Guthrie radio team wins second OAB award for top play-by-play

By: Charles Chaney
Special to Guthrie News Page

Guthrie success stories don’t always start and stop on the gridiron or the basketball court. For Chris Evans and his radio team, their success is in the radio booth as they were awarded the Play-by-Play outstanding achievement award by the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters (OAB).

With one of the most competitive categories for the OAB, it was the group of Evans, Casey Porter (color commentary), Phil Nichols (sideline reporter) and Craig Fleck (stats) taking home their second award in the last four years.

“It’s pretty special to win this award for the second time, and it wouldn’t be possible without the help and support of the community, coaches, school administration and advertisers,” Evans said. “We achieve to put together the best broadcast, and we’re extremely honored to have our efforts recognized.”

They were awarded the same honor in 2013 for their call of the 2013 GHS football state championship game.

Evans and Porter have been broadcasting Guthrie athletics since 2002 and the duo has been lucky enough in their professions to broadcast six state championship games for GHS (Basketball 2008 and 2009 – Football 2002, 2007, 2011 and 2013).

Evans and Porter added Nichols in 2015 and the fit has been seamless. Anyone who tunes into their broadcast can vouch for that.

“When Phil was added, it was just a natural,” Porter said. “Nobody ever had to define his role because he has a passion for the kids in Guthrie and knew exactly how to promote them. Very few people have done more for the youth in this great community than him, and it’s fun to see him get some recognition in return for his givings.”

While Evans is quick to compliment his colleagues, it’s Porter who quickly shot the admiration back in Evans’ direction.

“Chris has always stayed on the cutting edge of equipment to make sure that we can stay ahead on the sound production side of things,” Porter said. “That has made a huge difference.”

Fleck’s attention to detail when running stats for Evans and Porter provide a point of view at times most aren’t aware of. It continues to be that unique factor the team brings every time they broadcast.

“Craig is a part of our broadcast that can’t be replaced,” Porter said. “The feel for the game based off of the statistics he provides adds a great deal. Craig has always been a guy that has made himself available for production or whatever the team needs. His talents for the production of commercials is 2nd to none. He is the best at taking a script and making a professional sounding advertisement out of it.”

The banquet for the award presentation took place at the Skirvin Hotel in Oklahoma City on Friday, March 31.

The Outstanding Achievement in Broadcast Awards Program is an annual competition sponsored by OAB. It encourages competition in the highest standards of reporting, programming and promotion. It’s designed to stimulate excellence among Oklahoma broadcasters.

“Broadcasting has always been something that Chris and I have had a passion for,” Porter said. “Sports is something that we have an equal passion for as well, so combining the two has been a natural. We have always gone above and beyond both in equipment and production and it’s nice to see that it has paid off.”

Charles Chaney is a Guthrie High School graduate and covers Butler Community College football and basketball for Butler Sports Media. Charles also serves as the copy editor for Yahoo Sports and is the owner of Thunder Digest.