Graffagnini Lauded by Peers as he Joins Pelicans Radio Team
Jun 27, 2019 | General
By Clyde Verdin
Tulane Strategic Communications
At 7 p.m. on August 29, Todd Graffagnini will be doing something else.
When the Tulane football team takes the field for its season opener against FIU on that day, somebody else will be calling Green Wave football on the radio for the first time since 2006.
Graffagnini, for his part, will be listening or watching, likely with the same fanaticism he brought to the airwaves as "The Voice of the Green Wave." But it won't be from the Yulman Stadium press box.
On Tuesday, the New Orleans Pelicans announced Graffagnini will become the new radio play-by-play broadcaster for the franchise, bringing a 27-year affiliation with Tulane athletics to an end. Instead of having a calendar booked from August to June consisting of football, basketball and baseball, he'll spend 82 nights a year in NBA arenas watching some of the best basketball players in the world.
Depending on your age, or at the very least if you know your way around an AM/FM radio, Graffagnini's voice has been the go-to source for memories and moments throughout nearly three decades of Tulane sports. From the Metro Conference to Conference USA and now the American Athletic Conference, "The Graff" has helped capture the moments of in-season and postseason glory.
"I am thrilled for Todd and his family as he embarks on this new opportunity with the New Orleans Pelicans," Tulane Director of Athletics Troy Dannen said. "Graff's passion for Tulane has always defined his broadcasts, and that legacy will not be forgotten."
Graffagnini has a passion for Tulane athletics like the white-hot intensity of a thousand suns and then some. Win or lose, good or bad, the New Orleans native brought fans in on a ride that began with the opening kick, tip or first pitch and never wavered until the final horn sounded.
A Loyola-New Orleans grad, it's fitting that Graffagnini put his broadcasting degree to good use at the school next door. Volunteering his time for Green Wave baseball broadcasts after his playing career ended and transitioning into coaching, he became the main broadcaster for the baseball program in 1994. He also watched his brothers Kyle, Keith and Grayden Greiner all don the Olive and Blue.
Along the journey, Graffagnini cut his teeth with multiple Tulane sports. His career includes calling the first women's basketball conference championship of the Lisa Stockton era and the most recent bowl victory for the football team at the Cure Bowl in Orlando last December. Every sport has a different flow and feel than the others, and Graffagnini seemed to be able to maneuver that flow as the years went by.
"I think one of the things I have always admired about Graff was the way he was always so invested in every broadcast that he was a part of, right from the start to the very end," said John Cox, a veteran of 40 years in calling Southern Miss sports as the Voice of the Golden Eagles. "He's a fantastic storyteller, great at providing all of the details and describing all of the action and making you see and feel what is going on, and the excitement that he always brings to his broadcasts never fails to make you feel like you are sitting there in the middle of the action."
A meticulous study of every opponent, to the point of listening to other team's broadcasts and following along with live stats before going on air, Graffagnini left no stone unturned when it came to his preparation. With a wealth of knowledge about Tulane's history and attention to detail about the opponent, pregame conversations with Graff were likely never short.
"He was one of those guys you loved to spend some time with before the game and your broadcast because he was always full of stories about the Green Wave, and it was fun to sit and tell and share stories before your broadcast," Cox said. "One of the hardest working guys I have ever been around. He was prepared and knew everything about his team and yours."
You'll be hard-pressed to find another broadcaster come down the line screaming "Hang 'em, Bang 'em" regularly into a microphone, or wax poetically about the dangers of a 3-0 count to the opposing team's No. 9 hitter. Graffagnini's style was all his own, and one that he owned with vigor.
"As the newer kid on the conference block I only got to run into Todd a few times, but he was always gracious, easy-going, and obviously a lot of fun," USF play-by-play broadcaster Darek Sharp said. "I think I share his exuberance, and affinity for the profession, with the only difference being he is way better at it than me."
Graffagnini once said doing this job, the one that he's held for the last 12 years in earnest, was his dream. And for 27 years he was able to live out that dream while forever being woven into the fabric of Tulane athletics history.
At 7 p.m. on August 29 Todd Graffagnini will be doing something else.
But while doing that something else, he'll likely find himself somewhere he's always been and will never be far away from. Watching a Tulane sporting event as the radio voice of the New Orleans Pelicans.
Tulane Strategic Communications
At 7 p.m. on August 29, Todd Graffagnini will be doing something else.
When the Tulane football team takes the field for its season opener against FIU on that day, somebody else will be calling Green Wave football on the radio for the first time since 2006.
Graffagnini, for his part, will be listening or watching, likely with the same fanaticism he brought to the airwaves as "The Voice of the Green Wave." But it won't be from the Yulman Stadium press box.
On Tuesday, the New Orleans Pelicans announced Graffagnini will become the new radio play-by-play broadcaster for the franchise, bringing a 27-year affiliation with Tulane athletics to an end. Instead of having a calendar booked from August to June consisting of football, basketball and baseball, he'll spend 82 nights a year in NBA arenas watching some of the best basketball players in the world.
Depending on your age, or at the very least if you know your way around an AM/FM radio, Graffagnini's voice has been the go-to source for memories and moments throughout nearly three decades of Tulane sports. From the Metro Conference to Conference USA and now the American Athletic Conference, "The Graff" has helped capture the moments of in-season and postseason glory.
"I am thrilled for Todd and his family as he embarks on this new opportunity with the New Orleans Pelicans," Tulane Director of Athletics Troy Dannen said. "Graff's passion for Tulane has always defined his broadcasts, and that legacy will not be forgotten."
Graffagnini has a passion for Tulane athletics like the white-hot intensity of a thousand suns and then some. Win or lose, good or bad, the New Orleans native brought fans in on a ride that began with the opening kick, tip or first pitch and never wavered until the final horn sounded.
"When I think of Todd I think of passion – a passion for broadcasting and a real desire to do the best job possible," said Jeff Charles, ECU's Voice of the Pirates. "He loves Tulane and that will not change. Even though he is a young guy, he is old-school, and that is refreshing in this day and age of play-by-play broadcasters. We will miss him in The American, but we are so happy for him and his family with this wonderful new opportunity with the Pelicans."Oh, yeah...
— Tulane University Football (@GreenWaveFB) June 26, 2019
And this 💎 from @NTGraff. #RollWave pic.twitter.com/v474SkJRqe
A Loyola-New Orleans grad, it's fitting that Graffagnini put his broadcasting degree to good use at the school next door. Volunteering his time for Green Wave baseball broadcasts after his playing career ended and transitioning into coaching, he became the main broadcaster for the baseball program in 1994. He also watched his brothers Kyle, Keith and Grayden Greiner all don the Olive and Blue.
Along the journey, Graffagnini cut his teeth with multiple Tulane sports. His career includes calling the first women's basketball conference championship of the Lisa Stockton era and the most recent bowl victory for the football team at the Cure Bowl in Orlando last December. Every sport has a different flow and feel than the others, and Graffagnini seemed to be able to maneuver that flow as the years went by.
"I think one of the things I have always admired about Graff was the way he was always so invested in every broadcast that he was a part of, right from the start to the very end," said John Cox, a veteran of 40 years in calling Southern Miss sports as the Voice of the Golden Eagles. "He's a fantastic storyteller, great at providing all of the details and describing all of the action and making you see and feel what is going on, and the excitement that he always brings to his broadcasts never fails to make you feel like you are sitting there in the middle of the action."
A meticulous study of every opponent, to the point of listening to other team's broadcasts and following along with live stats before going on air, Graffagnini left no stone unturned when it came to his preparation. With a wealth of knowledge about Tulane's history and attention to detail about the opponent, pregame conversations with Graff were likely never short.
"He was one of those guys you loved to spend some time with before the game and your broadcast because he was always full of stories about the Green Wave, and it was fun to sit and tell and share stories before your broadcast," Cox said. "One of the hardest working guys I have ever been around. He was prepared and knew everything about his team and yours."
You'll be hard-pressed to find another broadcaster come down the line screaming "Hang 'em, Bang 'em" regularly into a microphone, or wax poetically about the dangers of a 3-0 count to the opposing team's No. 9 hitter. Graffagnini's style was all his own, and one that he owned with vigor.
"As the newer kid on the conference block I only got to run into Todd a few times, but he was always gracious, easy-going, and obviously a lot of fun," USF play-by-play broadcaster Darek Sharp said. "I think I share his exuberance, and affinity for the profession, with the only difference being he is way better at it than me."
With a Pelicans franchise that seems to have been reborn under the ownership of Gayle Benson, with new general manager David Griffin and new No. 1 overall pick in Zion Williamson, Graffagnini will help usher a new era of Pelicans basketball to fans beginning in October.The Emotion.
— NCAA Baseball (@NCAACWS) February 24, 2019
The Call.
The Swing.
THIS IS @GreenWaveBSB BASEBALL! pic.twitter.com/gn0ytCnM5O
Graffagnini once said doing this job, the one that he's held for the last 12 years in earnest, was his dream. And for 27 years he was able to live out that dream while forever being woven into the fabric of Tulane athletics history.
At 7 p.m. on August 29 Todd Graffagnini will be doing something else.
But while doing that something else, he'll likely find himself somewhere he's always been and will never be far away from. Watching a Tulane sporting event as the radio voice of the New Orleans Pelicans.
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