Mr. Habinek has been the “Voice of the Nighthawks” for 3 years now. He is the sports announcer for a few Ironwood Ridge sports teams. His passion for this role is shown through his hardwork and dedication, he strives to make all the players feel special even if they aren’t on varsity. This job also lets him use his past experiences in sports and working for the NFL as well as getting to incorporate his new passion for photography.
In highschool, Mr. Habinek played sports such as football, baseball, and volleyball. Although his school didn’t have an organized hockey team, he and his friends would go out and play shinny which led to him announcing for a hockey team and currently playing for an adult hockey league here in Tucson. Coming from a small highschool in a small town, he always dreamed of doing great things. He said “most people ended up in the factories or on the farm, I wanted to shoot my sites bigger, go to college, get an education, get a degree” and he even dreamed of playing for the NFL. His friends would chuckle at him but Mr. Habinek was determined he was going to get there somehow. After he earned a degree in Sports marketing and a minor in Broadcasting at Bowling Green State University, he participated in an unpaid internship for his favorite childhood sports team, the Cleveland Browns. He built close connections and earned himself a front office role. His experiences coming from almost nothing to then working for the NFL makes him want to send this message that “[he] doesn’t care who you are or what your background is, everybody can overcome things”. Soon after, Mr. Habinek was motivated to start working in the special education field. This then led him to working at Ironwood Ridge since they have a wonderful special education and sports program. All of his past sports experience and education in sports and working with other athletes helped him land the role, “the Voice of the Nighthawks”.
After poking around, Mr. Habinek found out Ironwood Ridge was in need of a sports announcer. He now is the announcer for Freshmen, J.V, and Varsity football, softball, boys and girls basketball, volleyball, and track and field. He strives to have “the same game day experience for the freshmen teams, the jv teams and the varsity teams”. This is preparing the athletes for a future career in athletics with shoutouts and professional experience. Throughout his time as a sports announcer, he has built relationships with the players and coaches. He said , “I got to know the [softball players] last year really well”. They said his announcing helped them “feel what it’s really like going to the ballpark”. Mr. Habinek builds connections with the sport players off the field too. He “ loves to see the success in the classroom of our student athletes and also on the athletic fields”. Back when he was working with the Cleveland Browns, the football players would refer to him as “Thunder Dan” in the locker rooms. His father heard of this and said “yup that’s when you know you made it”.
One of his role models is Carl Grapentine who is the announcer for the Michigan football team. Mr. Habinek watches and studies his tapes to see what to do when he messes up. This prepares him for what might happen during sports announcements. Along with announcing games, he also has to make sure to keep his emotions in check. After the games, he sometimes goes into the locker room and can finally celebrate with the Nighthawks. One time after a close game, Ironwood finally won and Mr. Habinek went to see the athletes. He started cheering on the players saying things like “I’m proud of you” and “I’m fired up”. He wants to give back to these players so during practice, he goes out and takes some pictures of the players. This is one of his passions and he’s happy to use it and help the players feel appreciated.