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Lifelong Girard resident mainstay at stadium
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By JON MOFFETT
Vindicator Staff Writer
GIRARD – Mark Zuppo of Girard feels like a king when he walks into the high school football stadium on Friday nights.
Officially, he’s not the king.
He’s the P.A. guy.
Zuppo is entering his 12th year as the public-address announcer for the Indians, Girard High School’s football team. His voice booms over the crowd on Fridays when Girard is playing at home.
“There’s nothing like football in Northeast Ohio,” Zuppo said. “There’s no experience like that anywhere else in the country.”
As a lifelong Girard resident, Zuppo is a mainstay in the press box at Girard’s stadium. He said people will shake his hand and talk to him at every game.
Zuppo is a respected member of the Girard sports community. In addition to varsity football, Zuppo volunteers his time and talent for junior varsity and freshman football whenever he can. He does the announcing for basketball as well. Off mic, he coaches Little League baseball and youth basketball.
“He’s a tireless, selfless person when it comes to donating his time and money to benefit kids in the community,” said Joe Cappuzzello, Girard High School’s athletic director. “He’s always there for the kids, to volunteer and coach sports. I can’t thank him enough for what he’s done. In an era when most people put themselves first, it’s nice to have someone who puts the kids first.”
Though Zuppo admits Girard will always have his first interest, he does acknowledge the opposing players as well.
“Some people will call me a bit of a homer because I like to whoop it up a little bit for the Girard kids,” Zuppo said, “but I also feel that I should be respectful for the other team; I try to pronounce every kid on the other team’s name properly.”
Zuppo also tried his hand in local politics for a while, serving five terms as a city councilman and another term on the school board. But Zuppo grew tired of people holding grudges against him.
“I care more about doing stuff for the kids than I do for the adults, quite frankly,” Zuppo said.
On Friday football nights, Zuppo is the voice of the Indians; during the week, Zuppo works in medical sales for Smith’s Medical out of the United Kingdom. He sells tracheotomy and respiratory products, specifically critical-care products.
Zuppo admits he has more fun at the field than he does at the office, referring to announcing as his “little Walter Mitty thing.”
Zuppo grew up listening to sportscasters on the radio and dreaming of being one, he said. He would have considered broadcasting as a profession but was discouraged by local sportscasters who said there was no money in the business.
“I always tell kids this, when I’m speaking to kids in any classroom environment,” Zuppo said: “Don’t let an adult talk you out of doing what you want to with your life, because if I would’ve gone to school for broadcasting, I would’ve got out in 1979, and a little company called ESPN started in 1979.”
Zuppo compared himself to ESPN personality Chris Berman, who Zuppo says is known for making up nicknames for players. Zuppo claims that Berman is “that guy I should have been.”
“I used to think, ‘God, I do stuff like that,’” Zuppo said of Berman’s antics. “So I always appreciated his sense of humor and the way he deals with that.”
Although he may compare himself to Berman, Zuppo said it was older sportscasters who really caught his attention.
“It was something I really enjoyed as a kid,” Zuppo said. “I always liked listening to Jimmy Dudley on the radio doing the Indians’ games when I was a kid. Jimmy Dudley and Bob Neal were probably a couple of my idols. And then when you get a little bit older, you start impersonating some of those guys. I just always kind of enjoyed that type of thing.”
Now, instead of impersonating other sportscasters, Zuppo brings his own personality to the game.
jmoffett@vindy.com