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In this episode, hear how senior journalism major Aaron Rollins started taking photos of Biola’s athletics games for fun, which somehow led to dabbling in play-by-play and a part-time job for Biola Athletics’ Eagles Broadcast on the Pac West Network. The Napa, Calif., native talks about the fun of commentating unpredictable sports on a live broadcast, and his own on-air Duane Kuiper moment. Read the Chimes story highlighting his experience here.
For more details about this week's headlines: DRC persecution, SGA updates, Missions Conference, CS Lewis Onstage, Germany’s election
Creators and Guests
What is The Chimes Weekly?
Bite-sized podcast episodes with your top news stories from The Chimes, Los Angeles County, the nation and the world, with an interview with a Chimes writer to close out your week.
By Biola University students, for Biola University students. Previously known as Chimes Rundown and KBR Daily News Updates by KBR The Torch.
Reagan Glidewell: From The Torch Podcasting Network, this is The Chimes Weekly. I’m Reagan Glidewell, reporting from Biola University. It’s Friday, February 28.
Aaron Rollins: Launched. Deep into left field. It is outta here!
Reagan Glidewell: Coming up, we’ll hear more from the man behind this play by play, Aaron Rollins and his journey to his role in his conversation with my colleague Hope Li. But before that, let’s take a look at this week’s headlines.
Reagan Glidewell: Just a head’s up, this first headline includes graphic content about the current persecution of Christians in the Democratic Republic of the Congo On Thursday, February 13th, 70 Christians were beheaded by a militant group in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. According to Open Doors UK, a militant group known as the Allied Democratic Forces, or ADF, with ties to the Islamic State, surrounded the Mayba village and kidnapped 70 men and women. They were taken to a Protestant church in Kasanga where they were killed. Prior to the incident, churches, schools and health centers had already closed their doors and moved activities to a neighboring city due to escalating security threats. As of Tuesday, the area has become increasingly dangerous, and many Christians have fled for safety. Let us continue to pray for our brothers and sisters in the DCR who are currently facing dangerous and escalating persecution. Please pray for international attention on this area – for diplomatic pressure to prevent the ADF and the Rwanda-backed rebels, known as M23, from committing further acts of violence.
Reagan Glidewell: Last Friday, February 21st, SGA president Jackie McCauslin announced the next steps in hiring her successor. She mentioned SGA’s adviser, Sunroot Liu, and Sandy Hough, Biola’s Title 9 coordinator and official unofficial adviser of SGA, as advisers who will participate in the interview and hiring process.
Jackie McCauslin: We will be going through a presidential appointment process where there will be a presidential appointment committee that will consist of Andrew, myself, Sean O'Hara will be the chair as a VP of HR. It'll also include members such as our financial controller who currently besides the senators that just won the election, currently is the only Cabinet member that is going to be in SGA next year, and the only other future SGA member besides those two elected senators. … It will also consist of other student leaders on campus such as we hope to invite the SMU president. It will also involve our advisor, Sunroot. If he's not available, definitely Sandy. If not both, also multiple other high level campus administrators. And so on this committee it will not be Andrew and myself choosing whatever president candidate we like. It will be a committee, unanimously coming to a decision together after a two part interview process with applicants.
Reagan Glidewell: For more updates from SGA, including a new name for Biola’s Department of Diversity and Inclusion, see our show notes.
Reagan Glidewell: From March 19th to the 21st, Biola will hold its 95th annual Cook Missions Conference. On Instagram February 22nd, the Student Missionary Union released a list of guest speakers and the band for the conference: Circuit Riders. More information including the schedule for the conference will be released soon.
Reagan Glidewell: C.S. Lewis Onstage will premiere its show, “Further Up & Further In” on March 12 at the La Mirada Theatre. Founder of the Fellowship for Performing arts Max McLean, who plays C.S. Lewis, will explore the origins of classic books such as Mere Christianity, Screwtape Letters, and the Chronicles of Narnia. For Biola students, tickets are $5 instead of 30 thanks to the School of Fine Arts and Communication. See the show notes for more details.
Reagan Glidewell: On Wednesday, Agriculture secretary Brooke Rollins announced a five-pronged strategy to “make eggs affordable again.” The US Department of Agriculture will allocate almost 1 billion dollars to Combat the rising egg prices from the H5N1 bird flu, Rollins wrote in a letter published by The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. Among other measures, the agency has targeted California’s Proposition 12, an animal welfare act that establishes minimum space requirements for egg-laying hens, claiming it has contributed to the increasing costs of eggs. Many farmers are against this effort to dismantle Prop 12 in fear of the economic effects.
Reagan Glidewell: Friedrich Merz of the Christian Democratic party won Germany’s election for chancellor on Sunday. The election included the largest voter turnout in decades. According to polls, 65% of voters are concerned about Germany’s ability to stand up against the U.S. under President Trump’s administration and President Vladimir Putin of Russia. The hard-right Alternative for Germany party doubled its vote from four years ago, indicating a further division in ideology between West Germany and East Germany. The party has been publicly supported by U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Trump advisor Elon Musk.
Reagan Glidewell: In the 4 Nations Face-Off hockey tournament on February 20, Canada beat the United States team 3-2 in overtime. No goals were scored in the third period. The teams look forward to the 2026 Winter Games held in Italy. More excitement in sports as Major League Baseball’s spring training started up February 20 with teams playing throughout Arizona and Florida. Opening day will be in full swing March 27 with a total of 26 teams. The MLB will also host a Tokyo series for their sixth time in history with the Los Angeles Dodgers facing off the Chicago Cubs at the Tokyo Dome on March 18 and 19.
Reagan Glidewell: That’s all for this week’s headlines. If you ever see a guy with a headset over his curly brown hair, following all the plays of Biola Athletics games, that’s Aaron Rollins, one of the main student voices of the Eagles Broadcast on the PacWest network. Next up, our executive producer Hope Li talks play by play with Aaron Rollins. Here’s their conversation.
Hope Li: Hey, Aaron.
Aaron Rollins: Hey, Hope.
Hope Li: Tell me about your major and where you’re from.
Aaron Rollins: Yeah, I am a senior at this school, in the journalism department.
Hope Li: R.I.P.
Aaron Rollins: Yeah, R.I.P. I’m studying visual media.
Hope Li: Also R.I.P.
Aaron Rollins: But haven’t really studied it in the last two years. Um, but you know, God is good. I’m from Napa, California. But yeah, that’s actually it. Now I live here in La Mirada.
Hope Li: Cool. Cool. La Mirada. So, SoCal.
Aaron Rollins: NorCal to SoCal, covered the Cals. Except Central.
Hope Li: Today we’re talking about Biola Athletics, and you’ve done a lot with Biola Athletics. Um, tell me a little bit more about, I’m gonna call this your LinkedIn bio and kind of like the personal bio of how you got into it. So that can be like, okay, professional, what do you do? How’d you get here? And then the personal of what do you do? How’d you get here? Into sports or just kind of like taking photos, going into the visual side to what you’re doing now.
Aaron Rollins: Yeah. So like professionally I have worked for Biola Athletics for, I think, yeah. February of 2022. So three years now.
Hope Li: Oh nice.
Aaron Rollins: Um, I wasn’t officially working for them in my fall semester, my first year here, but, second semester was when I was hired officially. I was taking pictures for funsies, but I was sending them to Biola in case they wanted to use them. And then I started taking pictures and that’s pretty much what I did for a while. Um, they started to get a lot more photographers as I went into sophomore year and junior year. And then I was like, well, how do I pivot from photography? Which I’ve done for a while. Not that it got boring. Uh, sometimes I even think about wanting to do it again because I miss taking pictures and there’s just a more, I don’t know, an artistic aspect to that as well. Um, but I started doing play by play and broadcasting the commentary on the live stream particularly. Maybe second semester of junior year was when I dabbled it in a little bit.
Hope Li: Oh, was that 2024?
Aaron Rollins: 2020, yeah, yeah, spring of 2024, spring of last year.
Hope Li: Uh-huh.
Aaron Rollins: So, um, started dabbling in play by play then. And then senior year was this year. Last fall, did a lot of soccer, couldn’t do volleyball. They usually have somebody who does volleyball. Um, so a lot of soccer and then basketball started and I got a little bit in that, um, until Jeff and Jake both left and then it was just me doing the games. And now I do baseball, softball. Except not right now. There’s softball games going on right now. But I got classes so I’m here.
Hope Li: Yeah. Cool. And all these broadcasts are going on Pac West Network?
Aaron Rollins: Yeah. So, um, the Pac West rolled out, um, this new thing for this year, um, where it’s like a subscription-based thing so you can pay for the game or you could pay for a monthly pass. Each school gets to determine how much they want to charge or what they want to, I don’t know, make available for viewers. Um, and yeah, so Pac West Network, where can watch all the games.
Hope Li: So if we want to hear you, then we’re paying 10 bucks.
Aaron Rollins: Might have to pay, something like that, yeah. not sure all the specific numbers, but all you got to do is go to athletics.biola.edu. And then go to the composite schedule, which is usually what I like to do. Gives you a monthly calendar of each month and then on that specific Game you can just, uh, tap on the day of something’s happening. So like today there’s software going on right now. You can look at Biola softball versus Jessup, the Jessup Warriors. This is day two of a doubleheader that they have.
Hope Li: Oh, I see that actually.
Aaron Rollins: And then there’s live video and then it’ll take you to where you can, uf you already have an account and you’ve already paid, then you can watch. If you haven’t sign up, make an account, pay, watch live stream.
Hope Li: Nice. Um, do you have a favorite one to cover? Like a favorite sport?
Aaron Rollins: Hmm.
I think each sport is different.
Hope Li: Okay. So it’s like picking a favorite child.
Aaron Rollins: I mean, kind of. Yeah. Uh, but I hadn’t thought about it that way before. Um, not a parent, so.
Hope Li: So, um, it wasn’t apparent to you?
Aaron Rollins: I don’t know. Uh. Oh, that was sneaky. Wow. Okay. Wow. Hope. All right. Um, yeah. Each sport is different. I usually go through phases with the sports that I like based on what I intake a lot of. So when it was soccer season, I was very invested in soccer, watching a lot of highlights of like international games and you know, MLS games and things like that. So I was like, soccer! And then, um, those games are pretty long though. 45 minute halves and you’re just talking straight away. Goals are few and far between. So there’s not like you have that one moment where you’re just building up, hopefully, to the pinnacle aspect of Biola scoring a goal. Most of the time was the other team, but still fun to call them. Um, and then basketball, we get a lot of people showing out for basketball. So the environment of basketball is a lot more like energetic. Things are constantly happening. It’s fast paced. It’s the complete opposite of what soccer is. And so that’s …
Hope Li: The vibe.
Aaron Rollins: Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah. So it’s very just uh …
Hope Li: Energetic.
Aaron Rollins: Energetic. Eventful. Yeah. So fast paced. So you’re constantly talking. Um, but your words, you can mix up your vocabulary because you have opportunities to talk a lot more. So if somebody makes three different three pointers, you can call those three three pointers in different ways. You can say like if it’s a swish, you can say string music. If it’s off the backboard and goes in, you say banked it in. Right. The bank is open on a Saturday or whatever you want to say. If somebody makes another three, I usually just went with “cash.” So they’d like make a three and. I’d be like “cash.”
Hope Li: So where did you get this from?
Aaron Rollins: What do you mean?
Hope Li: Like, the language.
Aaron Rollins: I, uh, mean, you listen to other broadcasters, sometimes you think of stuff.
Hope Li: Uh-huh.
Aaron Rollins: Jake and I, Jake Macias, shout out Jake Macias. Um, we’ll go back and forth about, like, what we can say, how we, like, situationally, what you want to say. That depends a lot, too. If it’s like, the first quarter or, uh, in men’s basketball, the first half and then it’s like two minutes into the game, you’re not gonna be like, you’re not gonna be losing your mind, but if it’s the last two minutes of the second half and it’s like, tied or they’re up by three or whatever, and each bucket matters, then you’re gonna want to be more eventful with your calls, so. Situationally.
Hope Li: Yeah. How did you think about what to say during those soccer games? Like, really long games or if things are pretty slow? Um, and were you nervous starting out, like, what am I gonna say? Or just kind of let it roll?
Aaron Rollins: Yeah. I mean, naturally, there’s gonna be nerves of what you’re gonna say. Um, there’s certain words you don’t say, like, um, or like. Or you try to avoid those words. I am saying them a lot in this podcast, which I have now just become self conscious of. Um, there it is. Uh, so, yeah, and you realize the importance of your words and you want to be as clear as possible. So before every game. Uh, sometimes we pray before every game. And then there’s the national anthem that follows. And I’ll usually pray while they’re doing the prayer, which is like, keep everybody safe from injury and illness and allow us to have a good, fun, safe game. Meanwhile, I’m just praying about myself, being like, Lord, give me the words. Allow me to have fun. Thank you for this opportunity. And then, yeah, just kind of refocusing that this is something that I get to do that I enjoy, that I love, and it’s a gift from God and that he would just guide me as I talk about the game. Because you can never predict what’s gonna happen. Yeah, you can have a bunch of information and educate yourself as much as possible. But you’re never gonna be able to be like, this isn’t gonna be the final score. You know what I’m saying? So everything happens. Like, if I’m broadcasting soccer, Cruz Navarro, even though he’s a striker, he might not score the, like, one of the goals. If we’ve scored three goals, it could be A midfielder, or it could be the other forwards, or the striker, you know what I’m saying? So it’s all situational. Even though based on statistics, these are the people who are more likely to score.
Hope Li: Right, right. Is it ever difficult or confusing for you to keep track of the different sports or even the names of the different players? Or is that something that you do going into it to prepare, or it’s just kind of laid out for you when you’re about to broadcast?
Aaron Rollins: The hardest separation I’ve had to make was recently is broadcasting baseball and then broadcasting softball. Even though it’s the same general idea, there’s three outs in an inning, seven innings for softball, nine innings for baseball. I have a background in baseball. I played 15 years of baseball or 10 years, sorry, of, uh, baseball.
Hope Li: Oh, right, the sunflower seeds.
Aaron Rollins: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Shout out sunflower seeds. Crack Pepper, baby, let’s go. Um, but softball is a similar idea, but it’s different in the approach of instead of a mound, you call it a circle and they have different pitches. Like they have a drop ball, which I’m still trying to figure out all the different pitches they have in softball. And then like, my vernacular from baseball is like, oh, struck him out or struck ‘im out. But in softball there’s no men playing, so you gotta be like, struck her out. You know, so it’s just changing those things up. But the more I broadcast games because it’s only me, the more familiar I become with people’s names, their numbers, things like that. So, um, and then I try to build relationships with the players as much as I can. Um, I don’t necessarily, like, go out of my way to be like, hey, I broadcast the games. Be my friend so I can get insight from you. Not really. Gotta let relationships build naturally. So like, um, there’s a girl on the basketball team, shout out. JC Goldsmith. She was a resident when I was in RA last year. And then Scotty McDowell and Fundo Arunda on the men’s team were also in Alpha when I was an RA there as well. So you just build relationships naturally with them. And then I was able to talk to them pregame or just get their thoughts. Like if somebody was injured, I could be like, hey, what happened to this person? Can you let me know? And then I could then be educated.
Hope Li: Before the game?
Aaron Rollins: Yeah, before the game. So. Or maybe during warm ups or just, you know, in a random time around campus, I see him at the Caf be like, yo, is everybody playing tonight? You know, is this person out is this person good? When are they gonna come back from injury? Things like that.
Hope Li: Yeah, yeah. What do you do when mistakes happen? Like, if you do say struck him out?
Aaron Rollins: I mean, usually just keep going. Like, if something happens and you are not saying the right thing in the moment, it’s hard to be like, that’s not what I was supposed to say. This is what I was supposed to say. Let me say that.
Hope Li: Like backtrack.
Aaron Rollins: Yeah. You wouldn’t necessarily do that. Like, it. It’s the time that happens a lot is like, getting people’s names wrong. The pronunciation of names is what I think of right away when that question comes up of like, there’s a guy on the baseball team, Dylan Alanis, his name is A L N I S, and I thought it was Alanis. Like, you can pronounce it Alanis, things like that. Like Atlantis without the T. But somebody told me it was Alanis and I was like, man, I like, they give us pronunciation sheets, but sometimes you can still get the name wrong.
Hope Li: Yeah.
Aaron Rollins: And so anytime that happens, I’m just like, apologies. Or like, um, yeah, I’ll just say something in the moment of being like, here’s the proper pronunciation with just like a correction or something like that.
Aaron Rollins: You just have to keep going with it and then, like, almost act like it didn’t happen. But. Yeah, because you just don’t want to mess up the flow. That’s what I think about.
Hope Li: Yeah. Interesting. I’m thinking about, like, the confidence aspect too. Just to keep up the tone of voice and the poise and the confidence, but then still recognize mistakes, like, in the moment and be quick about it too. That’s pretty cool. Do you feel like that was a skill you had or nature, nurture.
Aaron Rollins: Kind of question, like to broadcast in general?
Hope Li: Yeah. Yeah. Because I think your personality in general is, um I can see that it could be easy for you to do that. Um, to stay present in the moment, but also aware of what you’re saying and how you’re saying it. Pronunciation and all the things. Um, yeah, but how do you feel like that’s grown you in communication even, or thinking about what your words mean and how you say them. Um, or even just how you’ve grown as broadcasting. Because you didn’t start out with broadcast. You started out visual, right?
Aaron Rollins: Yeah. Um, I think first word that comes to my mind is like, articulate. How articulate can I be about a situation? Always remove filler words. Don’t say like, um, all these things like I’ve said before. So you want to be as articulate as possible with what’s going on. Now there’s games that are fast paced, like basketball, where you’re talking, talking, talking, talking, talking. And you almost, yeah, you’re almost improvising the whole thing because like I said, you can never predict what’s gonna happen. So you’re just gonna go, go, go, go, go. And then if something does happen, you’re like, wait, I can take a second, pause, don’t say that. And then keep going. Um, but oftentimes you’re just describing what’s going on. You’re playing Captain Obvious, so you’re just, you know, rolling like a train almost. But I just have some fun with it too. Like I listen to other people broadcast and it’s a little different because I’m not on national television or anything. So, you know, there could be three people watching me instead of, you know, 30,000 or 3 million or whatever, 300,000, whatever it is for certain games, like people who watch the Super Bowl, the people who do play by play for the super bowl, which this past year it was, it was, um, Tom Brady somehow made it there, which makes sense. He won seven of them, um, played in ten of them. And then it was Kevin something.
Hope Li: Kevin Burkhardt.
Aaron Rollins: Kevin Burkhardt. KB. Not KG. KG is Kevin Garnett. So those guys are broadcasting to 100 plus million people. So it’s just realizing like, yes, be as articulate as possible and have fun with it. Like five people could be watching, but these people. And it’s. We’re able to get feedback. We always do like this, hey, shout out. You know, if you want to send in a shout out, feel free to do eaglesbroadcast@gmail.com and then people will send in a shout out. We just say shout out your favorite team, your favorite player, your favorite coach. Shout out where you’re watching from, you know who you’re supporting. Shout out whatever you want. And we’re just here for it.
Hope Li: So do you get those emails?
Aaron Rollins: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Hope Li: So nice.
Aaron Rollins: I’ll be able to see those emails. And then I read them out on live.
Hope Li: Oh, cool.
Aaron Rollins: So like I’ve had people shout out, um, what’s a good one? Christine Solovev, she shouted out that she noticed the guys, the basketball teams were. There’s a lot of wet spots on the floor. She was like, we should get some mops for Biola. And then that way we don’t have to use towels. And that just that shout out’s always stuck with me. Every time they go out to use a towel, I’m like, Christine, we need to get the mops! Christine, we need to get the mops. And then other times people will shout out, like, oh, I’m watching my son play basketball, or I’m watching my daughter play softball or soccer or whatever it is. And then, like, somebody shouted out, um, from New Zealand. They sent in a shout out. They were watching live from New Zealand. They were watching their, uh, cousin play soccer.
Hope Li: Oh, that’s crazy.
Aaron Rollins: On the other team. So they were watching the broadcast, watching their cousin or son. I forget who it was. But they were watching from New Zealand and they were watching the opposite team. So they weren’t even watching for Biola. Uh, they were just watching for. Maybe it was Life Pacific or Hawaii Pacific or whatever it is.
Hope Li: That’s crazy.
Aaron Rollins: And so you got, I’m like, bro, New Zealand. That’s insane. And then we have a guy on the soccer team, Luca McGreevey Couchman, he’s from Ireland. So I’d get shout outs from Ireland. It’s like, woah, it’s insane. Belfast, Ireland. Who would have thought?
Hope Li: Yeah.
Aaron Rollins: So people watch them all over. They can send a shout out. We got a lot of compliments as well. At the end of a season, usually, um, I got a shout out from, uh, this guy has a daughter on the women’s team and a son on the men’s team. And they’ll just send in a shout out. Be like, hey, thanks for all you did this year. Great job commentating. Sometimes we get like, listen to other people when they’re playing away, watch their games online. Doesn’t compare to Biola. And that’s always like a nice thing because it’s like, well, I care about my job. I’m doing it well. And if I can provide the optimal viewing experience, I want to be able to do that.
Hope Li: Yeah. I was going to ask you about your motivation next. So that’s a great segue because you were telling me earlier, you don’t always see the number of people watching in the audience. It’s just kind of blind, if you want to put it that way. Um, and you get to see them afterwards. Number of people, if you log on afterwards, something like that.
Aaron Rollins: I could probably find out the numbers. I haven’t ever asked. The only time I’ve ever wondered about numbers was when Biola plays Azusa Pacific in basketball Cornerstone
Cup, arguably the most talked about, well known, hyped up event on campus and just within our university.
Hope Li: Mhm.
Aaron Rollins: And so Biola will actually play APU tomorrow in the Felix Event Center Azusa Pacific, which I will be attending of course. Have to, I feel like I have to. Last game of the season before Pac West Conference as well. Um, but that one Biola came alongside Athletics. So the school brought in their media team and we had like four different camera angles. We had a monitor in front of us which never happened before. We were live streaming on YouTube so we could see how many people were concurrent viewers.
Hope Li: Uh-huh.
Aaron Rollins: And then yeah, it was just crazy. I was like, man, this is insane. Like people are watching from all over, people who graduated. We got a shout out from this guy who graduated in 2018. He was like, I haven’t watched anything from Biola, but it came up on I recommended. Tuned in, you guys are doing great and this game is insane. You know, nice job. You know, this is crazy.
Hope Li: Nice job, YouTube recommended.
Aaron Rollins: Yeah, shout out YouTube algorithm.
Hope Li: Yeah.
Aaron Rollins: So yeah, I think providing the best experience for viewers is what I want to do. And sometimes that’s saying a lot, other times that’s not saying very much. And so. But I think when a moment happens of excitement, it’s important that I bring the energy that follows with it. And then the hard part too is when our team isn’t doing well or is losing. That’s always a tough moment because it’s like I, in terms of partiality, it’s like obviously I’m the play by play for Biola and I want to favor them more. And I go to this school, I’m a student, I care about our athletics program, I care about our teams. So naturally I’m a fan of Biola as well.
Hope Li: Mhm.
Aaron Rollins: But I still have to celebrate what the other team does because they’re succeeding and they’re doing something well and doing it right. And these people are players too, and they have families watching and things like that. So gotta be like 55-45, almost. Maybe what I say, 60-40. So. And the hard part too is like if we’re not doing well, how do you talk about that in a positive light? Sometimes that’s a little hard to do. But you make it work.
Hope Li: Yeah. Is that something you try to learn on your own or that you’ve modeled or taken after someone’s example? When it comes to these difficult ways to communicate about our own teams and how we’re doing.
Aaron Rollins: I mean, I think a lot of mainstream broadcasts for like TNT or CBS or ABC or whatever you’re watching, they’re going to be right down the middle. So if you’re watching March Madness is coming up. So if you’re watching a March Madness game, like let’s say it’s. I don’t know, let’s just go Tennessee vs. Duke. For some reason they would play. They’re not even in the same conference, but whatever. For some reason they’re playing, right? And that’s two of the top teams in the country. Whoever is broadcasting that is naturally going to be 50-50. And they’re just gonna highlight players from both teams because these are D1 athletes, so they’re all very good. They all have earned this spot. Um, but when you’re watching like a broadcast of, my favorite team is Golden State Warriors in basketball, or if I’m watching the San Francisco Giants, also my favorite baseball team, I’m watching those guys. And so when the players aren’t having a good day or the other team’s doing well, they’re obviously partial to the home team because that’s who they work for and that’s who they support. Um, but you’re never going to dog on your own players. You’re never going to be like, man, this person is just doing terrible, like what a horrible outing that person had. Like, you don’t really do that. I would never want to do that, right? Because that person is human and they have experiences and you can’t always win every time. And that’s just a part of the game. Part of the game is losing. A part of the game is you. If you’re a pitcher and you let in five, six, seven runs in an inning.
Hope Li: Mhm.
Aaron Rollins: And you get taken out after you know you gave up seven runs, it’s like, man, that’s not a great experience. But the next time you go out, you could throw a perfect game. And it’s like, yeah, you gave up seven runs that last game, but then you just threw a perfect game. It’s like everybody is … sports are volatile. And so I think that’s the fun part about him too is you never know what’s gonna happen.
Hope Li: Yeah. Moving on to a fun moment, is there a fun clip or just a memorable clip that you have that you would want to share?
Aaron Rollins: I have, like, a personal connection. I do want to highlight a couple games that I’ve been able to call, which have been really fun.
Hope Li: Go ahead.
Aaron Rollins: I was able to call Sydney Moran. She’s a senior on our women’s basketball team. She scored a career high off the bench, 18 points, which was really cool. And you get to interview them after the game and, like, ask how they are and what they’re feeling in that moment and, leading up to .
Hope Li: Is there video with that, too?
Aaron Rollins: There might be, but I’m not sure. It depends on if our camera person decides.
Hope Li: Got it. But for you, it’s just audio.
Aaron Rollins: Yeah, yeah. For me, I’m just face to face audio with him. Um, so I’ve been able to call that game, which was really, really fun. Really cool to see her get buckets. Incredible basketball player. Um, and so it was really cool to call that game. And then I got to call Daniel Esparza’s 39 point game, which was really fun. Um, we all thought he had 40. Our stat said he had 37. The scoreboard in Chase Gymnasium said 40. So we were all losing our minds, but it all got, like, tangled up. One thing said 37. One thing said 39. The other thing said 40.
Hope Li: Uh-huh.
Aaron Rollins: Turns out it was 39. So he’s one point shy of 40. We all celebrated like it was 40. I called the game like it was 40 points when he got that last bucket. And so I was losing my mind. And then I interviewed him after, and I was like, dude, I think it’s only 37. He was like, no, but he was still like, 37 is insane, bro. Like, are you kidding me? That’s, that’s no easy feat. So, um, that was definitely a memorable experience. And talking to him afterwards, too. Get an interview him like, dude, you just dropped 39 points. Like, what does that feel like in a game? Like, you’re getting fired up. Everybody’s fired up. This place is losing its mind, you know? Yeah, like, that’s not something we’ve seen in a long time. And you were just. Did it, you know, so you talked to them afterward. Um, and then baseball, like I said, I played for 10 years. That’s a sport that I grew up watching a lot of. One of my favorite stories my mom likes to tell is … At least when I was a kid, I don’t know if she tells it anymore, but, um, in 2011, the St. Louis Cardinals were playing in the playoffs. The NLDS or CS, um, Division League series or championship series, or in the World Series against the Texas Rangers? I forget. And after watching, like, two or three games, I knew every player on the team. I knew every stat. So you could. It was like, trivia. Like, you could ask me, like, what was David Freese’s?
Hope Li: That’s crazy.
Aaron Rollins: Like, what was David Freese’s batting average on base percentage? And how many homers did he have? I could tell you that. I can’t now, but I could tell you that when I was like, I don’t know, how old would I have been? Seven or eight?
Hope Li: Wow.
Aaron Rollins: Yeah. So I was just rattling off these numbers, and this is just what I was like, let’s go! Um, and then The Giants in 2010, 2012 and 2014, they won three World Series in five years. Which is pretty hard to do. A lot of people don’t talk about that dynasty. But that’s fine. We’re silent but deadly.
Hope Li: Sure, sure
Aaron Rollins: Now we’re not doing too hot, but that’s okay. Um, so. And I would watch a lot of Giants games with my dad. Duane Kuiper, great broadcaster. Um, and Mike Krukow. Kruk and Kuip is what they’re known in around the Bay. Um, Kuiper had a famous, like, home run call. And that’s usually what broadcasters. For most sports, they have like, an infamous call. Like the White Sox. I forget his name. The White Sox. Um, broadcaster, he always says, you can put it on the board. Yep. After somebody has a home run. So you put the score on the board. Duane Kuiper, he would always say like something of the variation like, it is high, it is far, it is deep, it is out of here. But the way he pronounces it is very like “err,” it is out of here. So I was like, well, now that I’m broadcasting baseball, maybe I can be like, dad, I should call one like that and just get his reaction.
Hope Li: This is my chance!
Aaron Rollins: Yeah, this is my chance. And so, uh, the clip I’m about to play you is a minute and a half. Is that fine? Calling back-to-back home runs for Biola’s baseball team. First one is with the Duane Kuiper call. Just because I was like, this is the perfect time. I’ve always wanted to do this, now I get to do it. And I was like losing my mind. I was like, Ethan, send that to me right now. Ethan, send that to me right now so I can send it to my dad. And so that was a fun clip, um, which I’ll play for you in a second. And then the second one was just like back-to-back home runs, how do you call that? You’re just already hyped up in the moment and then, wow, you know, it all just happens.
Audio recording of Aaron on the Eagles Broadcast: … Launched. Deep into left field! It is out of here! Cole Wentz with a no doubter. What in that bat! And that’s gonna bring up Nicholas Whippo. What a blast from Cole Wentz. Whippo, he gets underneath one, it’s starting to carry. That one’s gone! Back-to-back jacks! Wentz and Whippo! And the Eagles are thriving.
Aaron Rollins: So you get to call fun things like that.
Hope Li: How many times have you relistened to that?
Aaron Rollins: Only twice, but
Hope Li: I just thought it was funny that you remember what …
Aaron Rollins: Yeah, I mean, in memorable moments, I like to try and remember what I say so I don’t repeat it again. But oftentimes I don’t like, like, I like the idea of not knowing who’s watching and who’s listening to me because like, in a moment like that, I’m like, ah, I get so nervous that other people are hearing what I’m saying as I’m listening to what I’m saying. Does that make sense?
Hope Li: Like the self-consciousness?
Aaron Rollins: Yeah. Like when you show somebody your work and they’re, they’re just open to critiquing you and you’re right in front of them. You know, they’re not gonna like, keep their responses to themselves. They can just say whatever they want to your face. I think that’s like a very interesting moment, a vulnerable moment. And so I usually like if people are watching or if I’m rewatching, I watch by myself. I don’t have other people around. I usually do it for, like, educational purposes of like, okay, what can I improve on this broadcast? What should I say? Less of like, my friend Jake and I, when I was broadcasting basketball, I’d say, “Can’t get it to go.” I’d say that so many times. He texted me one time, he’s like, all right, five bucks if you don’t say “can’t get it to go” in the second half because you say it all the time. I’m like, all right, I can’t do that—I can’t get that to go. But so, yeah, I think there’s like a self-conscious idea of being like, man, I’m watching this and other people are listening to this and I’m listening to it too. I don’t know, it’s just like this weird mind thing.
Hope Li: Yeah, I feel you, especially in things like this podcast stuff, listening back to it and it’s like I really said, yeah, 70 times. Why did that? Why did. Good idea what? Yeah.
Aaron Rollins: Yeah, I don’t mind listening to myself, like, over and over again. No, that sounds so narcissistic.
Hope Li: I know what you mean.
Aaron Rollins: Yeah. Like, the way I sound doesn’t affect me anymore. Like, I used to be self conscious just listening to myself being like, dude this is what you sound like.
Hope Li: After a while it’s like numb, like yea ok, I know what I sound like.
Aaron Rollins: Yeah, like after a while you’re like, all right, it’s really not that bad. Like, this is your job. This is what you love to do. You’re just talking. This is how you sound to other people.
Hope Li: No changing it, really.
Aaron Rollins: Just talk, brother.
Hope Li: Yeah. So how’d your dad react?
Aaron Rollins: Uh, I texted it to him. So I wasn’t able to, like, get a facial, um, response or like an expressive response. Um, he was just like, “oh, bud, this is fire.” Or “this is so cool” or whatever he said. He doesn’t say fire. He was like, “oh bud, this is so cool.” But he said it with a period. And I was like, I don’t think he liked that. That was. Ah, no, dude, I was like, so happy to show him that. And then I ... I don’t know. But then I was like, no, that’s his way of being like, no, this was, that means a lot. You know what I’m saying? Like, that was like a really fun moment. And he knows that I love to do this, so he was very supportive and loved that I did that. And then my mom confirmed that later. She texted me and said, “dad showed me the clip that you sent him. It’s so funny. He loves it. Like, what a moment that you guys got to have.” Showed it to my brother and he lives close, so I showed it to him in person. I waited so I could get his response, and he was just like, dude, I can’t believe you got to do that. So fun.
Hope Li: Yeah, dads just be like that sometimes.
Aaron Rollins: Yeah. Love my dad though.
Hope Li: Yeah. So how is this gonna go after graduation? Are you planning on pursuing this broadcast now or going back to visual?
Aaron Rollins: I don’t know. I think you could have like a beautiful mix of both. I, um, would love to broadcast. That would be optimal for where, like long-term future goals. Um, got to start small though usually as like … I applied for an internship with the Dodgers, which we won’t hear back till March, so next month.
Hope Li: Nice.
Aaron Rollins: Wow, that’s actually crazy. Um, see if I can be like an assistant for their production and see …
Hope Li: Back end stuff?
Aaron Rollins: Probably. Um, but I don’t know, maybe just might be the guy who goes on the coffee run, stereotypical coffee run guy. Um, but then that way I can … They have an announcer, their play by play guy, at least from last year was Joe Davis. And he called the world series. Um, so that’s nationally broadcast. He calls a lot of nationally broadcasted games. Um, I don’t know. That would work out. That’d be amazing. Um, I would also love to work for Biola Athletics. I love it here. Wouldn’t change the thing. It’s great. Just need a full time job. Need full time pay.
Hope Li: Biolan for life.
Aaron Rollins: Yeah, right. My Biola for Life alumni pass. Oh man, that’d be fire. Don’t have to pay for no more parking!
Hope Li: Yeah, that’d be great.
Or the citations. Shout out campo.
Hope Li: Shout out campo was crazy. What would freshman year or sophomore year, Aaron say if he saw you doing broadcast stuff now?
Aaron Rollins: Hmm. With the experience that I have now.
Hope Li: Mhm. Or if he even tuned in, Pac West network, that’s me.
Aaron Rollins: So before this year they were free. So like anybody could watch, which was really fun. We get a lot of people coming up to the booth and being like, why do we have to pay to watch now? It’s like, well, we didn’t really have a choice. Um, and so I think, wow, freshman or sophomore Aaron would have been like, what an opportunity. And what if you went to a bigger school and had the same opportunity? I think everything that’s happened with the journalism program, …
Hope Li: All the department changes.
Aaron Rollins: Yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s been a little tough, maybe academically, but this opportunity with Athletics has taught me a lot that I wouldn’t get in the classroom, but there’s things that you learn on a job that you don’t get in the classroom.
Hope Li: Right.
Aaron Rollins: Um, so it’s taught me a lot and I think me, freshman or sophomore year’be like, man, you’re actually doing play by play. That’s so cool. Your dad’s going to be so hyped. So I think that was just, it’s like a fun thing that I get to always be like, dad, I’m broadcasting again. Or he’ll be like, what’d you do this week? I said, well, I broadcasted a lot of games. So I think it’s like a fun thing that I don’t know, maybe I’m making my dad proud. So I love it and it’s, I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t change it. I like broadcasting. It’s fun.
Hope Li: That’s awesome. That’s all I got. You have anything you want to add?
Aaron Rollins: Um, if you want to, tune into Pac West Network, watch Biola. Hear me broadcast. Send in your shout outs to eaglesbroadadcastmail.com um, I always read shoutouts to West Coast Sand and Gravel, Chick Fil A La Mirada and Genesee Nutrition. I don’t know, I’m just shouting things out. I don’t know. Shout out Joe Rogan, I don’t know. I was thinking about that coming into this. I was like, man, they want me to be on a podcast. I listen to those all the time. Now I get to be a part of it. So yeah, I don’t know. Just really grateful for the opportunity. Thank you Biola Athletics for believing in me and supporting me and thanks for this opportunity, Hope.
Hope Li: Yeah, no problem. This has been Hope Li for The Chimes Weekly. Thanks for chatting with us today, Aaron. Have a great week.
Aaron Rollins: See you guys later.
Reagan Glidewell: Thanks for listening! As always, if you enjoyed this episode, leave us a review and share it with a friend or roommate. For more stories from the Chimes, head over to our website at chimesnewspaper.com. This episode was produced and hosted by Reagan Glidewell with international headlines written by Izah DeFigh. It was engineered by Jason Lee; with music from Warner Chappell Productions. Hope Li is our executive producer. I’m Reagan Glidewell, we’ll see you next week.