Alumnus and Professor Nathan Lull took his passion for sports broadcasting and now works at a small radio station. He handles both teaching communication courses at Geneseo and independently managing a radio station in Central NY (courtesy of Professor Nathan Lull).
Professor Nathan Lull is a Geneseo alumnus who currently teaches courses at the school about sports broadcasting, public speaking and social media. Aside from his role as a professor, Lull also works as a sports director, preceded by many years of work as a sports announcer.
Lull is a sports director at a small radio station called WCDO in Sidney, N.Y., where he has worked since 2014.
“I cover high school sports in a three-county area in Central New York. I work with 40 schools in five different leagues as part of this coverage,” Lull said, in an email interview with The Lamron. “I do live play-by-play on the radio and a lot of social media coverage on Twitter and Instagram.”
His sports coverage includes attending games in order to report on scores, recording stats and reporting other additional features for each high school team he covers. He has a coverage area, which means that the schools he covers are near his radio station line.
As a sports director, Lull always wants to find the most interesting story ideas that feature schools, sports teams or coaches who have achieved a milestone. Before working at a smaller radio station, Lull worked for four years at a more major radio station where he was a hockey announcer.
His occupation as a hockey announcer was his first full-time sports job; Lull worked at Canisius College in Buffalo, N.Y.—a Division I school. In his years as a Geneseo student, he would broadcast for the Ice Knights at their hockey games.
“I realized that I wanted to pursue this career during my time as Sports Director at WGSU,” Lull said. “Calling games for the Ice Knights was my favorite thing about working for WGSU.”
Lull reflected on one of his most exciting experiences as a hockey announcer in Buffalo; he had the privilege to cover an NCAA tournament.
“During my third year with the team they made the NCAA tournament and went on a real wild run to get there with lots of close overtime games and exciting finishes,” Lull said. “It was probably the most fun week I have ever had covering a team.”
Lull made the transition from working at a major radio station to having an integral part in a minor radio station. While previously he had a dependable team where each person covered a section of the radio coverage, at the minor station he does the work more independently.
“Working at a small station is different because you have to wear many different hats at the same time. You have to be able to do all the on-air work, social media, technical work with editing and also being able to fix and troubleshoot your own equipment,” Lull said. “It also involves sales and working with clients on a daily basis. You have to have a positive attitude and be ready for a curveball at any moment.”
Upon reflecting on his career path, Lull has no regrets regarding the route he embarked upon. While he does wish that he had more time to spend with family and friends, he knew coming into this career that he would have to make sacrifices in order to achieve the success he aspired for.