January 24, 2012
ESKS.com
By Rose Mary Phillip
It’s 7:20 a.m., -30 degrees outside and Morley Scott is listening to “Hallsy” on his car radio while he waits for the engine to warm up. You know he is doing it because he is tweeting it. The Eskimo play-by-play announcer and esks.com video host tweets the major (and not so major) highlights of his day to the Eskimo Empire and his legion of Twitter followers.
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| Morley Scott’s Twitter description: “Play by play for @cfl_esks on 630CHED. I have a family, a job, an iPod and a PVR. Love them all.” |
Born in Ontario, the son of Salvation Army ministers, Scott moved around the country a lot when he was a child – every three years on average. Although the scenery changed over the years, he hasn’t.
“I was chubby. I still am. And I was an information junkie for sports,” says Scott. “I used to wait for the newspaper to come so I could read the sports section and tell my friends. I was breaking stories when I was 10-years-old.” Not much has changed.
His career began over 30 years ago covering the University of Alberta Golden Bears for CJSR Radio. Today, he is most known for his 16 years with the Edmonton Oilers broadcast team. During that time, he did what only former pro-league players could do: “I was rarity in the NHL doing colour analysis and never having played at the level. I am pretty proud of that,” says Scott.
From the arena to the field house
Finding himself suddenly out of a job, Scott switched from hockey to football. Not an easy transition considering the game is completely different, the terminology doesn’t translate and game day parking at Commonwealth is harder to come by. He adapted. In fact, his ability to adapt is what he is most proud of professionally.
The sports mogul
Today, Scott has his own line of energy drinks, running shoes and designer gauze. Okay, he has none of that. But, he does have the Eskimos and he couldn’t be happier.
So what’s been the best part of joining the Esks family? You might think that it is first dibs on the new merchandise about to hit the revamped Eskimo store or access to the team massage therapist, but you would be wrong. He doesn’t get any of that. For him, the best part is “working with great people. Ever since I came aboard, the Esks have been great. First, Danny Maciocia, then Richie Hall. Kavis Reed and Eric Tillman have been great as well.
“Kavis has been a wealth of knowledge. He helped me become a football guy doing football. Not a hockey guy doing football.”
Calling all Tweepeople
If you follow the #Esks hash tag on Twitter (and you should for breaking team news), you have probably read Scott’s informative and hilarious tweets. It’s hard to believe that man who tweeted over 60 times last week alone once mocked his partner Dave Campbell for joining the social network.
“My family knows I don’t go anywhere without the Blackberry sitting beside me for tweeting,” says Scott. “I have to admit that I have become somewhat of junkie.”
Recent tweets from @Morley_Scott include real-time insider Eskimo news and gems like “If my system administrator would stop emailing me to tell me my mailbox is over size limit, I would be less over size limit.” So true.
Tuesdays with Morley
On January 24, tune into esks.com for the return of the weekly web series Tuesdays with Morley. “We’ll do our best to keep people informed with what’s going on with the team,” says Scott.
A lot happens during the off-season and the Eskimos want to keep you in the loop. Check out Tuesdays with Morley for discussions with Head Coach Kavis Reed and his coaching staff, players and a few guests that may surprise you. First up is Eskimo President and CEO Len Rhodes.
Have a question you want Scott to ask? Post it on the Edmonton Eskimo Football Club Facebook fan page or Tweet it #TuesdaysWithMorley.