If you're an avid Olympics viewer or a fencing enthusiast in particular, you might have heard a familiar voice describing that sport's action in recent days during the Rio Games.
Dave Benz, who does TV play-by-play of Timberwolves games, got a last-minute call to work the Olympics. He found out nine days before Friday's opening ceremonies that NBC needed his services, and a few days later he found out which sports he'd be doing: fencing this week, followed by synchronized swimming and modern pentathlon.
"All right up my alley," Benz said with a laugh during a phone interview Wednesday. "I'm flying by the seat of my pants, to be brutally honest."
But he's managing just fine so far, he said, thanks to YouTube video preparation and help from analyst Jeff Bukantz, a former Team USA fencing captain.
If you think it's strange that an NBA voice is calling those sports, you might find this fact even stranger: he's doing it from Connecticut. And he's hardly alone.
Benz estimated that the majority of events are being called from NBC's state-of-the-art facility in Stamford, Conn., while top tier sports like swimming and gymnastics get crews in Rio.
"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," Benz said. "It's amazing to be a part of it and see how the setup runs."
Benz said calling events from TV is a "big challenge" he's unaccustomed to — and one that his friends find odd.
