The stories created by sports are often unfolded as they happen by an announcer. Taught to call action, play-by-play or second by second, the announcer both informs and entertains those watching. Most of us can think of sporting calls that still echo in our heads. Larry Collmus’ call of American Pharoah’s winning of the Triple Crown in 2015 comes to mind as a recent example. It is the announcer who guides us through the action on every live stream and at every event we attend. Broadcast announcing brings stories to life in real time, and it’s the stories of the horses moving on from the racetrack that would eventually lead Jonathan Horowitz from racing to the sport of eventing.
Announcing is a passion Jonathan, 35, originally from Orange County, California, discovered as a young teenager while visiting Los Alamitos Race Course in Cypress with his family. While he wouldn’t label himself a horse person in those years, he was nonetheless drawn to the action that to this day is unparalleled in its quick intensity.
“The announcer at a sporting event plays an integral role in the fan experience in terms of giving information, getting people excited, and just being a part of the atmosphere,” Jonathan tells me now. He’s just finished telling me about his “moment of discovery”, when the general manager of Los Alamitos approached him that night after observing Jonathan practicing into a tape recorder, standing at the rail with binoculars in his other hand. He was just 14 at the time.
