It's easy to get pessimistic nowadays. Regardless of who you support, between the Manchester shooting incident, pulling out of the climate change agreement (and the whole Kathy Griffin thing as well), it's pretty easy to get down about life and the various surrounding. This has led to a lot of us trying to find various coping mechanisms to distract us from what's going on in real life. Me, I like to hang out with my friends, exercise, maybe have a beer every now and again and watch hockey.
That leads me to this man:
Mike Emrick, better known by Doc, has been calling hockey games since 1973, when he was hired to commentate for the Port Hugon Flags. Some 40 years later, he's still doing it, but on a much bigger stage, calling games with Eddie Olczyk and Pierre McGuire on NBC for the better part of the last decade. Personally, I love him, and don't think any hockey announcer is even closer to him (especially Jack Edwards, although in a way I love him as well):
You can hate on his voice, you can hate on the mass about of verbose he uses to describe the exact same event (seriously it's a lot), but the one thing you undoubtedly can't hate on him for is his enthusiasm.
When you watch a game with Doc Emrick calling it, you don't get the feeling like the announcer is in your living room, like you do with LA Dodgers legend Vin Scully, nor do you get someone with the great catchphrases and general fluidity as an Al Michaels. What you get is someone that you unabashedly, undoubtedly, and rightfully loves the game, loves what he's doing, and loves his job.
Look at this video that came out earlier this week:
Who loves their job so much that they start just randomly doing it in the street? I'm honestly ready to go for a three mile run after watching the enthusiasm that went into him calling making a sandwich.
Kidding aside, sports is one of the biggest distractions we have from our lives, it's many other things as well, but when you really think about it that's what it is. One can't doubt the impact that enthusiasm has on one's everyday life, and as a result, it's no wonder that Doc is a very happy guy consequently. And frankly, I'd like to thank him. As someone that has tuned into his broadcast for years on end, while I can't say the impact is large, I can undoubtedly say that every time I've heard his voice on my television my mood gets just a little bit better. It's just a little thing, but it means a lot to a lot of people.
So thank you Doc Emrick, we have no idea how much longer you're gonna be doing this for (he's 70 as of this writing), but just know every time you talk about what junior league some guy played in or used some random verb that nobody even remotely is familiar with, we'll be listening, and while we'll likely shrug a little, it'll make us feel a little bit better, so thank you.
