Years ago, when I was a kid, I used to go to my grandmother's house probably every other weekend. And we would listen to a Play-By-play guide named Ernie Harwell, the voice of the Detroit Tigers. Now, Fast forward to 2022 today. Every night during the hockey season, me and my beautiful wife Mary, get to sit on the couch and listen to my favorite broadcaster. And that is Nick Nollerberger. Nick is the Voice of The Barracuda, the play-by-play guide for the San Jose Sharks Top Farm team, and also my son.
In this episode of Keep The Change, Nick Nollenberger tells his life story, his journey, and how he's been chasing his passion since he was a kid.
Nick tells the story of how his brother wouldn't allow him to play in hockey games unless he was in charge of refereeing. This goes back to when Nick was a kid, and the two of them played on the floor with sticks in the living room. That's how long ago he realized he liked broadcasting and that he could pursue that as a career if he wasn't an athlete.
Early in his career, he worked as the second announcer and public relations assistant for the Kannapolis Intimidators, the single-A club of the Chicago White Sox. After playing for a single year at the minor league baseball level, Nollenberger moved on to the NAHL's Odessa Jackalopes for a year before joining the Barracuda for the 2016–17 season.
Nick says, "If you're able to treat people, respect, be a team player, be hardworking, be passionate, and be kind of a carrier of the torture of the organization in a positive light, then you add value to yourself, and you have an opportunity to build relationships and those relationships, whether.
You're looking for something in return or not; hopefully, they'll propel you into something beyond where you're at because it is relationships that will probably get you the next opportunity and, uh, reputation. So it's little things that go a long, long way."
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