Steve Wilson Interviews Broadcast Partner Orville Susong From Friday Night Locker Room In ‘Sit Down With Steve’
By Space Coast Daily // August 11, 2019
DEDICATED TO LOCAL YOUTH & HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS FOR OVER 20 Years
ABOVE VIDEO: In this edition of ‘Sit Down With Steve’, Steve Wilson interviews his broadcast partner Orville Susong from the Friday Night Locker Room to highlight Orville’s dedication to local high school sports and how his love for broadcasting first started.
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – In this edition of ‘Sit Down With Steve’, Steve Wilson interviews his broadcast partner Orville Susong from the Friday Night Locker Room to highlight Orville’s dedication to local high school sports and how his love for broadcasting first started.
The Space Coast Sports Hall of Famers discuss various topics including what games most stood out for Orville over his 20 years of broadcasting.
“The Rockledge High School 2004 state championship vs West Haven in baseball. We knew every person on the field that day and it was like a family down on the field.” said Susong.
“Also, another one I remember is when Cocoa won the back-to-back state championships in football.”
Among other topics, Orville talks about how he first became involved with local high school sports and the journey he has enjoyed over the years.
“The founder of the Friday Night Locker Room, Keith Lippert, his son was one of my players when I was coaching baseball. We ran into him as he was getting ready to broadcast a Rockledge football game, and the person who was suppose to be with him and provide the equipment, didn’t show up. He (Keith) was very upset about that and I joked with him that was what I always wanted to do – broadcast.”
“So, the next week, he calls me up and said his guy failed to show up again and he asked me to do it. I told him I was just kidding, I didn’t really want to do that, but he urged me to come out and we covered a Rockledge High football game. I kind of got the bug, then the rest is history from there.”
Susong elaborated on some memorable people they have had the pleasure to work with over the years.
“We have the had the opportunity to cover some of the best athletes in high school sports and college. We have done things with Evander Holyfield, Doug Williams, Pinklon Thomas and there’s so many people we’ve met and sporting events we have been apart of. It’s just amazing”
Susong, who is also a local business owner of Custom Prints Screenprinting, admitted Friday’s can be hectic when trying to balance his work life and broadcasting local high school sports.
“When we originally began the Friday Night Locker Room, I would have preferred the Tuesday Night Locker Room,” Susong said jokingly. “I never have anything going on Tuesday nights and you always have bunch of things to do on Friday.”
The Friday Night Locker Room will kickoff their 22nd year of high school football coverage next Friday night in the Kickoff Classic matchup between Heritage at Palm Bay, which can be seen on Space Coast Daily TV.
FRIDAY NIGHT LOCKER ROOM
ABOVE VIDEO: Now in their 22nd year broadcasting and covering Brevard County high school sports, the Friday Night Locker Room’s longtime crew is now the Space Coast’s most definitive source of high school and youth sports information. (Video aired in 2015)
The FNLR squad has broadcasted games from one end of the state to the other – from Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee to Traz Powell Stadium in Miami.
Wilson and Susong have broadcast high school sports together in Brevard County for almost two decades.
They have also covered eleven state championship games over the years involving Brevard County Schools.
With over 1,000 broadcasts on their resume, one of the games that stands out for Wilson wasn’t in Brevard County.
“One of the most exciting games we broadcasted was the Cocoa at Monsignor Pace state semifinal football game in 2008,” Wilson said.
“With the clock running out, Cody Bell of Cocoa kicked a 52-yard field goal to win the game. It stunned the crowd and sent the Tigers to Orlando the following week, where they defeated Godby 7-6 to win their first of three consecutive state championships, all of which FNLR broadcast.”
But the FNLR crew has learned that covering winning championship games does not come close to other moments.
“With modern technology the way it is now, all of our games are also streamed online,” Wilson said. “We will never forget a phone call that we received prior to a football playoff game.”
“About 30 minutes before air time, we received a call from Staff Sgt. James Davis in the U.S. Army.
He was stationed in Iraq, and was up at 3:30 a.m., his time, to listen to our broadcast of a Brevard County high school football game. He said it brought a little piece of home to him in a very difficult situation. That phone call really made an impact on us.”
With the many years of memories and thousands of miles traveled, the FNLR crew remain grateful to those who help make it possible every time.
“Without Mr. Erdman’s financial support over the years, what we do would not be possible,” said Wilson.
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