Saying Yes Equals Success for Tommy Gelehrter

By Morgan Gordon

Syracuse, N.Y.— Tommy Gelehrter says he knew at the age of 12 that he wanted to be a sportscaster, but it wasn’t until he came to Syracuse University that he began turning his dreams into reality.

Gelehrter, 35, was born in Cleveland and says he broke into the broadcasting industry when he worked at Syracuse University’s student-run radio station, WJPZ, where he called S.U. Women’s Basketball games on air and did what ever asked of him to show his work ethic.

“If I didn’t do that then I …wouldn’t break in like I did and get a great opportunity right out of college at Akron,” Gelehrter said in a telephone interview. 

 He called many women’s basketball games throughout his time at the University of Akron, but says he also called other sports to stay on top of his craft.

“You have to be ready to do anything when anybody calls because that could be your big breakthrough,” Gelehrter said.

Gelehrter went on to work at the University of Cincinnati, as the Senior Director of New Media and Broadcasting for nine years, which led to his new job as president and owner of his production company called "4thfloorcreative." The company name pays tribute to the Richard Lidner Center, the athletic building  at University of Cincinnati. Majority of the time Gelehrter worked at the University, the fourth floor was what he called home.

Gelehrter says he still juggles two other jobs with ESPN and Fox Sports Net, in addition to making sure he is available to his wife, and and two children

 "Its challenging, but you have to, you got to you know, just prioritize your time like you do with everything else." Gelehrter said.
 

Morgan Gordon's Interview with Tommy Gelehrter: https://soundcloud.com/morgangordon-1/tommy-gelehrter-interview

Morgan Gordon: You were…is it safe to say that you broke into the broadcasting industry when you landed your first job at University of Akron?

Tommy Gelehrter: Nah...I mean yes and no, not really because I would say I broke in when I was at Syracuse. You know working at WJPZ and being able to call games, I remember I called my first women’s basketball on the air as a sophomore at Syracuse, so I would say more so I broke in my freshman year just being able to help out and work, I’d broadcast and be involved at WJPZ, if I didn’t do that then I …wouldn’t break in like I did and get a great opportunity right out of college at Akron, so being sports director my last 2 years there and I probably called 50 women’s basketball games and a dozen maybe even more lacrosse games, you know women’s lacrosse games before I graduated. Because of that I was able to get the opportunity I did at Akron and get hired, so, I guess you can really say I broke through while I was still in college so I’m grateful for that because if not for that, you know that’s what sets me up for the rest of my career.

Morgan Gordon: Your favorite sport to call is football, but you said at SU, you called a lot of women’s basketball games. How important is it to be able to call different sports in this industry?

Tommy Gelehrter: It’s unbelievably, you know being versatile is the most important, you know one of the most important skills you can have because you have to be ready to do anything when anybody calls... I got a call from ESPNU on a Saturday morning in March was a year in a half ago and they put me on call to do an ice hockey game. I hadn’t done a hockey game in a few years… said but can you do hockey and I said yes of course I can do hockey, you got to be ready. And if you don’t know how to do it then figure out how to do it in a limited time or how much ever time you have before, because that could be your big break through. I remember reading a great story about another Syracuse guy by Ian Eagle, and he was talking about how his first boxing match, he had never done boxing before, he never really watched boxing. But they called and asked…CBS called and asked him to do boxing, so you know what he did, he learned about boxing. If you don’t know a lot about soccer and you get a call or a great opportunity to call soccer, go learn soccer, call your friends who love soccer, they’ll teach you about it you know. Your friends would love to talk to you about it, so being versatile and I did lacrosse, like you said I did basketball you know when I was at Syracuse, and then at Akron I did soccer, and basketball and I was just a host for football, I didn’t call a single, well, I didn’t call a game for Akon, but when I was working at the University of Akron, I got the chance to do Akron high school games. I got $50 a night and sometimes I had one of the worst games in the city, sometimes I had one of the best games in the city, but you know what? I was getting turn calling football.

Morgan Gordon: You knew you wanted to be a broadcaster at the age of 12 or 13, right?

Tommy Gelehrter: Yeah

Morgan Gordon: At that time did you realize how much writing went into the profession?

Tommy Gelehrter: No, I don’t think so, but you know, probably not, probably just thought about it as just talking, but at that time, you know, I wanted to be involved in sports in any way I could, so I did stats for my brother’s hockey games, and then as I got a little bit older and I was in high school I wrote for the school newspapers. So for four years I was you know involved with the school newspaper and then I went to college and that’s when I, you know, decided to stay more with the radio side and veer away from the true print or the written side, whatever that was in 1998, and, you know, not try to write for the Daily Orange, instead concentrate all my pride and efforts on being involved with WJPZ and being involved in the broadcast side of things. But yeah, …you’re right, and talking about getting advice from people over the years, like somebody told me a couple of years ago, that still you have…regardless of what your profession is, but it definitely…in your broadcasting. If you are a great writer, it’ll make your job a hundred times easier. I think that’s true in any profession, but it’s absolutely true in broadcasting.

Morgan Gordon:You were heavily involved in SU student radio station, like you just said, you try to focus on radio, If you could do it all over again, would you participate in more of the opportunities that SU has? Or would you stay strictly with radio?

Tommy Gelehrter: No, I’m really with what I did and I think I did it right. You know, showing up my first day up and out at… and building my relationship there to a point where I was, you know the sports director for 2 years, so I don’t regret the way I did anything now. Things are very different right now, you know in 2015, it’s a lot different than it was in 1998 you know. Social media didn’t really exist…and there wasn’t the emphasis on video and this new media, however you want to define that, there wasn’t an emphasis on that, that there is today. So if you think that today you could just be a radio host, or you think today that you could just be in media. Back in 1998 you could do that, you could be a TV reporter, or you could be a, you know a videographer or an editor, or you could be a radio host or you could be a writer and that was fine. But If you’re a writer, then you better be able to shoot, you better be coming from the blind camera too. You know what I’m saying? So you have to be so much more versatile now, so if I’m a freshman or starting graduate school at Syracuse today then I guess I’ll approach it a little differently because you better get your skill set right.

Morgan Gordon: How do you juggle being a husband and a parent in this industry?

Tommy Gelehrter: It’s tricky.  You know it certainly is not easy at times. It’s times when I go on long trips and if I’m traveling with the team and it’s the NCAA tournament or the Conference tournament, what’s the best outcome? The team I’m traveling with wins, but what happens if they win?  I don’t come home, so it’s a double edge sword. When, you know, I was at the University of Cincinnati, I traveled with them and they made the championship  of the Big East tournament beating Syracuse in the semi finals in Madison Square Garden, it was an awesome trip, it was one of the most, best memories I have from working at The University of Cincinnati, but I was gone fore five or six days because they kept winning and it was kind of a joke, my wife and I, she, when the games were late at night, she would text me in the morning “Hey I see you guys won again, congrats,” and I knew she meant it but also was like hey get home we have a six month old, you know, who had a couple ear infections at the time. So you know, its challenging, but you have to, you got to you know, just prioritize your time like you do with everything else and make sure that your spending enough time with your family and you know, with your wife and your kids and all that kids and all that kind of stuff and at the same time balancing it so that your prepared for your broadcast and be true to your profession.