ROUSES_Fall2023_Magazine

By Mary Beth Romig Some 30 years ago a football-crazed young lady wrote, “There are two seasons in our family — football season and waiting for football season.”

F or the fellows who talk sports on WWL AM/FM Radio and during the New Orleans Saints games, all to a man agree that this describes their lives as well. For Mike Hoss, Bobby Hebert and Mike Detillier, talking sports is a passion and a profession. And while they share this same passion, their paths to the airwaves are remarkably dissimilar. Mike Hoss is now the play-by-play announcer for New Orleans Saints games, sharing the radio booth with Deuce McAllister, the former Saints running back who provides color commentary. They both provide pre- and post-game coverage and appear ances during the weeks of football season — and anytime the hometown football team is a hot topic of conversation. Hoss, a native of Manassas, Virginia, graduated from James Madison University and began his career as a television

journeyman, eventually landing at WWL-TV, and lovingly won the viewers’ affection when he dressed as a moose while covering Fat Tuesday festivities. His first day on the New Orleans airwaves was Monday, February 27, 1989, when he joined the sports team. He eventu ally moved to the news desk and remained at WWL until 2017 when, citing a desire to spend more time with his family, he joined a start-up communications company. Hoss says he was “busy and happy,” when, one Sunday during a Saints game, Doug Thornton, executive vice president, ASM Global, offered him an opportunity to join the Superdome/ Smoothie King team, then managed by SMG, as a spokesperson for the upcoming renovation of the multipurpose stadium. He accepted the role and remains as manager of media relations for Caesars Superdome and Smoothie King Center, Champions

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