Our friend and colleague at Press Pros, Joe Neves, has passed away, leaving more for people in the sports and broadcasting community to appreciate than most will ever know.
I wasn’t surprised to hear that Press Pros colleague and former area broadcaster Joe Neves passed away last week, on Wednesday, October 1st. Joe had been in terrible health for some time and faced his condition with diabetes about as heroically as anyone I’ve ever known. Joe was 68 at the time of his death.
“I like the feeling of knowing everyone of those people personally who listen. I like to work for my friends.” – Joe Neves
For the past ten years he’s operated the Friday Night scoreboards for football and basketball on the Press Pros site, enjoyed it immensely, and was one of the most committed people I’ve ever known for the sake of getting the right information posted for the sake of the readers.
Joe honestly, and genuinely, cared about those he knew and served, and that, over broadcasting, and those who knew him for sundry other endeavors during his life was his lasting legacy. If Joe was your friend, he was your friend. And for the sake of opinion, a lot of people didn’t appreciate that nearly enough.
I first got to know him in 2000 when he called me to ask if I would be interested in working with him on basketball broadcasts he was doing for WPTW, in Piqua, at the time. I had never dabbled in broadcasting before, and within a week Joe had me up and running, teaching the fine points of what to say and when to say it. We worked together for about seven years and it was great fun. Joe had a great radio voice, his imagination and memory for facts were above reproach, and he could do more with fewer notes and written stats than anyone I’ve ever seen since.
In fact, Joe Neves was far better as a play-by-play man than many of the college broadcasters working in Ohio, and for years while he was in good health I tried to convince him to send audition tapes out to MAC schools like Bowling Green, Ohio University, Miami, and others who struggled on air in comparison to how smooth, and natural, Joe was. He had a little bit of Paul Keels going for him, but he would never do it.
Joe liked small towns, small communities, and intimate audiences, and he preferred to stay in Piqua, or Sidney, where he worked for WMVR prior to coming to WPTW. He would say to me, “Sonny, I like the feeling of knowing every one of those people personally who listen. I like to work for my friends.”
For years Joe worked as a service scheduler for Arbogast Buick-GMC, in Troy. It was his day job.
“But Joe,” I would contend. “Working for your friends doesn’t pay the bills.” But it never mattered to Joe. He was happier to broadcast a Piqua-Troy game than he would have been doing Ohio State-Michigan.
Small market radio was never particularly good to Joe, although he enjoyed his opportunity to be the voice of Piqua (or wherever), immensely. “Broadcasting is a tough business,” a friend in Columbus explained to me, and in no uncertain terms. “Because once you get good, or popular, or expensive, you get fired.” But Joe never seemed to mind.
When he finally left WPTW in 2009, he asked me about my plans for launching the Press Pros website. “I’d love to work with you, even if it’s just part time,” he said.
Joe as a broadcaster for the OHSAA state basksetball finals in 2013.
And when we launched in 2010 we actually streamed local area sports broadcasts with Joe behind the microphone. We never promoted it, or marketed it, but it turned out to be a very good thing, and all because of Joe Neves. He was still that good, and still that popular with his audience, and all the while working for years at Arbogast Buick-GMC, in Troy, as a service scheduler. That voice, the same one that people loved for basketball…I swear it actually made them feel better about having their car fixed.
When he was diagnosed with diabetes four years later it took a toll on his health, and his ability to get around in the ice and snow and up and down stairs. In about 2015 he gave up the broadcasting, altogether, and took on the responsibility to posting the Friday night ‘minute-to-minute scoreboard’ online.
I will always wonder what Joe might have done for himself if he had sent out those audition tapes like my high school classmate Jeff Purtee once did. Jeff went on to be the official radio voice of East Carolina University basketball and football for decades, and Joe was every bit that good.
But in the broadcast industry you need someone to encourage, and promote, and open a few doors. And Joe never had that. Nor was he going to pretend to be something that he wasn’t sure he was…not without an advocate to show the way. As I say, radio and broadcasting is a tough, tough business.
He was as loyal a person as I ever knew. And Joe did far more for me, and others, than we could possibly repay in kind, or in kindness. And for that I will always think of him as my friend, and know that it was all that he required. Or wanted.
The Hughes Law office, in Urbana, is the presenting sponsor OHSAA state tournament coverage on Press Pros. Call them today if they can help you…Ph. 937-398-0520