Friday, August 5, 2016

Jake Lapin: Longhorns tradition runs deep


Story and photo by Michelle Fenelon

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Jake Lapin’s enrollment at the University of Texas wasn’t a choice – it was inevitable.

His parents met there. His older sister graduated from there, and several cousins attended the school.

Before he could walk, Lapin says he was dubbed a Longhorns fan. For the Lapin family, Thanksgiving wasn’t about the turkey, the preparation, the mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce.  It was about football – Texas football, in their Bellaire, Texas home.

The family would huddle around the television to watch their beloved Longhorns play Texas A&M every Thanksgiving.

“We’d usually do our lunch thing early, out of the way so as to not interfere with the game,” Lapin said in a recent interview. “So we’re finished in plenty of time to set up for the game, and that’s when the real Thanksgiving starts.”

Although football was a staple in the Lapin household, he fell in love with baseball. He dabbled in various sports growing up before focusing on baseball in high school. Lapin was a second-team All-District third basemen, but he says he wasn't good enough to play Division 1. 

When Lapin realized a career in the major leagues was unlikely, he went for the next best thing – sports broadcasting. He aspires to share his voice in many homes as a play-by-play announcer.

“A lot of those memorable moments from your lifetime you remember that are related to sports that voice sticks in your head, and I want to be that voice one day,” Lapin said.

Lapin wants to be that memorable voice that fans here when their teams win a championship - or the voice they remember when their team loses a big game to a game-winning shot, field goal or home run. 


Michelle: Hi, my name is Michelle Fenelon – I am here with Jake Lapin. You’re in the sports emphasis class, why sports?

Jake: Sports is my life. People get annoyed with me because anytime we’re talking about something, I’ll always just bring it back to sports. You see that game last night? Something along those lines, so sports is my biggest passion and just to immerse myself in that every day, all day, that’s what I want to do. That’s why I’m here.

Michelle: Did you play sports growing up?

Jake: I did. I did. Play a little bit of everything, when I was younger and then when I got to high school, I played baseball.

Michelle: Did you play baseball all throughout high school?

Jake: I did

Michelle: Is baseball your favorite sport?

Jake: My favorite sport tends to change during the season, but if I had to pick one it’ll probably be baseball, yeah.

Michelle: When did you know you wanted to be a sports broadcaster?

Jake: I think,, maybe early on in high school when I realized that I was not going to be a professional baseball player, not even a Division 1 player. I decided that sports broadcasting was the path I wanted to take just because I really do like sports, and just a lot of those memorable moments from your lifetime you remember that are related to sports that voice sticks in your head and I want to be that voice one day.

Michelle: For you, do you have a memorable sports moment?

Jake: Coming from Houston, most of my memorable sports moments are pretty depressing honestly. You have the Albert Pujols homerun in the NLCS when the Astros were a strike away from going to the World Series. I will never forget where I was that day. On a more positive note, I’d say my favorite recent moment is when the Rockets came back in Game 6 over the Clippers. That was a great comeback, down 19 in the second half. That was a big one.

Michelle: Is there a sports play-by-play announcer that you admire?

Jake: There’s several. For my talent critique, I put Mike Breen as my favorite. I love his voice and the “BANG!” Gets you every time; gets you hyped.

Michelle: Are there certain qualities from him that you kind of want to borrow for when you start your professional career?

Jake: Well, I don’t think I could just use “bang” right off the back so I’ll have to come up with something on my own that’s catchy. But, just the way he delivers things about the game. He’s very poetic in a way and also very conversational. He’s got it down to a science and I really admire that.

Michelle: You’re from Houston. Why Newhouse?

Jake: Yeah, it’s a long ways away. But Syracuse has such a great reputation. I looked here for undergrad because this is the place to go if you want to do this sports broadcasting thing. But my whole family is Longhorns – University of Texas at Austin. Both my parents went there, that’s where they met. My older sister went there, all my cousins go there so I had to go there. Not that I was disappointed. Like, I’ve been rooting for them ever sine I could walk, so I had a great time at UT. I technically had a choice, but like, that’s where I was always going for undergrad. But I really wanted to pursue the sports broadcasting thing and I know Newhouse was the place to do that, so graduate school was always an option for me.

Michelle: UT – is that a family tradition? Is that where your parents met?

Jake: yeah, UT is big in family. Longhorns run deep in my blood.

Michelle: So as family, were you all watching Longhorns football every weekend?

Jake: Oh, 100%. Every Thanksgiving, you’d be watching Texas- Texas A&M, which is no longer a tradition unfortunately, but yeah, growing up it was big-time Texas in our household.

Michelle: Describe Thanksgiving for you growing up.

Jake: We’d usually do our lunch thing early, out of the way so as to not interfere with the game. So we’re finished in plenty of time to set up for the game and that’s when the real Thanksgiving starts.

Michelle: What’s the real Thanksgiving?

Jake: What’s that?

Michelle: What’s the real Thanksgiving?

Jake: Football game.

Michelle: All right, explain it. Paint a picture.

Jake: There’s honestly no point in Thanksgiving in my mind without football. I’m sure that’s not what the Pilgrims had in mind, but that’s how it’s worked out for me.

Michelle: And your whole family?

Jake: Oh, yeah.

Michelle: What’s been your experience so far at Newhouse?

Jake: Still early. I have this journalism background, undergrad at Texas that some people don’t have so some of it’s been a little repetitive. But at the same time it’s also been challenging so I’ve been kind of curious as to people without this experience that I’ve had the past four years – how they’re going about this because going out getting stories like real journalist has been fairly challenging. I went to a Black Lives Matter protest today and that was a new experience for me so I’m enjoying it. It’s pushing the boundaries and I’m very excited for what the fall and spring may hold.

Michelle: So far, I know you’ve only been here for a couple of weeks but has your experience confirmed that yes, this is it. This is what I want to do with my life.

Jake: It’s up and down. It’s come and gone, but overall the answer is yes. I’m very happy here and I know I’m in the right place for what I want to do.

Michelle: All right, thank you for your time.


Jake: Absolutely.



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