Sunday Q&A: Wolves announcer Dave Benz

You probably know Dave Benz as the television play-by-play voice of the Timberwolves for the past four seasons. If you've heard him lately, though, it's been during Olympic broadcasts. He is slated to call fencing, synchronized swimming and modern pentathlon. Benz chatted about the experience with the Star Tribune's Michael Rand:

Q How did you get this assignment?

A Honestly, just from working in the industry. I have some connections with people from NBC when I used to work at Comcast. … I had talked to them last summer and expressed an interest in working on the Olympics. Initially I was told they were all set and didn't need anybody, but my contact told me almost every Olympics there's something last-minute that opens up. Sure enough, he called me nine days before the Opening Ceremonies. And I found out the Saturday before the Opening Ceremonies what events I'd be doing.

Q How did you cram to learn about sports I'm assuming you don't know much about?

A I'm flying by the seat of my pants, to be brutally honest. I'm doing the best I can, watching a lot of YouTube videos. ... The easy part is my job. Just like I do with Jim Petersen and the Timberwolves, my job is to set up the analyst and let them be the star.

Q But you're calling your events from the U.S. and not Rio, right?

A Yes, we're out in Connecticut. They have a staff of about 1,500 people out here doing what I would say are a majority of the events out of Connecticut. Obviously the front-tier things like swimming and gymnastics have crews in Rio, but there are so many sports. All those sports need to be done, and they do that from a world broadcast feed. The announcers are all here, and it's quite a setup.

A It is a challenge. A big challenge. I did it in college when I was practicing, but doing this for real is the first time I've done that. But I'm pretty fortunate with fencing, and it should be the same way with synchronized swimming. I only have two people in front of me, and I can see everything in front of me going on. I can't see the coaches or hear what they're yelling in.

Q If you tell a friend that you're announcing in the Olympics and then you tell them you're going to Connecticut are they surprised?

A Yeah, everyone assumed I was going to Rio — which I wouldn't have minded. But just to be able to be on it is great. But most people are under the impression that everybody is there. [NBC] has told me not to hide that fact. They want us to occasionally drop it into the broadcast that we're in Connecticut. But there's definitely a level of surprise for people who aren't aware of it.

Q What's your excitement level with calling Wolves games this year based on the trajectory of that franchise?