Byline: Marty Maciaszek Daily Herald Sports Writer
Ryan Kuro doesn't see any big deal in his plans for Saturday night.
The 1999 Schaumburg High School graduate and junior at Western Illinois University figures they aren't much different from a lot of college students.
Kuro is getting an opportunity to pursue a dream by doing radio color commentary for the first time of a Western Illinois men's basketball game with visiting Valparaiso.
'I'm not doing anything that important,' Kuro said. 'I'm just broadcasting a basketball game.'
Nothing unusual about what many other students do at colleges across the country. Except for the fact Kuro has never seen a game - or anything - in his life because he's been blind since birth.
That fact hasn't diminished Kuro's mutual interests of radio and sports. He'll get to show his love for both at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Macomb as part of a first-year classroom program that gives students on-air experience on campus radio station WIUS-FM.
National Association of Broadcasters spokesman Jeffery Yorke told the Associated Press he wasn't aware of any other blind sportscasters. Don Wardlow is retired as a broadcaster for the minor-league baseball Charleston Riverdogs.
'Ryan's very keyed up and we're so excited for him,' said WIU broadcasting assistant professor Buzz Hoon. 'Hopefully he enjoys it.'
One thing is perfectly clear from Hoon, play-by-play partner Rich Zapf, Schaumburg head football coach Tom Cerasani and Kuro himself: Kuro may be receiving significant media attention, but this is not a publicity stunt.
'I've worked very hard to make this happen,' said Kuro, who will be part of a three-man crew with commentator Todd Kelly.
'He's got as much heart as I do (for broadcasting),' said Zapf, a WIU senior and 1999 Lake Park High School graduate who wants to pursue a career in sports broadcasting.
'Ryan was just in this (Thursday) morning talking about Saturday's broadcast to make sure he was prepared,' Hoon said. 'He said he was nervous and I said, 'Ryan, you have to know a couple of things for why I picked you to be on the air. I think no other student knows radio sports like you do and nobody else has listened to radio sports like (you have).'
'He's one of those radio nerds. And he knows sports. He may not have seen it but he's listened and read, and he knows in his mind how it's supposed to happen.'
But sports weren't Kuro's first love. It was radio, which opened a new world to Kuro.
'When I was a little boy I collected old radio shows,' Kuro said. 'I remember on a trip back from Michigan we tuned into an old radio show and I fell in love with it.
'I saw something enjoyable.'
Kuro also found similar satisfaction in sports once he started high school at Schaumburg. Cerasani brought Kuro and Jonathan Cregier, whose spinabifida confined him to a wheelchair, into the football program as managers.
'The first time I saw Ryan he was walking down Schaumburg Road by himself and I went, 'Holy Christ, what is this kid doing?' because I knew he was blind,' Cerasani said. 'I was so impressed with him and we got to talking and I gave him a game jersey.
'His perseverance, to be blind ... and it didn't stop him. This is not a gimmick at all. This is always what he wanted to do.'
Kuro became a fixture at Schaumburg sporting events and often talked into a tape recorder and typed notes to himself.
He also started getting some practice on the football sideline by doing color commentary from the action described by Cregier.
So after two years at downstate Lincoln College, one of the first places Kuro went when he arrived at WIU was Hoon's office.
'I told him we were trying to start a program of radio sports broadcasting,' Hoon said. 'He was very excited and told me of his dream of being on the radio and doing some aspect of sports broadcasting.'
Hoon said Kuro was constantly coming in to see if the grant money had arrived to purchase the necessary radio remote equipment. And Kuro became a fixture at WIU sporting events.
Finally everything came to fruition and WIU basketball was on the air on WIUS. Kuro kept close tabs on some of the initial broadcasts to get a feel for the operation.
Zapf said Kuro also provided constructive criticism.
'One game he came over to us and said you need to describe this a little better and we took it into consideration,' Zapf said. 'On radio it's almost like you're trying to broadcast to the blind. You have to be very descriptive and Ryan helped me with that a lot.'
Zapf wants to return the favor. He understands since his mother, Debbie, works for the Ray Graham Association, which helps people with developmental disabilities.
'It's Ryan's dream,' Zapf said. 'I'm not going to sit here and say he can't do it because he can do it.'
Kuro does it by familiarizing himself with areas of the court to form mental images. He's also preparing cheat sheets after spending several weeks converting media guides and game notes into pages of Braille six inches thick.
Kuro said he'll try to feed off Zapf and Kelly to provide information and descriptions to the audience. But Kuro doesn't plan to do some pseudo-Harry Caray or Howard Cosell.
'I need to be me,' he said. 'I have to jump in and do it. The only way to get experience is to be on the air and do it.'
Kuro said he hopes to do one more broadcast this basketball season. Hoon said the station plans to cover other sports and he wants Kuro to get involved in a sports talk show as well.
Hoon believes Kuro has plenty to offer if he decides to pursue a sports broadcasting career. And Kuro won't let his blindness deter any of his ambitions.
'Who has the right to even tell anybody they can't accomplish their dreams?' Kuro said. 'It doesn't matter how big or small they are. I love it. And I tell you, I'm not doing it to get rich.'
Some would say that's already been achieved by Ryan Kuro.
