D’AMBROSIO, NORMAN STILL RADIO ROYALTY
by Matt Buckler, Manchester Journal-Inquirer
March 2, 2015
Sometimes when a broadcast team has been around a long time, it may be taken for granted.
Listening to Sunday’s UConn-SMU game, however, reinforces just how talented a team that Joe D’Ambrosio and Wayne Norman is.
Granted, they have to have an exciting game with which to work, and they did Sunday. They were able to turn it into an athletic adventure.
D’Ambrosio is the emotional, fire-and-brimstone play-by-play man who makes his listeners get involved, saving most of his excitement for the game’s most important moments.
Norman, the analyst, is the perfect companion to D’Ambrosio — the calm voice that can explain a big play or give you the statistical update.
While some radio analysts tend to be choppy and long-winded, Norman is smooth and concise. He knows how to say a lot in a short period of time. Instead of using stale cliches, he specializes in fresh information.
Norman missed several games this season because of medical issues, but it sounds like he never left. He is easy to listen to. One would think that’s a prerequisite for radio, but many color men don’t have a knack for it.
Norman does.
It might take a great game (a dilly as D’Ambrosio described it) to reinforce how entertaining D’Ambrosio and Norman are, but Sunday’s game with SMU proved it once again.
D’Ambrosio is the gasoline. Norman is the anti-freeze. And together, they make for enjoyable home team broadcasts.
