My time behind the microphone at Wake Forest University began during basketball season. The football program adopted me the following fall. Field hockey wasn’t far behind. Soccer soon followed. Volleyball was next. And, eventually, the tennis team said, “Will you?” So, I did.
I helped out with baseball every now and then. But, baseball people can’t tell time and I had things to do.
From my seat, the Demon Deacons coaches and teams were pretty low-maintenance. They were exceptionally kind and incredibly patient. There were no complaints and even fewer requests.
Until!
Somebody called. I don’t recall whom. It was likely one of the 18, 922 interns assigned to the Athletic Department on the Reynolda campus.
“Jeffrey, we’re going to send you an audio recording. The men’s soccer team would like to know if you can record something similar for us to play when we score a goal?”
“Of course. Not a problem. Send it. You’ll have it today.”
Sure enough, an MP3 landed in my email Inbox within the minute.
I downloaded the attachment and started listening. It was not what I expected.
“Hey, Vikki… come here and listen to this.”
The audio rambled on for more than a minute.
“That’s not English, is it?”
My better half stared at me with the ever-popular, “how stupid can you be?” look.
“What is wrong with you? That’s Italian.”
“That’s what I thought, too.”
I called the number that had called me moments earlier. A familiar voice answered.
“Hey! This is Jeffrey. I got your email. One little thing… I don’t speak Italian and I can’t translate what that guy is saying. So…”
There was a hearty, frat-boy-inspired roll of laughter.
“No! Not the whole thing. Just the ‘GOAL!’ part at the end.”
Oh. Well. In THAT case.
I listened again. It was a recording of a soccer match. In Italian. And, as promised, the audio showcased a voice going bat-crazy-bonkers with one of those legendary soccer announcers losing his mind with a bigger-than-life-game-winning, “GOOOOOOOAAAAAAAL!”
If that’s what the team wants.
I recorded at least twenty versions. Everyone was awful. Terrible. There is no way Wake is gonna use that.
Imagine my surprise! I walked in the press box for the season opener.
“Jeffrey! The team loved the ‘GOAL!’ We’re gonna use that each time we score. Everything else will be a live read, like always.”
It was hideous. I cringed every time the old gold and black put one in the back of the net.
About halfway through the season, a fan (I’m fairly certain she was a Team Mom) burst through the press box door during the halftime break.
She was not happy. “Who is responsible for the talking?”
I knew she was not there to offer a word of thanks and a cookie.
I stammered a response. “Um, he’s not here.” I gestured to an empty chair. “I think he went to the concession stand.”
“Well! Please tell whoever it is, to stop with that ‘GOAL!’ Everybody hates it and it is awful.”
“I’ll pass along the message.”
She turned abruptly and returned to her seat.
The other people in the press box laughed and laughed.
She wasn’t entirely wrong. It was awful. I hated it, too.
But, the team loved it. “GOAL!” remained in place for the season. At least, until the NCAA took over Spry Stadium for the postseason. The reigning authority of college athletics is not a fan of any kind of home field advantage during championship play.
The next season, a different roster took the pitch. Mercifully, we returned to the more traditional live read for every score. “GOAL!” went by the wayside.
The Family Griffinski gathered in our living room for Team USA’s World Cup opener with Paraguay.
It didn’t take long… “GOOOOOOOAAAAAAAL!” for the red, white and blue.
Really? It’s taken all these years to come full circle.
The “call” was never about Wake. It was never about me. It’s tradition. A part of the beautiful game.
From Spry Stadium, alongside Reynolda Road, to the World Cup 2026.
Then, it was the Demon Deacons and Jeffrey. This summer, it’s Team USA and the German National Team and the Italians and the Irish and Norway and, well, everybody on the world’s biggest stage.
Sometimes… you’re a part of history, and don’t even know it.
Watch the games. Go ahead. When your team scores, let it fly. Get after it. Do it. Be loud. Be proud.
“GOOOOOOOAAAAAAAL!”
Jeffrey Griffin 