By Jeff McDonald, Staff writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2024-10-14 04:25:13
由生成式人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
雅各布·托比(Jacob Tobey)在马萨诸塞州东部长大，他小时候有一个独特的圣诞节传统。
每年，他都会兴高采烈地拆开最新版的 NBA2K 电子游戏，然后躲进地下室，把新光盘放进游戏机里。
然后，托比会关掉音量，按下开始键，开始像一个 10 岁的凯文·哈兰(Kevin Harlan)一样，为他自己的比赛进行解说。
“我真的会在地下室里一直尖叫到睡着，”托比回忆道，“我敢肯定我父母当时会想，‘楼下到底在干什么？’”
就在那个地下室里，马刺队新的电视解说员诞生了。
本月早些时候，马刺队选中托比接替传奇人物比尔·兰德(Bill Land)，后者在为俱乐部效力 21 个赛季后于 8 月份退休。
对 27 岁的托比来说，搬到圣安东尼奥就像是被龙卷风裹挟的旋风，直到几个月前，他还在丹佛当地 NBC 附属机构担任周末体育主播，并在福克斯体育和 Pac-12 网络兼职解说大学比赛。
在本周一马刺队与俄克拉荷马城雷霆队的季前赛揭幕战中，他与 longtime color analyst 肖恩·埃利奥特(Sean Elliott)一起完成了马刺队的电视首秀。此后，托比又解说了周三对阵奥兰多魔术队的比赛，并准备在周六对阵犹他爵士队的比赛中第三次亮相。
“虽然我已经解说了两场比赛，但我认为我还没有完全适应，”托比说，“我醒来时仍然会想，‘我是一名马刺队的解说员。我在 NBA。’”
托比凭借着在马刺队的工作，创造了 NBA 的一项历史。
作为马萨诸塞州马什皮万帕诺亚格部落的成员，托比被认为是联盟历史上第一位印第安人解说员。
“总的来说，没有多少少数族裔有机会拿起麦克风，”托比说，“这种（传统）对我来说很重要。你会听到我经常谈论它。”
考虑到他稚嫩的面孔和年轻的年龄，托比的 NBA 解说之路似乎是一夜之间实现的。事实上，这是一个艰苦而漫长的过程。
就像托比现在解说的那些 NBA 球员一样，他的职业道路在他还不到领取报酬就能胜任这份工作的时候就开始了。
托比解说的第一批现场比赛是他和朋友们在他家车道上的野球比赛。有时，托比会在自己参加比赛的同时大声解说比赛。
“无论我们在哪里，我都会这样做，”托比说。
当他就读于马萨诸塞州三明治高中时，一个名叫凯文·阿戈斯蒂内利(Kevin Agostinelli)的朋友想出了一个主意，要建立一个校园广播电台，唯一目的就是为托比提供一个磨练声音的地方。
两人向学校申请资金，令人惊讶的是，他们成功了，几周后，托比就在互联网上广播他所在高中的棒球比赛了。
托比第一场比赛的搭档解说员是他的历史老师吉姆·巴拉索(Jim Barrasso)，他曾是《波士顿先驱报》的记者。
其他人也从小就鼓励托比的解说梦想。他的父亲达纳(Dana)以一种只有在马萨诸塞州警察局工作了 25 年的老警察才会有的严肃方式鼓励他。
如果 10 岁的雅各布·托比怀揣着有一天能真正进入 NBA 打球的想法，达纳就会确保他的儿子脚踏实地。
“我爸爸很早就告诉我，我进不了 NBA，”托比笑着说，“我仍然为此记恨他。”
这种现实主义的剂量激励了托比，
“我说，‘好吧，那我就尽可能地接近它，’”他说。
这段旅程在托比就读于波士顿萨福克大学(Suffolk University)期间开始加速，他在校报、广播和电视台工作，同时解说该地区的比赛。
2018 年毕业后，托比在俄克拉荷马州塔尔萨的 NBC 附属机构找到了他的第一份工作，担任周末体育主播，然后在 2020 年开始在丹佛担任类似的职位。
在这两个地方，托比都把寻找比赛解说作为首要任务，他经常在休息日开车前往俄克拉荷马州、科罗拉多州或怀俄明州的偏远地区，解说一场大专比赛。
托比会在这些孤独的旅程中做着关于未来的白日梦来陪伴自己。
因此，当托比在周一于 AT&T 中心(AT&T Center) 首次拿起麦克风时，他感觉自己好像以前来过这里。
“我已经知道那种感觉是什么样的了，因为我已经在这些长途驾驶中想过了，”托比说，“当我坐在椅子上和肖恩一起做开场白时，我觉得很自在。”
托比正在努力适应圣安东尼奥的生活——第一步是搬出他过去一个月一直住的 Airbnb——他知道自己肩负着重任。
对于一代马刺球迷来说，兰德是蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan)、托尼·帕克(Tony Parker)和马努·吉诺比利(Manu Ginobili)黄金时代所有精彩时刻的声音。
作为波士顿凯尔特人队的童年粉丝，托比记得他认真聆听迈克·戈尔曼(Mike Gorman)的每一句话，戈尔曼为那支球队解说了 43 年的比赛。
“我理解作为一名球迷的感觉，”托比说，“我完全可以设身处地地为马刺球迷着想。”
马刺电视台制作团队近二十年来一直保持完整，他们的稳定存在减轻了托比的过渡压力。兰德在季前赛揭幕战的前一天给他打电话，祝托比好运。
早期的评价是积极的。最重要的是，托比和 56 岁的埃利奥特之间的化学反应显示出了希望。
“他叫我‘年轻人’，”托比说，“这是一种大哥、小弟的关系，这很棒。我 27 岁。我还年轻。我不会逃避这一点。但我希望人们明白，我也是为了这个目标而努力的。”
如果一切按计划进行，他希望成为新一代马刺球迷心中，维克多·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama) 许多精彩瞬间的声音。
对于托比来说，从父母家的地下室到 AT&T 中心场边的旅程既漫长得难以想象，又转瞬即逝。
最重要的是，托比已经准备好迎接他的第一个 NBA 常规赛季了，届时，每个夜晚都一定会让他感觉像圣诞节的早晨。
与他年轻的外表相反，马刺队新任电视解说员雅各布·托比(Jacob Tobey)走过了一条漫长的 NBA 之路。
与他年轻的外表相反，马刺队新任电视解说员雅各布·托比(Jacob Tobey)走过了一条漫长的 NBA 之路。
与他年轻的外表相反，马刺队新任电视解说员雅各布·托比(Jacob Tobey)走过了一条漫长的 NBA 之路。
点击查看原文：New Spurs play-by-play man aims to carve his own path
New Spurs play-by-play man aims to carve his own path
Jacob Tobey had a unique Christmas tradition as a kid growing up in eastern Massachusetts.
Each year, he would gleefully unwrap the latest edition of the NBA2K video game, retire to the basement and pop the new disc into his console.
Then Tobey would turn off the volume, press start and begin to call play-by-play of his own games like a 10-year-old version of Kevin Harlan.
“I would literally scream myself to sleep down there,” Tobey recalled. “I’m sure my parents were like, ‘What the heck is going on downstairs?’ “
In that basement, the Spurs’ new television play-by-play voice was born.
Earlier this month, the Spurs tabbed Tobey to replace the legendary Bill Land, who in August retired after 21 seasons with the club.
For the 27-year-old Tobey, who up until a few months ago was working as a weekend sports anchor with the local NBC affiliate in Denver and calling college games for Fox Sports and the Pac-12 Network on the side, the move to San Antonio has been like a whirlwind wrapped in a cyclone.
He made his Spurs TV debut alongside longtime color analyst Sean Elliott in the team’s preseason opener against Oklahoma City on Monday. Tobey has since followed with the call of Wednesday’s game against Orlando and was set for a third appearance Saturday against Utah.
“I don’t think it’s fully hit, even though I’ve done two games,’ “ Tobey said. “I still wake up and I’m like, ‘I’m a Spurs announcer. I’m in the NBA.’ “
By landing the Spurs’ job, Tobey made a bit of NBA history.
A member of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe in Massachusetts, Tobey is believed to be the first Native American play-by-play announcer the league has had.
“Not many minorities in general have a microphone,” Tobey said. “That (heritage) is something that’s important to me. You’ll hear me talk about it a lot.”
Given his fresh face and youthful age, Tobey’s matriculation to an NBA microphone might seem like it came overnight. In actuality, it has been a painstaking and prolonged process.
Like the NBA players whose games Tobey now calls, his path to the big leagues began before he was old enough to be paid to do the job.
The first live games Tobey called were pickup contests with his friends in his front driveway. Sometimes Tobey would call the action aloud while playing in the games himself.
“I would just do it no matter where we were,” Tobey said.
When he got to high school in Sandwich, Mass., a friend named Kevin Agostinelli devised a plan to start a school radio station for the sole purpose of providing Tobey a place to hone his voice.
The pair hit up the school for funding, surprisingly succeeded, and within a few weeks Tobey was broadcasting his high school’s baseball games over the internet.
Tobey’s color analyst for his first game was his history teacher, a former journalist at the Boston Herald named Jim Barrasso.
Others also encouraged Tobey’s play-by-play dreams from an early age. His father, Dana, did so in the no-nonsense way only a 25-year veteran of the Massachusetts State Police could.
If 10-year-old Jacob Tobey harbored ideas of actually playing in the NBA one day, Dana made sure to keep his son’s feet firmly on the ground.
“My dad kind of told me early on I was not going to make the NBA,” Tobey said with a laugh. “I still hold a grudge against him for that.”
That dose of realism turned inspiring for Tobey,
“I said, ‘Fine, I’ll get as close as I can then,’ “ he said.
That journey began to pick up steam for Tobey in college at Suffolk University in Boston, where he worked at the school newspaper and radio and TV stations while calling games across the region.
Graduation in 2018 led Tobey to his first professional job as the weekend sports anchor at the NBC affiliate in Tulsa, Okla., then on to a similar position in Denver beginning in 2020.
At both stops, Tobey made it a priority to find games to call, often making desolate drives to far-flung outposts in Oklahoma or Colorado or Wyoming to pick up a junior college game on his day off.
Tobey would keep himself company on those lonesome drives by daydreaming about the future.
So when Tobey took the mic for the first time at the Frost Bank Center on Monday, he felt as if he had been there before.
“I already knew what that feeling was going to feel like, because I’d already thought about it on these long drives,” Tobey said. “Once I sat down in the chair to do the open with Sean, I felt at home.”
As Tobey works to get settled in San Antonio – step one is moving out of the Air B&B he has called home for the past month – he knows he has large vocal chords to fill.
For a generation of Spurs fans, Land was the voice of all their favorite highlights from the golden era of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.
A childhood follower of the Boston Celtics, Tobey remembers hanging on every word of Mike Gorman, who called that team’s games for 43 years.
“I understand what that feels like as a fan,” Tobey said. “I can totally put myself in the shoes of Spurs fans.”
Tobey’s transition has been eased by the steady presence a Spurs TV production team that has been intact for nearly two decades. Land called him the day before the preseason opener to wish Tobey luck.
Early reviews have been positive. Most importantly, the chemistry between Tobey and the 56-year-old Elliott has shown promise.
“He calls me Young Fella,” Tobey said. “It’s a big bro, little bro type of thing, which is great. I’m 27. I’m young. I don’t run away from that. But I want people to understand I grinded for this, too.”
If all goes to plan, he hopes to become the voice of many a Victor Wembanyama highlight for a new generation of Spurs fans.
For Tobey, the journey from his parents’ basement to courtside at the Frost Bank Center has simultaneously taken too long and come in a flash.
More than anything, Tobey is ready for the start of his first NBA regular season, where every night is sure to feel like Christmas morning.
Belying his youthful appearance, new Spurs TV announcer Jacob Tobey took the long road to the NBA.
Belying his youthful appearance, new Spurs TV announcer Jacob Tobey took the long road to the NBA.
Belying his youthful appearance, new Spurs TV announcer Jacob Tobey took the long road to the NBA.
By Jeff McDonald, Staff writer, via San Antonio Express-News