Alumni Spotlight - Michael W. Logan, AS’91

Perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise that Mike Logan is behind the microphone broadcasting Providence College men’s hockey games on the radio for a 14th straight year. Or that he’s a fixture on high school football broadcasts in southeastern Massachusetts and a frequent play-by-play man for Pawtucket Red Sox baseball games.

After all, once he started perching himself in an open window to “broadcast” neighborhood Wiffle ball games as a child, Logan was clearly destined to a life on the airwaves.

“If there were three of us, two would be playing Wiffle ball and the other one was doing the broadcasting,” said Logan, a 1991 graduate of the College of Arts and Sciences with a degree in journalism. “I guess you could say that’s where I got my start.”

Logan’s broadcasting assignments have been reaching a much broader audience these days. At last September’s Hockey East Media Day, Logan was presented with the 17th annual Joe Concannon Media Award, in honor of the longtime Boston Globe sports writer.

“When you think of some of the people broadcasting games in Hockey East – Rob Rudnick has been doing Northeastern games for more than 30 years, Bernie Corbett has been doing BU games for almost 25 years,” Logan said. “Just to be mentioned with these guys is a tremendous honor, and both have been very supportive of me as well.”

Logan said he’s always been comfortable around sports, playing several as a kid growing up on Massachusetts’ South Shore, while watching and listening to some of the best announcers in the business.

“We’re lucky in this area. Gil Santos, Bob Wilson, Fred Cusick, Ned Martin, Ken Coleman. I mean we grew up listening to Hall of Fame broadcasters in every sport. I think it shaped a lot of us who went in that direction.”

Logan began his “official” radio career at Northeastern’s WRBB during his senior year, calling a handful of Huskies hockey and football games, working with then fellow senior Don Orsillo, now the play-by-play announcer for Boston Red Sox games on NESN. Logan and Orsillo would later work together for four seasons in Pawtucket, from 1997-2000, before Orsillo moved up to the big leagues.

Three weeks after graduation, Logan was hired at WPEP in Taunton, MA, and later moved on to WJDA in Quincy, MA, where he was the station’s news director through May 2006.

But the downsizing communications industry forced Logan and his wife, Debra – a fellow Northeastern graduate who also worked at the radio station – to alter their career paths slightly. Three years ago, both Logans started teaching.

But Logan never ventured far from the microphone. He continued to broadcast Providence hockey – a job he’s held since 1995 – and also started his own company, MWL Sports, which broadcasts high school football games in southeastern Massachusetts.

“I buy the air time, produce the games, stream it live over the Internet,” Logan said. “It’s great to hear that some kid’s grandparents down in Florida can hear their grandson’s football games even though they’re a thousand miles away.

“The industry has changed so much, so many radio stations are gone and there’s a big push towards TV. The Internet – if you had told me in 1995 when I started doing games in Providence, that all of our games would be on the Internet and I’d get more feedback from people listening on their computers, I’d have told you you were out of your mind.”

Regardless of where the audience is located, though, Logan is cognizant of the value of putting the listener inside the arena.

“I do a lot of prep work. You have to be descriptive, be informative, and let the folks know what’s going on,” Logan said. “If you’re giving them the information they’ve tuned in for, I think you’re doing your job. In radio, you have a lot more freedom. The listener is totally dependent on you.”

That, Logan said, places him and other announcers in an enviable position.

“You hope the preparation you put in is recognized, but like the old saying goes: it beats work. I mean let’s face it: you get paid to go do games. Most people would love to change places with you.”

But Mike Logan isn’t about to give up his dream gig any time soon.