Crimson Tide sports fans know 克里斯•斯图尔特’s voice; he’s been calling men’s basketball games at The University of Alabama for more than 20 years. 现在, he’s picking up the microphone and stepping into a new position as the lead play-by-play announcer for Alabama football — a job he’s wanted ever since he was a kid. 
“这是童年的梦想成真，”费尔菲尔德本地人说. “I have so many friends that have known me since childhood who are so thrilled for me. They laugh and say, ‘you literally talked about this when you were in elementary school.’”
在他的职业生涯中穿上深红色和白色之前, Stewart wore the 澳门在线赌城娱乐’s purple and gold as a walk-on member of the men’s golf team. As the salutatorian of his graduating class at Central Park Christian School in Birmingham, he received a full-tuition scholarship that UM offered to valedictorians and salutatorians at any high school in the state.
It was here on the bricks that Stewart first got to try his hand at play-by-play announcing. The mass communication major poured himself into courses that provided hands-on experience, 比如新闻制作课，学生要写, 制作并负责每周新闻广播MCS 新闻的技术工作, and a sports production class that broadcasted men’s and women’s home basketball games on a local cable channel owned by the University.
“I fell in love with doing play-by-play the very first game I got to do,” Stewart said. “我从我的教授Dr. 比尔·杜克，他对我很好，对我影响很大. 这对我来说是一个真正的跳板.”
斯图尔特还担任过《澳门在线赌城娱乐》和《澳门在线赌城娱乐》的体育编辑, sports director of the campus TV station and sports director of a small radio station about 10 minutes from campus in Calera.
“我非常感谢他们在蒙特瓦洛给我的机会，”他说. “I got a lot of chances to make a lot of mistakes in front of some very small audiences before I started making all the mistakes in front of bigger audiences like I do now.”
1992年获得学士学位后, 斯图尔特的职业生涯让他辗转于不同的电台, television and newspaper positions — one of his earliest assignments for the Over the Mountain Journal was interviewing John Forney, 前赤色潮的声音. Stewart expressed that he really wanted to become a play-by-play announcer and asked Forney if he could send him a tape of his work to review.
“He graciously agreed to do it, and gave me a call back a few weeks later,” Stewart said. “他告诉我，他认为我真的有未来，并继续工作. 现在我做着约翰·福尼做了30年的工作.”
斯图尔特后来进入了伯明翰南方学院, 他在那里做了8年的篮球广播播音员. He got his start at Alabama calling baseball on Crimson Tide Sports Network radio and has served as the voice of men’s basketball since 2002. 在此期间, he has also served as the sideline reporter for CTSN’s radio coverage of Crimson Tide Football and the television host of “The Nick Saban Show.”
斯图尔特丰富的体育转播经验和荣誉说明了一切. In 2009, the UM National 校友 Association honored him with the Nathalie Molton Gibbons 校友 Achievement Award. Stewart was a 2021 inductee into the UM 澳门在线赌城娱乐 Hall of Fame and served as the keynote speaker at UM’s Fall Commencement ceremony in 2022. He has also been named Alabama Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sports Media Association five times.
正如2月份宣布的那样, 斯图尔特将作为红潮队的新声音进入这个橄榄球赛季, succeeding longtime Alabama sports broadcaster Eli Gold — Stewart filled in for Gold in 2022 when he was absent due to health issues and handled road games in 2023. He is committed to carrying on the standard set by the announcers who came before him and has been grateful for the positive response and support from his community.
“You don’t accomplish anything or get any real opportunity without help in some manner from somebody,他说. “And I know that a lot of people have impacted my life in a lot of different ways and I’m grateful to them. I’m just glad that they’re able to feel a part of this and celebrate this with me, 因为没有他们我做不到.”
我之前曾播报过阿拉巴马州的橄榄球赛, 斯图尔特的兴奋并不是因为他的新头衔, 而是关于即将到来的赛季. 他期待着第一场阿拉巴马对俄克拉荷马的东南联盟比赛, 对阵威斯康辛的比赛以及在尼兰体育场举行的阿拉巴马对田纳西的比赛.
“这总是一个特殊的机会，”他说. “尽管我已经做了好几次了, 你永远不会把获得铁碗杯的机会视为理所当然. So, there’s a lot — hopefully a couple playoff games and a national championship as well. 那就太特别了.”
