Pat Cavanagh/The Pleiad

Mike Sheldon and Kyle Robinson have traded in their helmets for headsets.

For the 2006-2007 men’s and women’s basketball seasons, football stand-outs Robinson, Mulliken senior, and Sheldon, Royal Oak senior, have been up in the press box broadcasting the games for the college Web site.

"They bring an excitement [to the games] because they have a lot of energy," said Evan Walters, Laingsburg junior, who never listened to the basketball games before this year. "You can tell they really enjoy what they do."

Even though basketball was not their sport at Albion, the two are not new to the game. Sheldon played three years of varsity basketball at Royal Oak Kimball, and Robinson was on the Grand Ledge High School varsity basketball team for two years.

Sheldon and Robinson got into broadcasting after being the public address announcers during the home junior varsity football games.

"We thought that the JV games lacked some entertainment, so we asked Bobby Lee [sports information director] if we could announce," Robinson said. "One day we started talking about [the] basketball season and asked if he needed any help doing the internet broadcast. He jumped on and let us run with it."

According to Lee, there have been four other student internet broadcasters, but Robinson and Sheldon are the first who have been on their own.

"There’s an extreme amount of trust," Lee said.

The concept of broadcasting did not come naturally. Sheldon and Robinson realized that they would have to use their teamwork to produce a quality show.

"It’s a lot tougher than you think," Sheldon said of broadcasting. "The first couple of games, Kyle and I were stepping all over each other, but now we have a system."

During the game, Robinson performs the play-by-play duties while Sheldon adds insights as the color commentator.

A normal broadcast for Sheldon and Robinson usually includes a five-minute pre-game show talking about the Britons‘ recent games, their opponent and players who could make an impact. A highlight of their broadcast is the answering of e-mail questions from fans at halftime.

"It has been a nice surprise how people have really embraced us," Sheldon said. "[The best parts have been] the e-mails, interacting with Kyle, and the basketball teams seem to like it."

According to Lee, the internet broadcast is a service for parents and fans that can’t make it to Kresge Gymnasium.

"My grandparents live in Florida during the winter and can’t watch any of the games, so they listen to them over the internet," said Dean Raven, Scottville junior and varsity guard/forward. "My parents [listen] because we live three hours away. If they can’t make the game, [they] listen to it online."

During this season, Sheldon and Robinson have had a single game high of 40 computers log on, though they try not to let their internet fame go to their heads.

"The most fun part is learning, improving, and having people comment on the job we’re doing," Robinson said.

Robinson and Sheldon’s top 4 quotes:

1) "Quoth the Raven, ‘Nevermore’" after a great play by Dean Raven.

2) "She is playing with her hair on fire" when someone is shooting well.

3) "Yancey’s getting fancy down low" when Drew Yancey makes a nice play.

4) "He got stuffed like a Thanksgiving turkey" when a shot gets blocked.