Dick Rea, 1977 drea@methodistsports.com
I giggled through my share of football and basketball games on WJEF, but as the years pass, they're the ones I really cherish. Especially, with the recent passing of Mr. Fraser, I'm reminded of how privileged we were to have the fantastic set-up that he put together at the high school. I'm really glad to have had the honor to say a few words in 2002 when the Radio and TV center was named after him.
I moved onto Butler after graduation where my on-air opportunities continued at WAJC-FM (now WJJK) I did some radio news at WIRE-AM (now WXNT) and WXTZ-FM (now WRZX)...somewhere mixed in I had a couple of part time stints at WXUS in my hometown. I was blessed to have been placed at WISH-TV 8 for an internship while at Butler, and it blossomed into a 17-year stint as a reporter-producer and anchor.
I've lived my dream of covering the Indy 500, NBA, NFL, Pan-AM games, PGA championship,and NASCAR. I've had the fortune to do one-one one interviews with superstar athletes and entertainers like Michael Jordan, Nolan Ryan, Larry Bird, Terry Bradshaw, Paul Newman, and David Letterman.
In 1998, I had another incredible opportunity to join WTHR-13 where I found myself working side-by-side and managing one of my childhood media idols, Don Hein. For seven years I had the fortune to lead the sports department at one of the top television stations in the country and I owe a lot of it to my experience at WJEF and the encouragement I received from people like Bill Fraser and Dick Jeager at JHS.
After more than 25 years of work in the Indianapolis television market, my career is moving in a new direction. In November of 2006, I accepted a position as Communications Director at Methodist Sports Medicine Center. MSMC is the area’s original and most experienced sports medicine provider, and I will continue my long-time association with many high school, college and professional sports teams in this role. I haven’t totally closed the door on my broadcasting career, as I will continue some limited on-air work at Channel 13 in a free-lance capacity.
It was huge advantage for me to have had that experience at WJEF. When I walked in the door at Butler it was a bit of a let down to see that the facilities didn't compare. But as I've found in life, it's often the people who influence you that make the biggest impact.