They don’t do radio, but fans love to listen to them.
They don’t do TV, but they hear from people all over the country how much they enjoy watching them.
They are about as non-media as you can get and that is exactly how Shane Cheatham and Keith Sutton want it.
When it comes to live streaming Parkway football, there is nothing traditional about it.
High school football broadcasts are a part of the charm of the sport and have been going for decades. Most schools or broadcasting entities have basically done it the same way, whether its via radio or the video stream, which is on the rise all over the state.
A play-by-play guy to call the action and often an analyst to break down what has happened on the field is the usual formula.
And then there’s Cheatham and Sutton.
When you tune in to SoBo.Live to watch Parkway football, get ready for something that’s about as non-traditional as you can get.
“We wanted to do something different that wasn’t the basic play-by-play thing,” Sutton says. “Nobody wants to listen to a couple of guys just talking about plays. So we are just two guys sitting around talking about the game.”
Sutton is a retired firefighter, has a private communications business and a member of the police jury. Cheatham has a real estate company and has been in city and public service for many years.
Neither has ever been a football coach. Neither has ever worked a day in media. And neither is particularly worried about it.
“Of all the things I’ve done,” Cheatham says, “this is the most fun I’ve ever had serving the community.”
“People love it and tell us how much they enjoy listening to us,” Sutton says. “We’ve had people as far away as Japan who are in the military telling us they watch because their son is playing. We have regulars, but we also have grandmothers in Ohio who watch and they can interact with us on the broadcast.”
A few years ago, Cheatham and Sutton hopped on the podcast train and started pushing out content about their thoughts on the world that revolved around South Bossier Parish, called Two Guys, One Sidewalk. That was all well and good … until Cheatham got a job working for the Gov. Jeff Landry.
“It probably wasn’t going to be a good idea for me to talk about other politicians,” Cheatham says.
But someone came up with the crazy idea that they could take that same podcast format and apply it to Parkway High School, which is basically the capital of South Bossier. Wes Merriott, the brains behind SoBo.Live, figured it was worth running it up the flagpole to see if anyone would salute it.
This really isn’t a broadcast. Even if they knew who was supposed to be in the analyst role, you won’t get a whole lot of information on how Cover 3 is working or the intricacies of the read option.
As for the preparation involved for a broadcast, that can be summed up in one word.
“None,” Sutton says.
For that matter, you might not get a whole lot of play-by-play if the two start wandering off on a topic. It is admittedly a one-sided broadcast – only occasionally will they mention a player on the opposing team – but make no mistake, the people of South Bossier (and beyond) love it.
“It’s been awesome to call these games and realize how many people are watching because they can’t make the game for whatever reason,” Cheatham said.
Now if someone could just keep Cheatham off the basketball court.
This is Year 3 of the SoBo broadcasts and it has certainly been an … uh … interesting one. Things were rocking right along as the Panthers started building win after win. That wasn’t the problem.
The problem was that Cheatham lost track of his age for a few moments. Attending the Parkway Alumni Basketball game on Sept. 27, Cheatham sat in the stands with his wife, only intending to watch and donate to the cause.
But the game wasn’t very fast paced so what would be the harm, Cheatham figured, in getting out there and reliving the old glory days as a Panther basketball player (Class of ’93)? “Even though my wife told me not to do it,” he says.
Two trips down the court and everything was fine. Until it wasn’t.
One misstep on the way to the goal resulted in a torn patellar tendon in his right knee, along with two other torn tendons.
“I probably should have listened to my wife,” Cheatham says.
You think?
Cheatham had surgery a week later and missed two games. But he has made his way back to SoBo.Live … sort of.
Doctor’s orders prevent him from climbing stairs, so instead, he uses a wireless microphone from the sideline while Sutton makes the call from the press box.
Tonight in the opening round of the playoffs against Covington, you can find Sutton in the press box and Cheatham in a golf cart scooting around the Panther sideline.
“They really are interesting,” Parkway coach Coy Brotherton says. “They’ve got a lot of jokes. Most of them are corny and I like to get onto them about that. And they tell some stories that are crazy. But they love the school, and they love the kids.”
Contact JJ at johnjamesmarshall@yahoo.com
