Courtesy Jackson Sun

(February 26, 2009) A basketball and football broadcaster at UT Martin for 10 years, Chris Brinkley has what he calls the best seat in the house in the school's Elam Center or wherever the Skyhawks play for that matter.

"It's as if I've ridden in the back seat of the car," Brinkley said. "I'm finally riding in the front seat, and that makes it even better."

And that is saying a lot for someone who has been along for the ride for a long time.

"This year has been the renaissance of sports at UTM and the media outside the West Tennessee area, even locally is following the program. I'm so proud of UTM, it is all coming to fruition," Brinkley said.

Brinkley, 35, did not have to travel far to reach where he is at the moment.

In fact, Brinkley, who is originally from Martin, could have used a bicycle or walked.

"I started working at (radio station) WCMT (FM 101.3) in Martin as a sophomore when I was in high school," Brinkley said. "And in 1991, I started (broadcasting) games with Paul Tinkle."

Tinkle is the president and general manager of Thunderbolt Broadcasting in Martin.

Brinkley, who is employed at UTM as a communications coordinator, said he works a part-time shift, about 30 hours a week at WCMT, where he starts the day at 6 a.m.

He and Tinkle combine for "Good Times in the Morning with Chris and Paul," and he continues his shift until noon.

Brinkley graduated from UTM after picking up his high school diploma at Westview High School.

Brinkley enrolled at UTM a second time after dropping out of college two years after he finished high school.

"I had a syndicated radio show out of my bedroom in my house," Brinkley said. "I was on 48 stations, but when the radio stations went to compact discs it was expensive at the time. I was doing the program on a digital format, but not large enough to have a national sponsor.

So it was time for Brinkley to head back to school where he majored in communications.

Brinkley said he is living a dream, but circumstances led him to his position as UTM's play-by-play man.

"I took over for Bill Haney," Brinkley said. "Bill was in bad health in 1999, and I took over for him in 2000. I was Bill's color commentator on Bill's final broadcast."

Brinkley did inherit Haney's color commentator, Tom Britt.

"I grew up listening to Bill and Tom," Brinkley said. "I don't want to make (Tom) sound old, but I was listening to him when I was 7 (years old)."

That is the same age of Brinkley's son, Grayson.

"When I started work at (WCMT) I was pushing buttons for Tom and Bill," Brinkley said.

Brinkley said knowing Britt helped make his transition into play-by-play easier.

"You know Tom," Brinkley said. "He put me at ease. Some people said I was his equal, but I'm not. Tom is good on the air, better off, a role model for me."

Britt said Brinkley was very comfortable making his transition.

"Chris is just a great talent," Britt said. "When I do color on the men's games I sometimes find myself listening to him. He has a great knack for calling games."

Living on the same road he was raised on, Brinkley said he is living a dream come true.

"I am so passionate about sports," Brinkley said. "I watched as a fan and now to live it. It's exciting to watch. It's the greatest job in the world. I'm paid to get in, and I watch for free.

"The toughest part of my job is riding in a car for eight hours. Everything else is a breeze."

Brinkley said the atmosphere is changing on campus at the Elam Center where he is seeing new fans at every home game.

"In the past, I knew 80 percent of the fans by name," Brinkley said. "The future is very bright, and people are catching on to what's going on."

But it is the present that Brinkley wants to talk about.

"(UT) Martin is finally getting respect since we moved to (Division One) basketball," Brinkley said. "It is difficult to recruit. People are shocked and surprised to see the talent we have on this team."

Brinkley insists UTM is not a one-man team, but the one man people come to see is Lester Hudson, even when the Skyhawks are on the road.

"We were playing Samford at Birmingham, and someone drove 200 miles to have Lester autograph a basketball," Brinkley said. "At Jacksonville State, fans taunted him during the women's game, and that fascinated me."

Brinkley is fascinated in the turnaround of the overall UTM athletics program.

"I give UTM's director of athletics Phil Dane a lot of credit," Brinkley said. "Each program has gotten better - Bret Campbell (men's basketball) and Jason (Simpson) with the football program."

Britt believes that Brinkley could take his talents to another level if he wanted.

But for now, Brinkley is happy to take a road well traveled.

"I'm thrilled, every second of it," Brinkley said. "It was a dream come true to broadcast sports at this level and still call West Tennessee home."