CLEVELAND — A lifelong Cleveland sports fan is living his dream job.
Hyping up the home team comes naturally to Jamie Kazel.
“Always a Cleveland sports fan,” he said. “Born and raised.”
He’s the public address announcer for the Cleveland Charge. At game time, he sits on the sideline and calls the shots.
“Your head’s constantly on a swivel,” he said. “There’s never a dull moment.”
Watching him in action, you’d never guess he isn’t a big basketball fan.
“That was one sport that I never really gelled with,” Kazel said. “I played just about every other sport in my life.”
The youngest child of six, Kazel said he’s always been an entertainer. But the hardwood at the Wolstein Center is a stage where he never thought he’d be performing.
“Nor did ever think it would be a position that I would find myself being so happy and excited about,” he said.
That’s because when the team discovered him, he was in a decidedly different industry.
“I was a guidance counselor at an Eastside catholic school,” he said.
He did double-duty as an announcer for the high school’s match-ups before he got called up to announcing games at the collegiate and semi-pro levels.
“I think initially I was a nervous wreck over what to do professionally, but I think over time, you develop your own style,” he said.
He said the hardest part of the job is nailing everyone’s names.
“They’ve earned every bit of credit to be pronounced correctly,” he said.
He uses his voice as an instrument to help work fans into a frenzy.
“Whether there’s 30 people or 3,000 in the stands, my general philosophy is bring your A-game, because you never know who’s listening,” Kazel said.
His goal is to make it to the big leagues as an announcer for the Cavaliers or Guardians.