By Catherine Laroche
If anyone attended a University of Louisville men’s basketball game a few years ago, they probably remember chanting “LUUUUUUUUKE” every time Luke Whitehead pulled down a rebound or put one through the hoop for the Cards. During football season, most Louisville fans can’t say they’ve left Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium without yelling “Cards first down” after the public address (PA) announcer says, “That’s good for another.”The person responsible for keeping fans entertained is U of L PA announcer and assistant sports information director (SID), Sean Moth. But Moth hasn’t always been the PA announcer and SID for U of L.Moth was born and raised in Fort Collins, Colo. While in high school, football and basketball consumed a majority of his time. However, when Moth went off to college, he spent less time playing sports and more time talking about them.Moth majored in communication at Colorado State University while working at the campus radio station. As he was finishing school, he started working for the flagship radio station for CSU athletics. He eventually did some work for Colorado State, which led him to announcing a Denver Nuggets NBA game. The Nuggets were impressed with Moth and asked him to do some more announcing for the organization.However, it was Moth’s love for hockey that really got his foot in the announcing door. When the Colorado Avalanche arrived in Denver, Moth quickly called them to see if they were hiring a PA announcer. Moth went through the application process and later beat out about 25 applicants to become the voice of the Avalanche. In his final two years in Denver, Moth’s job included being a PA announcer for the Colorado Avalanche and the Denver Nuggets.”It was a dream come true,” Moth said. “I’ve been a hockey fan my entire life. I used to go to games with my dad when I was about seven years old.”It didn’t take long for U of L athletic director, Tom Jurich, to make Moth an offer to be the voice of the Cardinals.”It was unbelievable,” Moth said. “I had a tremendous amount of respect for Tom. A lot of people joked in school at Colorado State that in communications, radio and TV, it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. I knew Tom well enough and, more importantly, Tom knew of me enough to a point that he trusted me enough to give me an opportunity like this.”Moth began his career as the voice of the Cardinals in the fall of 1999. Jurich later felt it was necessary for Moth to essentially justify a full time position. With four years of experience as a member of the media, some layout and design experience and a little bit of writing under his belt, Jurich was confident that Moth could handle being the SID for baseball and women’s soccer.As SID, Moth works as a liaison between the teams and the media, handling all the information for the two sports on the U of L’s Web site, including writing the game stories, keeping stats, putting together the media guides and getting publicity for baseball and women’s soccer.Moth loves his job as SID because of the time he spends with the student athletes.”It’s really fun to see a 17 or 18-year-old kid come into the program and watch them mature physically and mentally and grow and enjoy what everyone says is the best years of your life. Now, I’m getting to the point where former athletes are getting married, having kids and moving on to do things and you hope somehow, somewhere along the line, you had some kind of influence on them. Pro sports was fun, but it’s a completely different atmosphere.”Moth enjoys working in the college ranks more because of the everyday contact with the student athletes.”They all like you,” Moth said. “They all like how you say their name. I get to know the athletes better. In pro sports you’re working to win a championship and to make money. In collegiate sports, you are here to groom student athletes, get them every opportunity to succeed on the playing field and move on to get a good job.”When it comes to the way Moth announces an athlete’s name, he says that he doesn’t practice it. A perfect example is the U of L men’s basketball team.”We’ve got the exciting freshman class,” Moth said. “To be quite honest, I haven’t even begun to think about how I’m going to say their name. We have an exhibition game coming up Nov. 1 and that will be the first time I say their names.”One of Moth’s favorite things about his job is hearing the fans get involved in the game.”It’s extraordinary,” Moth said. “I always liked what Harry Carey said about his job. He always said he’s a fan with a microphone and I kind of feel the same way. The single most important thing to me is that the fans have fun. That’s really all I want.”Besides being a PA announcer for the Nuggets, the Avalanche and the Cardinals, Moth has enjoyed announcing several other high profile events. He has announced a few games for the U.S. women’s soccer team, the first and second rounds of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, the NCAA final four for field hockey and the Stanley Cup finals in Denver, where he announced both teams on national television. However, Moth’s favorite event that he has done since being at U of L was the final four celebration at Fourth Street for the men’s basketball team in 2005.”That blew me away,” Moth said. “How many fans came out. How loud they were. And we were just going to the final four, it wasn’t like we were celebrating the season. The place was packed and loud.”When Moth isn’t working an event or taking care of his SID responsibilities, he enjoys spending as much time possible with his wife Angie and his son Eric, who just celebrated his ninth birthday. He also enjoys being outdoors and cooking. Cooking is his number one hobby and is currently contemplating whether or not he should submit a video tape for the next Food Network program.In the eight years that Moth has been at U of L, he’s made a big impact on Louisville athletics and the people that he encounters everyday.”I love Sean because in the world of athletics, people tend to be very specialized and they know their sport or the sport they are in charge of, but he has such a vast knowledge of all sports, art, pop culture and music,” said Nancy Worley, U of L associate SID. “It’s just refreshing and he’s a joy to talk to.”Worley said that another great thing about Moth is the fact that he’s not scripted. Although, things are always changing in sports, she said that Moth deals with that in a great manner.”I’ve actually been writing things that he’s going to say and he’s already two lines ahead of me,” Worley said. “He never breaks stride. His poise and self-confidence are extraordinary. We are so lucky to have him.”
