Wade Branner '79: In the Press Box at VMI

It’s a football Saturday in Lexington, and Wade Branner might be asking himself, “Is this heaven?”

No, it’s the radio booth high atop the press box at Virginia Military Institute’s Alumni Memorial Field, but for Branner ‘79, it might as well be heaven.

In addition to his duties as sports information director at VMI, he’s the play-by-play announcer for the Keydets’ six-station network.

It’s a job – actually a calling – that he dearly loves.

Years ago when he accompanied his dad to see the Richmond Braves play at Parker Field, he took his small tape recorder and “broadcast” the game.

When he occasionally found himself on the bench during his Collegiate baseball career, he often occupied his time with a steady narrative of the action.

A couple of years after his 1983 graduation from VMI, he was serving as assistant SID when he subbed for the play-by-play guy during a basketball road trip to Davidson and Appalachian State. 

He’s been behind the mic, reporting Keydet hoops, football, and baseball, ever since.

“It’s something I always wanted to do,” Branner explained.  “I enjoy performing. What I really like is being the conduit for an experience, particularly with alumni.”

The Keydets’ football network includes outlets in Norfolk, Richmond, Lynchburg, Roanoke, Lexington, and the Tri-Cities, and in recent years, the school’s website has carried live audio of the games.

“The internet has transformed our audience,” said Branner.  

“We’ve even gotten emails from Iraq during broadcasts which means that people are staying up to 3 or 4 in the morning to get a little bit of the football Saturday atmosphere.”

Except for a 4-month active duty stint as a Signal Corps officer at Ft. Gordon, GA, in 1984, Branner has worked in the SID’s office for 22 years.

He served as an intern under his mentor, Mike Strickler, during the 1983-84 school year, joined the staff full-time the next fall, and succeeded Strickler in 1992.

In addition to his myriad professional responsibilities, he adeptly juggles family life  – he and Elizabeth, his wife of 12 years, have two children, Harrison, 7, and Margaret, 4 – and his sideline as a singer for Mainpage, an acoustic group that performs every month or so in the Lexington area.

From Labor Day to Memorial Day and especially in the late fall when football and basketball seasons overlap, the SID’s office is bustling. 

It’s the liaison between the athletic department and the public, in essence the window through which the world sees VMI’s 16 varsity sports

It’s also responsible for providing information on upcoming opponents for the coaching staff.

“When I first broke into the business,” he said, “servicing the media was the primary focus. Over the last couple of decades, it’s evolved into internal support.”

Fall game days provide a singular challenge.  

Branner arrives in the press box by 8 a.m. and handles last minute details from laying out media information to ensuring that the cold cuts have arrived.

As the 1 p.m. kickoff nears, his staff assumes in-game operations while Branner dons his headset and swings into action.

After he signs off, he attends to the writers’ needs, posts the game story on the website, and files a report with the Big South Conference.  

Finally, he cleans up, switches off the lights, and goes home.

So ends the longest day of what is routinely a 65-hour week during the fall.

He wouldn’t have it any other way.

“When I go to work on football Saturdays,” he said, “it really doesn’t feel like work.

“It’s fun to have a job where the only clock you look at is on the scoreboard.”

Branner, who now holds the title associate athletic director for media relations, enjoys the view from the VMI press box as much as ever.