Adam Cohen had two dreams as a kid in Great Neck: to play shortstop for the Mets and to become a sportscaster.
The Mets haven’t called yet. “I don’t think that is going to happen,” he says.
But his second dream has come true.
Cohen, 22, has teamed with Avi Bloom, 21, to broadcast the Yeshiva University men’s basketball team home games this season over the Internet.
Their broadcasts on the school’s Web site (www.yu.edu) replace the ones that were carried for several years on the now-defunct student radio station.
Cohen and Bloom, both senior psychology majors at YU, initiated the idea last summer, lobbied the administration, raised the needed $4,500 for equipment through the President’s Circle alumni group, arranged logistics with a panoply of campus departments and trained themselves by listening to the broadcasts of local pros.
“We’re still getting the glitches out,” says Cohen, the play-by-play man to Bloom’s color.
Sitting at a table behind the scorer’s table in the Max Stern Athletic Center, they handle the broadcasts — including pre- and post-game segments — with ease, like old friends. Which they are, a one-time double play combination at the Ramaz day school.
What’s Cohen’s signature call for a basket, like Marv Albert’s “Yesss”?
“I’ve only done three games,” he said before last week’s game against the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. “I don’t have a signature yet.”
The broadcast team also includes Eli Galler, 20, and Jonathan Cohen, 19, who do engineering and spotting, respectively.
Cohen says the broadcasts, under the aegis of the school’s undergraduate student body, have attracted a loyal, if small, following. “People want to follow the team.”
Fans listen in Florida and Massachusetts, Bloom says. “The team loves it because their parents [out of state] can follow the games. The beauty of the [on-line] broadcasts is that you can hear them anywhere in the world.”
“It’s a lot of fun. It’s a fantasy,” Cohen says. “We’re living out a dream that most Orthodox kids don’t get to do.
“Now,” he adds, “if only the Mets would sign me.”
The broadcasts can be found on www.yu.edu/athletics.
The New York Jewish Week brings you the stories behind the headlines, keeping you connected to Jewish life in New York. Help sustain the reporting you trust by donating today.
