Kids Canes: Broadcasters Mike, Tripp, Hannah And Shane Call The Games
By Chris Baker
We are another week closer to hockey season! How excited are you, Kids Canes Reader? The “Most Junior Hurricanes Reporter” and I are gearing up! Part of that gearing up has been watching highlights of Canes games with broadcasters Mike “Big Rig” Maniscalco, Tripp “Huge Caniac” Tracy, Hanna Yates and Shane Willis.
Our last Kids Canes Challenge asked if you knew what a broadcaster was, and if you knew who broadcasters Mike “Big Rig” Maniscalco, Tripp “Huge Caniac” Tracy, Hanna Yates and Shane Willis. were. So, we are going to learn!
A broadcaster is someone who tells what is happening at a sporting event over the radio or TV. There are usually two kinds of broadcasters at a game.
One is called a “play-by-play” broadcaster. They tell us all the action. “Brent Burns shoots, he scooooores” “What a save by Freddie Andersen!”
Mike “Big Rig” Maniscalco is the “play-by-play” broadcaster for the Carolina Hurricanes on TV and the radio. He actually went to college to be a broadcaster at Buffalo State University in Buffalo New York!
How cool!?!?!?!
Before coming to the Carolina Hurricanes, Mike Maniscalco was on the radio and worked for the Buffalo Sabres.
He has talked a good bit on air about how much he loves ice cream, but I do not recall him mentioning what his favorite flavor is. Do you know?
Another kind of announcer is the “color” broadcaster. They tell interesting facts, or tidbits about players, or more about what is going on. “ Seth Jarvis loves a nap, the other day he was taking a nap in the locker room, and I had to wake him up” or “ That goal was the best goal I have seen all year from “Fishy” Aho.”
Tripp Tracy is Carolina’s color broadcaster. He is most famous for saying everyone is a “Huge Caniac,” even if they are not. Some of the folks I have heard Tripp say were a “Huge Caniac” are Abraham Lincoln, Neil Diamond, and Lady Gaga.
Do you think any of those folks like the Carolina Hurricanes?!?!?!
I don’t, but that is what makes it so funny!
The Most Junior Hurricanes Reporter heard this the other day, and now he says it too. Everyone is a “Huge Caniac.” The dog, Grandpa and Grandma, his teachers at school. Everyone.
Tripp Tracy
actually played hockey and was a goalie at Harvard University.
WOW! Big Time!
Also, Tripp Tracy has a puppo named “Frank” after Frank Sinatra, who also was…you guessed it, a “Huge Caniac.” I wonder if Tripp’s dog Frank is a “Huge Caniac????” I bet so.
Most of the time, Mike and Tripp are on TV and radio which is awesome because they have to paint a picture of the game with words, for the folks listening on the radio. BUT you get to see it on TV as well.
If for whatever reason, if the Canes are on TV, but Mike and Tripp are not covering the game, I will turn down the volume on the TV and turn up the volume on the radio just so I can listen to them.
When everything else falls, I will turn on my trusty, old radio and listen to the game.
Mike “Big Rig” Maniscalco and Tripp “Huge Caniac” Tracy crack me up! They are so funny and exciting to listen to on the radio or TV. It doesn’t matter which.
Between the periods broadcasters Hanna Yates, and Shane Willis host a quick TV show about the game. They shoot it live at the Hurricanes rink, with people all around them. Sometimes it is really funny to see what is going on behind them as they are talking about the game.
Hanna Yate also comes in with quick news from the sidelines during the game. Did you know she went to college in Missouri? Want to guess what you went to school for? If you said, to be a broadcaster, you would be right!
If the name Shane Willis sounds familiar, it is because he played for the Canes! How cool is that!?!? Shane Willis works a lot with the junior Hurricanes to help make hockey more popular here in North Carolina. But, he also hosts a podcast with “Big Rig” Maniscalco. Podcasts are a little like TV shows but on the internet.
Kids Canes Challenge Answer:
Today we learned about Mike “Big Rig” Maniscalco and Tripp “Huge Caniac” Tracy who are the radio and TV broadcasters for the Carolina Hurricanes. “Big Rig” Maniscalco is the “play-by-play” broadcaster who tells us what is going on. All the quick details. “Huge Caniac” Tracy is the “color” broadcaster who tells funny stories, or gives us an opinion or a stat that explains something. Hanna Yates and Shane Willis hop in to host their TV show between each period of Canes home games.
Kids Canes Challenge:
We are taking a vacation next week so there is no Kids Canes Challenge. We will be back the first Wednesday of September which means……….HOCKEY SEASON IS ALMOST HERE!!!!!
Check out KIDS CANES CENTRAL for all the Kids Canes articles!