er of our best man and I showed up for the meet. They put an extra chair there. Ed asked me to read the results. From there, Ed and my relationship grew. The NCAAs is the epitome of col- lege wrestling. Every year, we say this could be the best year ever. It keeps happening. The wrestlers, the fans, the enthusi- asm is so great. I look forward to it.
USA Wrestler: What was it like working with the late Ed Aliverti at wrestling’s major events, and what are your thoughts of him as a person? Stevens: It was instructive. I learned so much from him. It was fun. He and I got along so well. I don’t know if fans had any idea how much fun it was for us. We felt comfortable with each other. We knew each other’s speaking rhythm and rarely stepped on each other’s words. It was funny that hundreds of people actually thought we were husband and wife. He and his wife Shirley always called me his other wife.
USA Wrestler: In your announcing, you make sure that every
athlete’s name is pronounced correctly. Why is that so impor- tant? Stevens: It was Ed who said that it was the most important thing I could offer. I am not coaching, refereeing or organizing events. What I can give every athlete is to announce the name correctly. As a journalist, I could write an award-winning article, but if I have misspelled a subject’s name, the story is a failure. It is a matter of respect to get it correct. When wrestlers tell me it doesn’t make a difference to them, I tell them it is important to me. One time, I had three kids at the same weight with the same last name, all who pronounced it differently. That is part of the pride for me. Parents, grandparents and relatives are in the crowd, and they do care.
USA Wrestler: You are a professional journalist. Are there any skills which you have from your work experience which has helped you become a better announcer? Stevens: The most important carry-over from journalism to wrestling has always been human interest and feature stories. I have written about three news stories in my life. My focus has always been features. When I taught journalism in high school and college, I taught and emphasized that it was about the peo- ple. I can’t help but care about human interest. I love to share that information with fans. Consider Jeff Blatnick, Rulon Gardner, Henry Cejudo. People who knew nothing or cared nothing about wrestling wanted to know more about their sto- ries. That is true at other levels of the sport. People respond to those things and tell me they appreciate knowing about it. What really captivates people about wrestling is the human interest, the people who are competing.
USA Wrestler: What are key things that an announcer can do to make wrestling more exciting for the fans in attendance? Stevens: I always assume there are people in the stands who have never seen wrestling before or have never seen that style before or that level before. Giving background is so impor- tant. I believe without a doubt that enthusiasm is contagious. People always tell me I am enthusiastic and make it exciting. And it is exciting. If the announcer is not excited, how can the fans be? I never have to create the excitement. It is automatic for me.
USA Wrestler: What was it like for you to announce the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta? Stevens: Los Angeles was the epitome. It was the most excit-
ing event I ever worked. I still believe it. The response of the fans to what we were doing, and the excitement of how well the U.S. did was amazing. It was such a joy. By the time you arrived at the Olympics, you were very prepared. At Atlanta, we had Don Blasingame as our producer. It went like clockwork. But nothing will compare with the first Olympics you work.
USA Wrestler: You continue to work the Junior Nationals, an event now entering its fifth decade. What is it about that compe- tition which keeps you returning every year? Stevens: Several things keep me coming back. The level of competition is so great. The quality continues to be the best wrestling. I tell people that have never been there that you can’t see any better wrestling in high school freestyle and Greco- Roman. It is also the wrestling family. It is a family reunion there. This is a different group than you might see at the NCAAs. Also, there is always an opportunity to make new fans. There are people there for their grandson, their nephew, their brother. They are in awe of the event. In Fargo, there are such great volunteers and it runs like clockwork. Believe it or not, for eight straight days, it is fun.
USA Wrestler: You have received the Order of Merit from the
Wrestling Hall of Fame. You are the announcer at the Hall of Fame Honors Weekend each year. What do you like about being a part of this celebration of wrestling excellence? Stevens: It is such an honor because I get to introduce the legends of our sport, the people who worked so hard to make our sport great. They have excelled in wrestling, coaching or support of the sport. There are always some people at that event that don’t know much about wrestling. They may be a childhood friend or a relative. It is amazing how many people there come up to talk to me. They are overwhelmed by how special the sport is and the wrestling family is. They go home and are part of the wrestling family.
USA Wrestler: Do you continue to learn about announcing and change the way you do things behind the microphone? Are there peer announcers which you have learned from? Stevens: If I am not learning, I better be dead. Every situation is a little different. Next year is my 24th at the California state tournament, but there are still changes there. One adapts. Anyone I work with I learn from. I hope we learn from each other. Everyone does things differently. I hope all of us know the difference between entertaining and announcing. We are not the focus.
USA Wrestler: Are there any events which offered you the biggest challenge? Stevens: The biggest challenge I had was a kids tournament decades ago. The challenge was to keep announcing and keep- ing positive after watching some of the parents. I would not do a kids tournament for years. One parent was taken out by the cops. I saw parents berating their five-year olds. It made me ill. It was the parent’s ego. I also saw some outstanding examples of how to treat the kids as well. But overall, it was a horrible event for me. Another challenge is that getting names right in an international competition is tough, especially when some of the languages have sounds that we don’t have in English. In some cases, no matter how hard we try, there were sounds we could- n’t duplicate.
USA Wrestler: Being an announcer includes considerable
travel. Are there any locations where you have announced that Continued on page 33
25 USA Wrestler
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