{"id":72409,"date":"2020-02-12T15:39:17","date_gmt":"2020-02-12T21:39:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/?p=72409"},"modified":"2022-01-13T23:27:43","modified_gmt":"2022-01-14T05:27:43","slug":"brad-jay-voice-of-the-x-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/2020\/02\/12\/brad-jay-voice-of-the-x-games\/","title":{"rendered":"Brad Jay: Voice of the X Games"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This article was written by KJHK Sports Staff member Madison Osberger-Low.<\/em> Originally from Jan. 24, this article was edited for timeliness.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"

Brad Jay (right) calls snowboarding at X Games Aspen 2020 alongside Connor Manning.
(Photo courtesy of Craig Turpin\/\/Aspen Daily News)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After more than 20 years of announcing the X Games, Brad Jay brings a gold medal performance to every competition he calls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m a big kid,\u201d Jay said on Saturday in between events at Buttermilk Mountain. \u201c I love competition and I love being part of it. I never rest on – \u2018OK, I\u2019m good at what I do.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A veteran of more than 15 Winter X Games and five Olympics, Jay said he does \u201ca lot of amazing events\u201d including Los Angeles Dodgers and Clippers games,  but \u201cthe X Games is always near and dear to my because it was the beginning of my career.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starting as a radio broadcaster in California, he first landed an X Games gig in 1999.  \u201cThat was the biggest treat for me,\u201d Jay said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always been an action sports guy. I competed in amateur skateboarding. I competed in surfing when I was younger and I always loved it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once he took the leap, Jay never went back. In addition to winter action sports, Jay also announces surfing. This summer, he\u2019ll be part of the team working on the Tokyo Olympics where he\u2019ll call skateboarding and BMX. He\u2019s announced at more than 20 summer X Games as well as the Pan American Games. Sometimes he will announce live television too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor me, once I know I\u2019m on, and you go, \u20183,2,1, you\u2019re on\u2019 I just ramp up,\u201d Jay said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"

Brad Jay announced L.A. Clippers games for seven years.
(Photo courtesy of Brad Jay.)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

On the third day of X Games Aspen 2020, Jay remained as cool under pressure as snowboarder Max Parrot did in holding off Mark McMorris for the big air win. In a small space filled with TV broadcasters, producers and announcers, Jay was unbothered by the constant activity. Having three children has made him used to outside distractions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople can be talking and screaming in the background and I can still be doing my job,\u201d Jay said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He thinks the new jam session format used this year at X Gamesmakes for a better event for viewers and competitors. \u201cIt\u2019s a cool format. It gives riders more of a chance to get a good run in,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it may have made the announcer\u2019s job more difficult because there\u2019s less time between runs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jay does his homework before calling each event. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow that the tricks are getting so much harder, getting different variations, you almost don\u2019t have time to call every trick because there\u2019s so many working parts to it,\u201d he said. Jay utilizes social media platforms like Instagram to stay up-to-date on new tricks that each athlete is practicing or bringing to the competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI watch a lot of YouTube. If I\u2019m not invited to announce a contest then I\u2019ll watch replays of it, what went down. That way I can talk about it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jay was working X Games Aspen 2013 when professional snowmobile racer Caleb Moore died from injuries suffered in a fatal crash. This was the first fatal accident in X Games history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was one of the saddest things I\u2019ve ever had to be part of,\u201d he said. \u201cThoughts and prayers go out to his family.\u201d Jay said he went on to work with Moore\u2019s brother Colton on another tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something you never want to be part of but the progression of what tricks people are going nowadays on motorcycles, snowmobiles, snowboards, everything. It\u2019s unfortunate but that’s part of the risk that\u2019s attached to it. But these people get to love what they do and they do it on a daily basis.\u201d Still, he added, \u201cYou never want to see it, that’s for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His job involves a lot of travel \u2013 he was in Switzerland last week for the Youth Olympic Games and like local skier Torin Yater-Wallace, arrived hours before the start of the first X Games contest. It\u2019s one of the many benefits of his job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an honor to be recognized by the best in the world when it comes to action sports,\u201d Jay said. \u201cIt tickles me that (athletes) know who I am. He\u2019s known Shaun White since the \u201cFlying Tomato\u201d was 10 years old and has seen White \u201cgrow up and win gold medals.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the time clock continues to tick and the caliber of athletics gets bigger and better, Jay keeps the energy high in all elevations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen a lot of people come and go in this gig. The one constant is, I still get the jobs and I still get it done,\u201d he said.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article was written by KJHK Sports Staff member Madison Osberger-Low. Originally from Jan. 24, this article was edited for timeliness. After more than 20 years of announcing the X Games, Brad Jay brings a gold medal performance to every competition he calls. \u201cI\u2019m a big kid,\u201d Jay said on Saturday in between events at Buttermilk Mountain. \u201c I love competition and I love being part of it. I never rest on – \u2018OK, I\u2019m good at what I do.\u2019\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":72410,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3262,610,50,283],"tags":[8438,8436,8437],"class_list":["post-72409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","category-sports-articles","category-sports-interviews","category-sports-vodcasts","tag-aspen","tag-winter-sports","tag-x-games"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/bradjay1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72409"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72409\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77719,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72409\/revisions\/77719"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}