Prep Basketball: Bone fulfills dream at State Tournament

Tom Bone has long been a fixture at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.

The veteran sports writer, who joined the profession in 1999, has covered numerous high school basketball state tournament games as well as West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and Mountain East Conference games in the venue. He’s documented some of the state’s greatest athletic achievements in print. But many are also familiar with his voice.

The public address announced for Concord University, Bone was recently inducted into the institution’s athletic hall of fame, solidifying him as man of many talents.

But his vocal talents allowed him to knock off a bucket list item.

On Tuesday for the Class AA semifinal between Wheeling Central and Philip Barbour, Bone was bestowed the honor of serving as the PA announcer for the game.

When opportunity knocks, you’re taught to answer, but Bone was proactive.

“Sometimes a person has to take the bull by the horns and make to happen,” Bone smiled. “I talked to the folks at the WVSSAC and explained this was something I’d wanted to do for decades and they have given me the opportunity. My smile was so broad when I heard that it lit up the whole town.”

Long before he was a writer, Bone’s talent as PA announcer was on display.

“When I was a sophomore in college at Concord I would come back to Union High and one of the Vo-tech teachers climbed up the big telephone pole that holds up the lights,” Bone said. “There was a little wooden box and he turned on the mic and announced the games. 
He agreed to let me spot for him. I learned a lot, a whole lot about the sportsmanship involved. I’m not a guy who’s going to make every visitor in the arena feel left out or discriminated against. 
And this is all good sportsmanship out here. That early lesson has carried me on until now.”

Bone isn’t afraid of the challenge either. The 5:30 game comes with an added layer of PA duties. On top of introducing the benches and starters for both teams, he’s also responsible for introducing the National Anthem to open the evening session. Tag in the ad reads and announcements that take place during the multiple media breaks, the job can be overwhelming. But Bone welcomed it knowing what he was in for.

“It’s unique, it’s a big spotlight,” Bone said. “It’s a big moment and I just want to do my best. I believe that with the past experiences I’ve had, things do always go as planned. You gotta be ready. I hope I am and we’ll find out soon.”

A man of many talents, Bone’s trip to Charleston isn’t a brief one. At the conclusion of the Central-Philip Barbour game he’ll regroup and put on another cap, pulling double duty covering the Class AA quarterfinal game between Wyoming East and James Monroe for the Bluefield newspaper that he now writes for on a part time basis in retirement. 

“It worked out,” Bone smiled. “With turnpike tolls and hotel rooms and all that, you want to squeeze it all into one day if you can, and it’s worked out.”