Brigade announce television and radio broadcasting teams

Published on January 26, 2006 under Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Kansas City Brigade News Release


The Kansas City Brigade announced their television and radio talent today. All 16 games will be aired on radio, at 97.3 Max FM, and all 16 on television, two nationally on NBC, five regionally on Fox Sports Midwest, and the rest locally on the WB Kansas City (KSMO TV 62) and Metro Sports.

The local television games will be broadcast by an alternating combination of former Royals and current Kansas Jayhawks voice Dave Armstrong and 25-year veteran Duke Frye (play-by-play), with former Chiefs player and current NFL analyst Jayice Pearson (color), and Survivor winner and radio show host Danni Boatwright (sideline reporter). This crew will also handle the pre-game (on WB) and post-game (on Metro Sports) shows.

Kansas State University football and basketball voice Stan Weber (color) will partner with University of Missouri football and basketball voice Chris Gervino (play-by-play) for the radio broadcast. Danni Boatwright, a huge supporter of the University of Kansas athletics, will also have duties as sideline reporter at selected games. For fans not in the local market for 97.3 Max FM, go to the team's website at www.kcbrigade.com to link to the broadcast via the Internet.

"There was a lot of interest for Kansas City Brigade broadcasting positions, and we feel as if we have assembled two great teams," General Manager Reggie Harris said. "Each person brings a different style, perspective, and personality that will no doubt mesh together to make for great viewing and listening opportunities for the fans. There is over 90 years of combined experience with our five talented play-by-play and color commentators and most of it in the local market. Plus, Danni will bring not only great energy from the field, but also a wealth of football knowledge and new point of view."

The Kansas City Brigade season kicks off this Sunday at the Dallas Desperados, at 2pm. While all 16 games will air live on radio, this will be the only game not shown live on television due to the NBC National Game of the Week. The game will be tape-delayed at 9:30pm (CT) on both WB Kansas City and Metro Sports.

Metro Sports and WB Kansas City will host a weekly television show called ‘The Brigade Experience'. The show will air at 6:30pm on Thursday's on Metro Sports and at 1:00pm on Saturday's on the WB Kansas City. ‘The Brigade Experience' will show highlights from the Brigade games and from around the league, rules of the game, player and coach profiles and feature stories, and a weekly challenge with a player and Survivor winner Danni Boatwright. Duke Frye will be the host of the half-hour show. This Saturday at 8:00pm, the WB will have a one hour television special devoted to the Kansas City Brigade and the Arena Football League.

On radio, 810 WHB will devote a half-hour each week in various shows to the Brigade in addition to the other coverage and interviews. This segment will feature a coach and/or player in-studio to break down the last game, forecast the upcoming game, answer fans questions, and much more.

BIOS:

Dave Armstrong is the TV voice of the Kansas City Brigade, handling play-by-play duties for Brigade games on Metro Sports and WB 62. Dave comes to the Brigade with a wealth of sports broadcasting experience. He has 19 years TV play-by-play experience calling Big 8 and Big 12 football games. He has also called football games for ESPN U, the Big 10 Conference and the Atlantic Coast Conference. Dave has also been the voice of the Seattle Seahawks for their pre-season football games. His experience is not limited to football, however. Dave is a nine-year TV play-by-play veteran calling Major League Baseball games, having spent three years with the Kansas City Royals and six years with the Colorado Rockies. Dave is also the TV voice of the Kansas Jayhawks and Iowa State Cyclones. He can also be heard on Sports Radio 810 WHB as the host of "The Late Show." Dave is a proud graduate of John Brown University in Arkansas and lives in Kansas City with his wife, Karen, and their two children, Tiffany 16, and Troy 15.

Duke Frye, also TV play-by-play voice for the Brigade and host of the weekly show ‘The Brigade Experience', is a 25-year veteran of the broadcasting business. He returns to the Brigade microphone after four years in private business. Frye has served as the radio voice of UMKC basketball as well as doing play-by-play for University of Kansas football and basketball on TV. Frye previously served as the radio voice of Texas A&M, TV announcer for Southwest Conference football and basketball and Metro Conference basketball. He also hosted pre-game programs for the Houston Astros and Kansas City Royals and has done color commentary for the Houston Oilers. In addition, for five seasons he hosted "Par for the Course" a golf show on ESPN. He also helped launch Metro Sports of Kansas City and was a founding partner of Union Broadcasting. He and his wife Barb have three girls.

Jayice Pearson is the TV color analyst for the Kansas City Brigade. A standout cornerback at the University of Washington, Pearson played for the Chiefs from 1986-1992. He retired after playing two more years in Minnesota. In 1996 Pearson became co-host of the Chiefs post-game show on Metro Sports, now nine years old. Pearson did color analysis of the MIAA football conference game of the week on Metro Sports for three seasons as well as the Gateway football conference for one season. The last five years he has been a color commentator for the ESPN+ regional college football package. In 2002 Pearson began covering NFL games for Fox Sports. He also co-hosts with Joe Carter "The Home Field Advantage", a weekly radio show on Sports Radio 810 WHB.

Chris Gervino, the Brigade's play-by-play voice, has been part of the University of Missouri football radio broadcasts the last 14 years on the Tiger Network. He has been the play-by-play voice on Missouri men's basketball games the last seven years on the Mizzou Televison Network. He hosts the Mizzou football and basketball coaches television shows with Gary Pinkel and Quin Snyder. Gervino has announced on college football and basketball telecasts for Fox Sports Midwest. He is the former public address announcer for the University of Missouri men's basketball games, along with the Missouri Valley Conference and NCAA Regional Basketball Tournaments in St.Louis. He is also the sports director at KOMU-TV, the NBC affiliate in Columbia.

Stan Weber, the Brigade's radio color analyst, has provided color analysis for Kansas State football games on radio for 19 seasons beginning in 1987. Since 1997 he has also provided commentary on Kansas State basketball games on both radio and television. Since 2000 Stan has co-hosted "College Football Game Day", a two-hour weekly radio show on Sports Radio 810 WHB called. He is a regular on Sports Radio 810 WHB, providing color analysis for the Arena Football League game between Grand Rapids and New Jersey played in 2001 at Kemper Arena, guest hosting for daily shows such as "Between the Lines" and providing color commentary for NAIA basketball tournament games, high school playoff and all-star games. Stan appears twice weekly on Sports Radio KGSO 1410 in Wichita for a program called "Stan's Sports Spectrum." He is a regular analyst on Metro Sports television programs, including Chiefs post-game shows, MIAA Thursday night football games, Kansas City Metro Classic High School All-Star games, Metro Sports Sunday Night, press conferences and the nightly "Metro Sports Talk", for which he won a 2003 Mid-America Emmy Award. This is Stan's second year as the KCTV-5 (CBS) basketball analyst for the Big 12 basketball season, Big 12 tournament and the NCAA tournament. Other television experience includes annual Kansas Shrine Bowl Football games, Big 12 Conference Basketball on ESPN Regional, the Missouri Valley Conference basketball tournament, Mid-Con Conference Basketball on Fox Sports Network, NAIA National Championship Football games and the NAIA National Tournament basketball games. In August 2005 Stan authored a book with David Smale called Stan Weber's Tales from the Kansas State Sideline, published by Sports Publishing LLC. Weber, who graduated Magna Cum Laude, received his bachelor's and master's degree in accountancy from Kansas State and currently serves as Vice President CFO of Tower Properties in Kansas City, Mo. Weber and his wife, Nancy, live in Overland Park with their four children: Brittani, Stanton, McKenzi and Landry.

The Kansas City Brigade is ecstatic to announce that Danni Boatwright will be the sideline reporter for the team. Boatwright represented the state of Kansas at the 1992 Miss Teen USA pageant in Biloxi, Mississippi, and was second runner up to the title. She also represented Kansas at the 1996 Miss USA Pageant, where she won all preliminary judging and was first runner up to the title of MISS USA. She was voted one of the "100 Most Beautiful Women." Boatwright has traveled around the world as an international model in Italy, England, Germany, France, Mexico, South Africa, Australia and Tunisia. At the age of 17, she was chosen to be on "Star Search" as a spokes model and contestant. She was the youngest ever chosen to appear on the show in this category. Boatwright has also appeared in numerous television and print advertisements. With all of her accomplishments, Boatwright's passion has been and will always be sports. Having grown up with seven brothers, she developed a keen competitive edge. Boatwright was a high school athlete who competed in basketball, volleyball, cross country and track where, as a freshman, she helped set a record in the two mile relay that still stands today. She continues to be active in sports, having recently competed in the Nashville "Music City Marathon." Because of her sports background, she is not only interested in the major sports, but also college sports and such diverse sports as rodeo and track. "Arena football is so fast-paced and exciting" Danni exclaims." Even if you've just seen it on television, you don't really get a feel for how incredible it is until you've seen it in person." Most recently, Boatwright hosted "Weekend Wrap," a weekly talk show on 610 Sports in Kansas City. This past December, Danni used her charismatic personality, quick wit, and athleticism to propel her to victory on the CBS hit SURVIVOR: Guatemala. Now, Danni is excited to be putting her on camera experience to work with her love of sports as she begins her latest job as host of a weekly show and sideline reporter for the Kansas City Brigade Arena Football Team. "The Brigade has put together a great entertainment package for Kansas City and I am excited to be a part of the action." Boatwright, who currently resides in Tonganoxie, Kansas, said.

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Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from January 26, 2006


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