The radio play-by-play voice of EWU, Larry Weir, was selected by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association to be the 2014 Washington Broadcaster of the Year.

“It was really kind of a neat thing for me,” said Weir. “Most of the time, the people that win in the state of Washington are guys that have a whole statewide audience. So it’s pretty rare for somebody to not have a statewide audience to win this award.”

This award has been more than just the prestige for Weir.

“It’s also special to me because my mentor, Bob Robertson, who did Washington State [University], games for many, many years,” said Weir. “He’s who I grew up listening to, and he won that award. So for me to win something he won so many times is special.”

Weir has been a finalist for this award in the past, but this is his first time winning. He has called almost 600 Eastern men’s basketball games and 285 Eastern football games.

Weir got into broadcasting after high school; he got his first start in Toppenish, Washington, covering a Native-American basketball tournament at a local radio station. Weir continued to work at the radio station while he attended Walla Walla Community College.

“I drove from Walla Walla to Toppenish and [broadcasted] high school games and just kind of went from there,” said Weir.

After receiving his A.A. from Walla Walla Community College, Weir attended EWU. The fall quarter of his junior year shortly after that, he got a full-time job in Yakima, Washington as a disc-jockey on the radio.

Weir has been the radio play-by-play broadcaster for Eastern since 1991. He is currently in his 22nd season calling EWU men’s basketball games. He also just recently finished his 24th season calling EWU football games.

Weir talked his motivations as a broadcaster.

“The main thing that motivates me is just not wanting to sound bad to the people that are listening,” said Weir. “I want to make the best description of the game as I possibly can, and so that’s what motivates me.”

Weir also expressed the love he has for his career.

“I get paid to watch ball games,” said Weir. “So that’s one thing, and then the other thing that’s probably more important is the relationships that develop between coaches and players and myself.”

EWU Director of Athletics Bill Chaves explained how the university is represented with Weir receiving this honor.

“It’s exciting,” said Chaves. “A lot of years of excellence have gone into him being honored this way. He’s just really good at what he does, and he loves Eastern, and he’s done it for basically a quarter century.”

Chaves also said the public and the EWU community responded to the news on social media.

“I think in the world that we are [in] with social media, I’m on Twitter and so I made sure and congratulated him,” said Chaves. “There was a number of favorites [on that tweet]. I think he’s just so well liked by our fan base.”

Weir had some advice to students that want to become play-by-play broadcasters and radio hosts.

“I tell young broadcasters all the time, if you’re at a ball game, try to do some play-by-play in your head. And if you have an opportunity to go and sit someplace and do it into a recorder, that’s good too,” said Weir. “Practice is the best way to get better. Find your style, and then work on improving that style.”