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Tripp down memory lane

Penn State announcer breaks down career, PSU hockey

STATE COLLEGE — Brian Tripp has seen it all from behind the mic. From calling Penn State hockey at Pegula Ice Arena to reporting on the university’s football team from the sidelines at Beaver Stadium, the PSU graduate continues to perfect his craft daily.

Tripp has been the voice of PSU men’s ice hockey since the 2013-14 season, which he labels his “breakthrough opportunity.” PSU hockey joined Division I the year prior to Tripp joining their broadcast booth.

Tripp has handled a myriad of broadcast duties such as being PSU’s radio play-by-play man for baseball since 2015 and he was an analyst for the baseball club from 2010-14. He’s also called women’s volleyball and basketball.

Tripp has been a reporter for the Big Ten Network from 2014 to present day, a national play-by-play voice for the NCAA Men’s Hockey Championships and Frozen Four for Westwood One since 2018.

Fans can hear Tripp during Penn State football’s pregame show where he is a co-host and gameday contributor. He joined the show back in 2021.

Tripp grew up in Eastern Pa. and attended Nazareth Area High School. He was a Penn State fanatic and later graduated from the university in 2011.

Hockey Talk

PSU men’s ice hockey is 4-1 so far this season and will continue play on Friday against Minnesota.

The Nittany Lions will try to compete with blue bloods such as Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

“The original thought was it’s going to take Penn State decades or at least a decade to get to the point where they’re competitive with those programs and Guy (Gadowsky) and his staff identified a style of play and a personality… that fit that style of play that would be successful,” Tripp noted.

Penn State has raised the bar for their hockey program and according to Tripp, they’ve found the “perfect storm” as expectations have risen each year. The announcer added that it feels as though PSU hockey has a championship caliber team.

The Lions won the 2020 Big Ten regular season championship — a first in program history. They also won the 2017 Big Ten Conference Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament, giving themselves an automatic bid to the NCAA D-I tournament.

Broadcast Landscape

As we know people can host their own podcast or YouTube channel, giving them a voice for sports talk.

“It’s great that anyone can have a voice with a podcast, going live on a social feed, a TikTok… I think for young people who are truly interested in the profession (broadcast) that’s a great way to get experience. What we do as broadcasters for a game is not just show up, sit down and start to talk. The amount of preparation we put in, being able to handle certain moments over time (is important),” Tripp explained.

He added that announcers have to have a good rapport with their game analyst and engineer. Broadcasters are also storytellers for the listening audience.

Tripp thinks there is a right way to do a broadcast, “calling a game is an art.” The man with many hats highlighted the importance of getting reps with the microphone and that he doesn’t take anything for granite.

Lions Roar

With PSU football (7-0) hosting Ohio State (6-1) this Saturday, there is plenty of optimism surrounding the Happy Valley program.

The Buckeyes have not lost to PSU since 2016, but the Lions could be primed to take down their rivals.

“Fans can really, really make a difference on this game…I think the team this year has shown no matter what type of game they are in they have found a way to win. My observations from being on the sideline is that there’s something special about this team. Their leadership, their determination, the next-man-up mentality and if they have to win by running the football, they can,” Tripp said.

“If they have to win by throwing the football, they can. If it’s going to be a defensive game, they’ve proven they can win a defensive game. They’ve proven they can go from wire to wire with the lead. They’ve proven they can come from behind and win a game.”

Tripp added that PSU is building something special and their coaches deserve a lot of credit and that includes Andy Kotelnicki (offensive coordinator), Tom Allen (defensive coordinator) and head coach James Franklin.

Tripp doesn’t make predictions, but he does believe the matchup between Ohio State’s offensive line and PSU’s defensive line can be a difference maker in the Big Ten game.

He noted that Penn State can win in the trenches and win in many ways. Since they’re playing in front of their home crowd that “bodes well for Saturday” and fans should be optimistic no matter who the quarterback is for the Lions.

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