Video tweet shared and commented on by major news and sports networks around the country
A forty-five second video tweet has made headlines.
No, it’s not from Washington, or about anything political. It’s Mike Wolk’s introduction of the Clearview High School boys basketball team before a game versus Schalick last Saturday morning. The video has been retweeted 37.6K times as of Feb. 9.
It was 11:30 a.m., and the gym was not exactly full. However, by the sound of Wolk’s voice, one would think it was the NBA final.
There's like 6 people in the stands ….1130am…Clearview basketball announcer is feeling it . https://t.co/y7xA0hBC1l
The video tweet was taken by former Clearview student Ken McNichols, who captioned the video, “There’s like 6 people in the stands ….1130am…Clearview basketball announcer is feeling it.”
Wolk’s thunderous voice permeated through the Clearview gym and then through the social media world. Sources such as Philly.com, The Chicago Sun Times and ESPN shared and commented on the tweet.
The Chicago Sun Times began an article with, “Ray Clay, the legendary voice of the Bulls, has nothing on this young PA announcer at Clearview Regional High School in New Jersey.”
“It’s absolutely insane that this many media outlets have commented, posted, or even talked about the video. Ken and I have been messaging each other back and forth when we see it on different shows/websites. Barstool was huge, SportsCenter was even crazier, and Howard Stern was probably the coolest. My dad is a huge Howard fan so that was a really big deal for me,” Wolk said.
While Wolk has enjoyed the commentary about the video, he says, “I really started doing the intros that way to hype up the players as much as I could. I did it before one game two years ago and a player told me they were really jacked up about it, which was the overall goal in the first place. I usually try to hide in between the bleachers so the focus is on the players.”
Wolk teaches in the media department at Clearview and is an assistant coach for the school’s hockey and lacrosse teams.
Wolk played hockey growing up and is an authentic Philly sports fan.
“I’m a huge Flyers, Eagles, Phillies and Sixers fan, so to say sports play a role in my life would be an understatement. I got introduced before a playoff hockey game once, and I thought it was the coolest thing in the world. The goal is to translate that feeling that I had to our Clearview players now. Plus, I’d like to think it’s a bit of a home court advantage. Like I’ve said before, if the players ever felt it was distracting or annoying, I would drop the mic tomorrow, it always has been and will be about them,” he said.
The Clearview boys won the game 60–35.
