By Mike London

mike.london@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — Mike Hogewood hasn’t shown up yet in the Associated Press’ daily list of transactions, but he cheerfully announced during NSSA activities that he’s been “traded.”

“From the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears to the Catawba Indians,” Hogewood said with a laugh.
Hogewood sported an official Catawba emblem on his blazer to prove it.
Hogewood is a familiar face and owns a familiar voice. He’s recognizable as a longtime TV sports anchor and for his decades of work with ACC football and basketball, and racing.
Hogewood served Saturday as the moderator of a panel discussion to honor the contributions made by Roone Arledge and Stuart Scott during NSSA Legacy Night.
Hogewood taught video and speech as a part-time professor in Lenoir-Rhyne’s mass communications department the last three years, but he plans to start at Catawba in August.
“L-R people tell me I’m coming over to the other side,” Hogewood said.
Hogewood graduated from Greensboro’s Grimsley High School. He was a tennis player at Lenoir-Rhyne and graduated from the Hickory school in 1976.
“I was broadcasting Lenoir-Rhyne games while I was still a student and Bob Rathbun was a student at Catawba broadcasting their games,” Hogewood recalled.
Both broadcasters wound up working as colleagues at FOX. You never know where the broadcasting road might lead.
“One thing I tell students is they need to have a Plan B and a Plan C,” Hogewood said. “Plan A never works out.”
Hogewood’s broadcasting mentor was the late Jim Thacker, longtime WBTV sports director.
“The biggest thing he taught me was that a broadcast was about the event and not the broadcaster,” Hogewood said. “I learned a lot from him about preparation. Most of the work is done before the broadcast.”
Hogewood says he’s hit it off with Catawba president Brien Lewis and with Dr. Tim Moreland, a former play-by-play voice (Vikings, Twins, Nebraska, East Carolina) who heads Catawba’s communications department.
Hogewood will be teaching a Monday-Wednesday-Friday class at Catawba. It will be a painless commute for him from his home in Greensboro.
“I live three minutes from I-85 and on a good day I can make that trip in 45 minutes,” Hogewood said.
Hogewood will still have weekends free for sports assignments. One of his annual gigs is broadcasting the American Legion World Series in Shelby, and he’s looking forward to his introduction to Rowan County American Legion baseball at Catawba’s Newman Park.
I always thought of Salisbury as that town halfway between Charlotte and Greensboro,” Hogewood said. “But I’ve been learning what a fascinating place it is. There’s so much history here.”
The big-picture goal for Hogewood will be helping Catawba produce future sportscasters and sportswriters.
“I’m excited about the challenge,” Hogewood said. “I need to stock up on Catawba gear. I want to be part of the Salisbury community.”