Sports have been put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic, but that doesn’t mean the people who call the games are slowing down.
While everything from March Madness to rugby has been postponed or canceled, several announcers have passed the time while in quarantine by calling some of the more mundane moments of life.
Fox Sports’ Joe Buck let fans on Twitter know he would be happy to keep his play-by-play skills sharp by calling videos of people doing ordinary things.
“I have good news for you - While we’re all quarantined right now without any sports, I’d love to get some practice reps in. Send me videos of what you’re doing at home and I’ll work on my play-by-play. Seriously!” he wrote in response to a fan who said he was excited to hear him on the microphone again.
Perhaps getting in some practice, Buck, who's called everything from Super Bowls to World Series, also posted an amusing video of his own wife dealing with their toddler son.
Buck also asked that anyone whose video he used donate to a charity in exchange for his efforts.
Later, in another video posted on Twitter, Buck said the response to his call for videos "has been crazy."
"I did not expect that at all," Buck said, adding that he would keep his play-by-play comments "G-rated."
Other announcers have also gotten in on the fun.
Rugby commentator Nick Heath has passed the time with short videos in which he humorously handles play-by-play duties for people in a London park, having some fun while following a group of parents pushing their kids' strollers, two dogs chasing each other and two men kicking a soccer ball.
He also deftly calls the action while people cross a street, among other nondescript activities.
“For me, sports is not solely about the action on the field. It’s about the atmosphere, the occasion, the sound of it, the look of it,” Heath told The New York Times.
Asked what the appeal of his videos is, Heath said, "It’s scratching that itch and being some kind of placebo for the sport they are missing.”
New York Mets public address announcer Colin Cosell, the grandson of sportscasting legend Howard Cosell, has issued calls to fans to reach out to him so he can customize an introduction as if they’re coming to bat in a game.
It's a gimmick he's done before, but is putting out there again since Major League Baseball pushed back the beginning of its season.
"So, yeah. There’s a hiatus until we start the season," he wrote earlier this month. "We all want baseball, and I want to announce. Who wants me to record a call-up for their at-bat/pitching entrance? Give me your name, position, and walk-up song, plus the hashtag #CallMeUpColin."
The response has been pretty good.
"The first 30 #CallMeUpColin recordings have been sent and the feedback has been AMAZING! Now...on to the remaining 120..." he tweeted over the weekend.
Al Murdoch, the PA man for the NHL's Vancouver Canucks, is doing something similar by sharing personalized goal calls.
"These personalized goal announcement requests from @Canucks fans are coming from all around the world!" he captioned one video calling a goal for some fans in Australia.