Don Wadewitz

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Don R. Wadewitz II

Born	May 20, 1974 (1974-05-20) (age 34) Racine, Wisconsin
Occupation	Sportscaster
Spouse	Michelle Eide
Parents	Donald Richard Wadewitz and Rose Ellen Djurich

Donald Richard Wadewitz II (born May 20, 1974) is an American sportscaster and media relations director.

1 Education
2 Career
3 Awards
4 Other Notable Appearances
5 Personal life
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Education

Don was born in Racine, Wisconsin. He attended Dr. Beatrice O. Jones Elementary School, Mitchell Elementary and Middle School and Washington Park High School. Don then attended Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin from 1992 through 2000. He encountered financial issues after his sophomore year and worked part-time on a degree from 1995 until he graduated in 2000 with a degree in Broadcast and Electronic Communication and a minor in criminology.

While at Marquette University, Don hosted the Wisconsin Jukebox Radio Show⁸ on Marquette Radio from 1993 until 2002. The show focused on bands from the state of Wisconsin. Don was the first deejay at the station to have a website dedicated to his show. He also featured weekly band interviews and live sets in studio. In 2000, Don received the first ever Don and Kay McNeill Award for Creative Efforts in Student Broadcasting.

[edit] Career

[edit] XROXX LLC

While still in college, Don was approached by his good friend, Scott S. Hanson, and asked to be a partner in a business venture. The venture was an online music station and electronic magazine called XROXX. Don agreed and Scott, Don and Paul Gaumond began XROXX LLC. XROXX officially launched on February 14, 2002¹.

The station mostly played music by independent punk, ska and emo bands. Within the first four months, XROXX had shot into the Shoutcast Top 50 rankings and became the number one punk/ska Internet radio station. Unfortunately, new Internet fees for webcasters became too much for the college students to handle and they pulled XROXX off the Internet in August 2002.

After the dust had settled from legal battles over Internet radio, the trio tried to bring XROXX back in 2004. They relaunched on February 14th again and had instant success. The team started out small with 50 connections to the stream and increased their bandwidth as it became regularly maxed out. In just a month, they had tripled their listenership. XROXX LLC released two compilation CDs during the second incarnation. The first, XROXX Rocks! Volume 1, featured all United States bands. The second, XROXX Rocks! Volume 2, featured bands from across the globe. Volume 1 had a print-run of 2,500 copies and Volume 2 had a run of 3,500 copies. Volume 1 is now out of circulation.

The website had volunteer writers from across the globe that would provide content. The website received hundreds of unique visitors each day.

Once again, fees became too much and the trio didn't want to charge fees to listen to XROXX so they shut down shop again in 2005.

[edit] MLB Fan Strike

On May 15, 2002, Don started a small protest website, MLB Fan Strike, after Bill Michaels, a sports talk show host on AM 620 WTMJ in Milwaukee, suggested someone should start a website protesting a potential strike by Major League Baseball players or a lockout by the owners. The website, mlbfanstrike.com, launched on May 19, 2002.

The website instantly gained national and international media attention. CNN ⁶, ESPN ⁹, ABC World News Tonight⁷, as well as hundreds of local television and radio stations ran stories on MLB Fan Strike. Articles also ran in several hundred newspapers worldwide.

MLB Fan Strike wasn't the only website calling for fans to boycott baseball. Several others had been started and all of the websites were calling for their own fan strike date. Don was able to get all of the major websites to agree to several dates for unified, nationwide fan strikes that all of the websites would promote together. ² ³ ⁴ ⁵

The owners and players were able to avoid a strike or lockout by signing a contract in the eleventh hour on August 31, 2002.

[edit] Racine Raiders

Don joined the Racine Raiders in January 2003 as the team's Marketing Director. The team quickly realized his talents were more suited for media and public relations and he took over those duties the in 2004. He improved the team's website and set up a communications plan that included an electronic fan newsletter, a database of media contacts, and a better communication system for recruiting players, cheerleaders and volunteers. The Raiders also became one of the first sports teams to utilize social networking websites to promote the team. Minor League Football News named Don the Public Relations Director of the Year for the Central Region in 2004 ¹⁴, 2005 ¹³ and 2006 ¹¹ for his cutting-edge efforts.

Gary Suhr, the longtime play-by-play person for the Raiders retired in 2002, opening the door for Don to begin broadcasting Racine Raiders games on AM 1400 WRJN in Racine, Wisconsin. He handled the play-by-play part-time, when the main announcer couldn't attend games.

In 2005, Don recommended the team begin broadcasting games online, in addition to the broadcasts on WRJN. The Raiders signed a contract with Broadcast Monsters late in the season to test fan interest in Internet broadcasts. Fans responded to the new service well and the Raiders began broadcasting all of their games online in 2006. ¹²

Don convinced the team to go to a three-person radio broadcast in 2006, with Don handling the sideline reporting, when he wasn't doing the play-by-play. Fans reacted very positively to the new setup and the Raiders are now the only team in the North American Football League (NAFL) to offer sideline reporting during their radio broadcasts. The three-person broadcast crew was named the Best Sports Broadcast Team in the Racine Journal Times Best of Racine County in 2007. ¹⁵ Don has served as the sideline reporter, color commentator and play-by-play person for Raiders' broadcasts.

In 2008, Don helped the Racine Raiders become the first minor league football team ever to have a website dedicated solely to recruiting (http://playfortheraiders.com).

[edit] North American Football League (NAFL)

Don was hired as the Media Relations Director for the North American Football League (NAFL) in February 2008. The NAFL is the largest football league in the country, with over 120 member teams that compete in a national playoff tournament.

[edit] Wisconsin Area Music Industry (WAMI)

Don became a member of the Wisconsin Area Music Industry (WAMI) in 1994. In 2004, he joined the Board of Directors for the organization and became the Membership Director. His term expired in 2006.

He directed the WAMI 25th Annual Awards Show at the Potawatomi Northern Lights Theater in Milwaukee on April 25, 2005.

[edit] Awards

Best Sports Broadcast Team - Racine Journal Times, Best of Racine County - 2007 ¹⁵
Minor League Football News (MLFN) National Public Relations Director of the Year - 2007 ¹⁶
Minor League Football News (MLFN) Website of the Year (racineraiders.com) - 2007 ¹⁶
Minor League Football News (MLFN) Public Relations Director of the Year, Central Region - 2004 ¹⁴, 2005 ¹³, 2006 ¹¹
Racine Raiders Fred Vance Memorial Volunteer of the Year Award - 2006 ¹⁰
Marquette University Don and Kay McNeill Award for Creative Efforts in Student Broadcasting - 2000

[edit] Other Notable Appearances

Don appeared in the Walt Disney Pictures film Mr. 3000, starring Bernie Mac, as a journalist in the scene where Mac's character announces he is coming out of retirement.

Don has also appeared on the ESPN show Outside the Lines ⁹, ABC World News Tonight with Peter Jennings ⁷ and CNN ⁶.

[edit] Personal life

Don Wadewitz has a half-sister and two half-brothers. Don has been married to Michelle Eide since March 15, 2003. They met while Don was working security at Michelle's residence hall at Marquette University. They have no children.

[edit] References

[edit] External links