UTICA -- Longtime fans of local professional sports in Utica might remember names like Mike Kalinowski and Tim Roye. Kalinowski used to call Mohawk Valley Prowlers hockey games on the former WRUN 1150. Even earlier, Roye hosted SportsWatch on WIBX and handled play-by-play for the long-gone Utica Blue Sox during baseball season. Today, they're both working for major league teams.
Don Laible, one of the "community bloggers" for UticaOD.com, recently interviewed both gentlemen for his blog, Ice Chips and Diamond Dust.
Roye now works for the NBA's Golden State Warriors, but still calls some baseball games -- the Utica College grad spoke with Liable on the phone while driving to Sacramento to fill-in for regular announcer of that city's AAA affiliate of the Oakland A's. The interview resulted in a two-part story -- the first of which was posted on Saturday and the second on Sunday. Roye recalls the many duties he performed while working at WIBX from the late 70s through the early 80s and describes how he got to his present position.
In a similar format, the first part of the Kalinowski story is online today. The current Senior Director of Communications for the NHL's Los Angeles Kings describes how his time in Utica formed the foundation for his current position, and how he had to take a step backward in order to ultimately move forward with his career. The second part is scheduled to appear online tomorrow.