Play by play: covering the game
By Morgan Schneider
Collegian Reporter
Hayes has been a broadcaster for Hillsdale College athletic events since the late 1970s.
While working at Hillsdale’s radio station, WCSR, Hayes was offered the opportunity to do public service announcements at the college football games in the late 1970s. He accepted, although he said he really wanted to be the play-by-play commentator.
“At that point, the guy they had doing the play-byplay was the former play-byplay guy for the Green Bay Packers,” Hayes said. “It was a little hard to push him out of the way. Doing the public service announcements was my way to stay a little closer to the game.”
Hayes’ interest in sports broadcasting began in middle school, when his older brother used to do the play-by-play commentating at high school games and on the radio. Hayes’ first experience with broadcasting came in the eighth grade, when he got the opportunity to announce a junior varsity basketball game over the airwaves.
“I was completely comfortable,” Hayes said. “It was what I wanted to do, and I was able to observe my brother and picked up on some of his tricks of the trade and a few of his phrases.”
Things have not always been easy for Hayes, though. Diagnosed with spasmodic dysphonia in 1983, Hayes struggled with voice problems for years. Spasmodic dysphonia is a neurological condition affecting the larynx and vocal cords. The exact cause is unknown.
“It was funny with all the different triggers,” Hayes said. “If somebody was particularly loud it would get me all tightened up, or if people were carrying on a distracting conversation and I couldn’t block it out enough, that would get me. Not excuses, but that was just how it was.”
After he retired from WCSR, Hayes began a treatment involving the injection of Botox into the throat and larynx areas, which he said greatly improved the condition. He still announces at basketball games on occasion and does Charger home football games.
“The best time I had on the radio during that period of time was during games,” Hayes said. “It was a certain relief, and I just didn’t feel the other pressures like when I was in studio or in other settings. The games were my escape.”
Andrew Brown, a commentator for Charger football and basketball, has worked with Hayes for at least 10 years.
“Parke used to take me along to games when I first got started,” Brown said. “He really taught me from the ground up. I had no idea what I was doing. I just listened to everything he said and watched him work. He taught me how to do play-by-play sports.”