally got a turn at bat in our last contest. The result:

		R	B	4	6
JT Whelan	run out	0	1	0	0

1995-1996

Joe's radio identity born on The Mr. Squishy Show, first as a sports reporter in the early AM days and then as Doghouse Riley's sidekick through the show's first five seasons on KCSB-FM. While reading the archived sports reports, be sure to listen to the appropriate background music:

ECAC Hockey

Dvořák, New World Symphony, 4th movement

Ivy League Football

"Grand Old Ivy" from How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying

Amateur Baseball

Squirrel Nut Zippers, "Danny Diamond"

1995

Second baseman, Pencil Neck Geeks (UCSB Physics softball team).

1995

Defenseman and manager, Broida Hall Bullies (UCSB Physics floor hockey team).

1996

Spent two quarters in KCSB's sports department, writing and delivering a weekly Club Sports Roundup, and co-hosting the half-hour "SportsSpot" show one day a week.

1996-1997

Hosted the Joe Schlobotnik Extravaganza on K-UTE, University of Utah student radio, including weekly ECAC Hockey and Ivy League Football reports.

1996

Started Joe Schlobotnik's Sports Machine as the homepage for my radio show, and it has evolved into what you see today.

1997-1998

Wrote game recaps and box scores for the University of Utah Ice Hockey Club web page.

1997-

Member, Cornell Hockey (Booster) Association.

1998

Official scorer and PA announcer, University of Utah Ice Hockey Club. I also announced four of the six games of the league tournament, hosted by Utah State at the Weber Ice Sheet.

1998

Wrote and maintained an unofficial page devoted to the Rocky Mountain Collegiate Hockey Association playoff race; during and after the league tournament, added recaps and boxscores of all six tournament games.

1998

Infielder, U of U Physics softball team.

1999-2000

Member of the Cardinals Bern Baseball and Softball Club and player on the Senior Baseball Team.

1999-2000

Webmaster, Cardinals Bern Homepage.

1999-2000

Season ticket holder, Schlittschuhclub Bern.

1999-

Season ticket holder, Cornell Men's Ice Hockey.