Eliminated From New Jersey Devils PA Announcer Search, But The Journey Continues
By Sam Woo
Early Tuesday morning, as I walked into the production control room, my colleagues asked how I made out with the voting. The night before, I received an e-mail from the New Jersey Devils telling me I did not advance to the final round of their search for a new P.A. announcer. I had made the top ten, but the top three was not meant to be.
The big boss said, “We were so close to living the dream vicariously through you.” To my surprise, the entire production team was bummed out and said they all voted for me….many times! They were almost more disappointed than I was. But, it meant a lot to me as encouraging comments on social media, texts, and phone calls came in from friends, family, and Devils fans throughout the day. After all, I gave it my best shot and mustered enough courage to go after my dream to be the next Devils public address announcer.
Believe me, I hate losing more than I love winning. I am not one for moral victories. Competition has always been a driving factor in my life. The public address selection process showed I had to have a fearlessness to move on to the next level. This opportunity was a childhood dream and I went after it with no regrets. Had I won the job, I could have been the second known Asian-American sport public address announcer throughout the four major professional sports leagues in North America! Gene Honda is the other one who does the P.A. announcing for the Chicago White Sox. To me and my family, that is a big deal. However, the biggest motivator as to why I chose to chase this dream is because of the medical professionals that helped get me through one of the darkest moments by saving my life.
In September 2014, per doctor’s orders, I checked into Morristown Medical Center. I was gravely ill and lost close to 50 pounds in eight weeks. Initially, the doctors thought I had cancer, but multiple tests could not confirm it. After a couple weeks, I was sent home from the hospital without a diagnosis. My condition continued to get worse over the next few months. Out of desperation, I saw a highly respected Rheumatologist at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.
Diagnosis?
Lupus, an autoimmune disease that causes the immune system to attack the body’s own tissues and organs. There is no cure, but treatment can help manage symptoms. I was thankful that I finally had a roadmap to recovery.
When you spend weeks in a hospital bed in excruciating pain, you have all the time in the world to reflect on your life. At that moment, I did not know if there was going to be a tomorrow. In my mind, this was my personal Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Final, a do-or-die situation in order to get a second chance at life. I said to myself: if I am able to survive this, I will live the rest of my life without any regrets or hesitations.
And that is exactly what I did here. I was not going to allow this amazing opportunity to be taken for granted. No matter how frustrating it was each day that went by not knowing if you made it to be one of the top three finalists, living your life to the fullest was the best way to honor these heroes because they are truly miracle workers. The work they do is like having the 1980 USA Hockey team beating the Soviets in Lake Placid every day.
I’ll never forget Nurse Sarah, who gave me encouragement not to give up when things looked dire while doctors worked around the clock. My biggest regret about getting eliminated: I wished that I could have invited her to a preseason game so she could hear me announce as a Devils PA announcer finalist. All the doctors and nurses saved my life and helped me on my road to recovery over the years. I wanted to show them how impactful they are to their patients’ lives. That is what hurts me the most by being out of the race, but I’ll never give up on my childhood dream. Why?
Because of them, there is a tomorrow.