Behind the microphone: Sportscaster Jay Murry brings enthusiasm and balance to Washington University fans

Aaron Brezel | Sports Editor

Washington University athletics sportscaster Jay Murry knows his performance relies on more than a smooth voice and a penchant for play-by-play.

“The old saying is for every minute of speech that you have to give, there’s seven minutes worth of preparation time,” Murry said, recalling his time as a speech teacher at Lindenwood University.

Washington University sportscaster Jay Murry annouces the men’s basketball game against the University of Rochester on Sunday, Jan. 18. Murry has been the play-by-play announcer for the online Bear Sports Network for five Wash. U. sports for the last six years.

Washington University sportscaster Jay Murry annouces the men’s basketball game against the University of Rochester on Sunday, Jan. 18. Murry has been the play-by-play announcer for the online Bear Sports Network for five Wash. U. sports for the last six years.

That means a typical Wash. U. sporting event lasting around an hour and a half requires over 10 hours of preparation away from the microphone. This is the goal that Murry strives for as the lead announcer for women’s and men’s soccer, men’s and women’s basketball, and football for the Bear Sports Network, an Internet platform that streams Wash. U. sports live.

“Sometimes it’s not quite as much, but I do spend a lot of hours, many pots of coffee, going over statistical trends, just trying to find nuggets that the fans wouldn’t know a lot about, and it’s hard to do because people can see stats online and they can figure out what’s going on,” Murry said. “I try to find different things that the fans aren’t aware of that will enhance their enjoyment of the broadcast, so that takes a lot of time to put it all together.”

In addition to informing fans of the smaller nuances of the game, Murry energizes his broadcasts by trying to emulate the fiery play-by-play of NBA sportscaster Kevin Harlan.

“My early play-by-play, I listened to my tapes and I was pretty monotone. I was like, ‘Oh man, I’ve really got to change that,’” Murry said. “At that time Kevin Harlan was doing [University of Missouri] basketball broadcasts, and he was not afraid to be energetic, so at that point I said I’ve got to blossom and come out of my shell as well.”

While Murry’s combination of in-depth statistical tracking and animated play-by-play is viewed by Wash. U. fans, many of Murry’s listeners end up being fans of visiting teams who are unable to attend the games.

Sports Information Director Chris Mitchell noted the importance of Murry calling a balanced broadcast in order to appeal to fans of each team.

“I think he does a good job of calling a fair broadcast,” Mitchell said. “A lot of people that are watching our games and listening to him are not Wash. U. fans. That’s why he does so much prep work; he’s obviously familiar with the Bears, but he tries to do as much prep work as he can to get familiar with the other team,”

To Mitchell, Murry has made himself indispensable to the Wash. U. athletics community during his tenure.

“Jay is very loyal to us. Anytime I need him to fill in or broadcast a game, he goes out of his way to do it,” Mitchell said. “I’m loyal to him, and I thank him for all of his work for the last six years because without him our Bear Sports Network would not be as successful.”

Murry’s efforts in the broadcast booth have netted him numerous awards, including the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association Missouri Sportscaster of the Year three times, twice as a member of the KWRE-AM/KFAV-FM Warrenton crew, and once more at Wash. U. To win those awards, Murry beat out the likes of famed Cardinals radio voice Mike Shannon and Mike Kelly, the University of Missouri football and basketball play-by-play announcer.

While Murry is a Wash. U. mainstay now, his path to the Bear Sports broadcast booth was hardly direct. After receiving undergraduate degrees from the University of Missouri in Speech and Dramatic Art, as well as psychology, he went on to obtain his masters in mass communication from Lindenwood University. The St. Charles, Mo., native and resident enthusiastically adopted his first broadcasting job at Lindenwood as a baseball play-by-play announcer.

“It just felt like a nice old sweatshirt and jeans. It felt really comfortable. I mean, it wasn’t a Smithsonian-type broadcast, it was pretty rough around the edges, but I felt comfortable…It was something that was a little different from what my friends were doing, so it just felt right,” Murry said.

Murry took his first job with the Bears in 1994 as a play-by-play announcer for the Wash. U. football team, where he announced for two seasons before moving on to a full-time job as a news and sports director at the radio station KWRE-AM/KFAV-FM in Warrenton, Mo.

Following 14 years at Warrenton, Murry thought his play-by-play days were over when he was laid off in 2009, but he returned to his roots to revive his announcing career and help launch the Bear Sports Network.

“When the economy went south in 2008, I was laid off in 2009, and the first thing I thought of was to come back here to see if there were any broadcasting avenues, and fortunately Chris Mitchell told me about the initiative on the Internet through the Bear Sports Network,” Murry said. “I was very lucky; I timed it very well to come back here and started with football and everybody seemed to enjoy what we were doing, so it’s gone on to basketball and other sports.”

Murry rejoined the Wash. U. sports team in August of that same year and is now enjoying his sixth consecutive year behind the broadcast booth for the Red and Green. Over a time span that includes three Wash. U. national championships, Murry has called plenty of memorable games, but he refuses to pick favorites.

“Each of the 231 Wash. U. games that I have broadcast has its own special place on my shelf of memories,” Murry said. “It would be unfair to all of the Bears sports programs to single out one game in one sport as a favorite when every one of my broadcasts has provided a high degree of joy and satisfaction for me.”

With additional reporting by Nick Kauzlarich.

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