INDIANAPOLIS – So far, Rob Blackman’s job has been much more enjoyable for this NCAA tournament. As the radio play-by-play voice of No.1-seed Purdue (30-4), he’ll call the action for Sunday’s second-round game against No.8-seed Utah State (28-6).
Last year, the Boilermakers were infamously bounced in their opener by No.16 Fairleigh Dickinson. But this team is better and is vying to reach the program’s first Final Four since 1980. We caught up with Blackman to discuss his journey from aspiring DJ to working for the Purdue Global Radio Network.
Note: This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
Awful Announcing: How did broadcasting the first-round game this year feel different than last year?
Rob Blackman: “In that game against Fairleigh Dickinson, Purdue trailed by one at halftime. You had an uneasy feeling sitting courtside. ‘You know what? Fairleigh Dickinson is talented enough that they could beat us.’ Of course, that’s ultimately what happened. This game (vs. Grambling) had a different feel. Purdue had the 9-point lead at halftime. You just felt like Purdue was the better team in this particular instance. And then when Purdue made that run in the first five minutes of the second half, you were convinced that Purdue was a better team.”
Do you get nervous during games?
“I do get a little bit nervous, but for the most part, those nerves go away once you’re into the flow of the game because you’re trying so hard just to do your job to the best of your ability. You don’t have time to stop and think about the emotional side of it, I guess.
“Now look, when we get to the under four(-minute) media timeout at the end of the game, and it’s a close game, yeah, there are a few seconds where you do probably get a little over-emotionally involved. But again, those media timeouts are so short. You only have a few seconds to stop and think about that kind of stuff from an emotional standpoint.”
How did you get into broadcasting?
“My route is different than a lot of others, especially on the play-by-play side. Most (broadcasters) will tell you how they went to bed at night with a transistor radio under the pillow hoping to one day become a play-by-play guy. I went to the University of Evansville. I wanted to work at a campus radio station because I wanted to be a DJ, a disc jockey. Those were still cool way back when. I thought either in a rock or a top-40 radio station.
“The first radio station I ever worked for was in a small town in Mount Carmel, Illinois. Stepping into it, hoping maybe one day I could be a disc jockey. They gave me an opportunity to call the high school and junior college games. Wabash Valley Junior College is in Mount Carmel. I kind of half-heartedly said, ‘Sure, I’ll give it a try.’ The next thing you know, I fell in love with that. My dreams of becoming a disc jockey went by the wayside. I was a college athlete, so I’ve always been attracted to sports. I played football at the University of Evansville when they still had football. I played wide receiver.”
Were you a good receiver?
“I was a full-time starter in my junior and senior seasons. I certainly was not all-conference caliber. No, I did not catch a touchdown. Talk about disappointing. My kids remind me of that too all the time.”
What led you to Purdue?
“My wife and I had moved to Indianapolis in 2001, and I didn’t have any work. I had been in Nashville calling games for Tennessee State University and Lipscomb University. I was cold-calling every college in Indiana. I called Purdue and it just so happened the guy who picked up the phone and was running the Purdue Radio Network at the time had been a classmate of mine at Evansville. He said, ‘Look, I don’t have anything for you right now other than we need to fill in on the radio network for two games this year.’ I said I’ll gladly do that, (hosting) the pregame, halftime, postgame. So, I filled in for this guy and wouldn’t you know it, when the season was over, the guy I had filled in for took another job. Years later, here we are.”
How did you eventually become the voice of the Boilermakers?
“Purdue fans would know my longtime broadcast partner, Larry Clisby, who passed away three Februaries ago. I was his broadcast partner for 15 years. Unfortunately, when he fell ill, I just made the transition from the set-up guy to the play-by-play role. This is my fifth year on the play-by-play.”
What’s the most difficult thing about your job?
“Probably the hardest is trying to make sure, from an emotional standpoint, that I do the best that I can to be as objective an observer as I can. The nice thing about working with Matt Painter is that’s what he wants also. And I say that meaning, look, if we’re playing poorly, then I need to tell the fans we’re playing poorly. There’s no sugarcoating it, and that’s not what Coach Painter would want anyway. That’s one of the great things I learned from Larry Glisby. When we’re playing well, yeah, be sure to let the fans know that we’re playing well. It’s not always rosy, especially in this business.”
Preppin’ for Sunday. pic.twitter.com/fXS5T0nLYF
— Purdue Men's Basketball (@BoilerBall) March 23, 2024
What kind of challenges does Utah State present?
“They have a big guy [Isaac Johnson] that can shoot the three. It’s probably been the biggest concern for Purdue the last two seasons. If you have a stretch five that can step out and make the three-point shot, that’s difficult for Zach Edey to guard. They do like to push in transition. After makes or misses, they’ll push the ball in transition and look for easy baskets which against Purdue, if you can do that, you’re probably going to have a chance to win the game. When Purdue can set its half-court defense, it has been really good. But if you can get easy points in transition, runouts, that’s where you can make some hay against Purdue.”
Do you have a prediction for the game?
“No, I’ll stay away from that. I made the mistake last year of predicting a Purdue win over Fairleigh Dickinson. I wound up with egg on my face on that one.”
