Courtesy al.com

(September 1, 2010) Going back to school doesn't just mean it's time again for the three R's (Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic). It also means Snapper Lancaster is back in the broadcast booth.

This fall Lancaster and his sidekick, Max Harbuck, are on the air for the 11th year of the Central Alabama High School Sports Show.

The weekly television broadcast spotlights more than 250 athletes and coaches from more than 30 schools in Birmingham and other areas in the central Alabama region.

The one-hour show runs throughout the school year. It is taped each Tuesday and airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on WIAT-TV's Untamed Sports Channel 42.2, which is available on cable systems throughout central Alabama, including Bright House, Charter and Comcast.

The first show for the new school year will air Thursday and feature the area's only defending state football champions. Hoover senior quarterback Ryan Carter and coach Josh Niblett will preview the 2010 team on the program.

"This is one of those shows I'd almost do for nothing," Lancaster said.

"Nothing feels better than when coaches tell you that they appreciate what you do. I do what I do because I love to do it."

Lancaster is in his 22nd year of sports broadcasting. In the late 1990s, he co-hosted the Alabama-Auburn Sports Connection, a live television call-in show on the Alabama Cable Network, but the show ended when the station was sold by owner Don Earley in 1998.

When Earley re-emerged as owner of Channel 19 WOTM, Lancaster returned as executive producer of the high school show.

"College coaches get all kind of recognition and I told Don I'd like to do a show for high school coaches because they don't get enough recognition for what they do and the hours they spend with their athletes," Lancaster said. "The show is designed for male and female coaches.

"We started with six Over-The-Mountain schools and now we feature schools in 14 counties. During the year, we couldn't get to all the coaches and athletes we want if our lives depended on it, but that's a problem we like to have."

Lancaster did the show by himself for the first two years, bringing in head coaches to talk about their teams. He expanded it to include athletes, cheerleaders, athletic directors, band directors and others associated with high school sports.

In the third year, he brought in broadcaster Jeff Lloyd as co-host for a year and then Harbuck replaced Lloyd in 2004.

"I was doing Hoover football telecasts when Snapper asked me to come aboard," said Harbuck, who also was part of the MTV reality series "Two-A-Days," featuring the Hoover Bucs a few years ago. "We live about two blocks from each other and I was happy to become partners with him.

"I absolutely love meeting young student-athletes. To me, high school athletics is kind of the last place for true amateur athletes."

Both men have regular jobs. Lancaster has been with the United States Postal Service for more than 45 years and has the second-longest number of years of letter carrier service in the Birmingham area. Harbuck is a partner in the financial services firm Lakeshore Financial Partners, LLC.

Lancaster, who has served as the television play-by-play announcer for Vestavia Hills football since 1999, said the announcers try to let guests' personalities come out.

"We enjoy every coach and every athlete who comes into the studio," Lancaster said. "We enjoy delving into their personal lives to get them outside the coach's box or sideline to show they are people, too."

Harbuck added, "We point out their accomplishments in the classroom and their community service work."

The co-hosts also try to get their guests to tell some anecdotal stories. One that Harbuck vividly remembers occurred several years ago when Huffman's Andre Smith, Homewood's Tim Hawthorne and Spain Park's Neil Caudle came on the show with their mothers while the three football players were being recruited.

"We wanted three classy ladies to come on with their sons," Harbuck said. "I asked Andre Smith's mother to tell me about the funniest thing that happened during recruiting. She said they had a mix-up and had Florida coach Urban Meyer and LSU coach Les Miles show at their house at the same time for their in-home visit. She said she had to tell the Florida coach to go walk around the block for an hour while they talked to the LSU coach."

Mountain Brook head football coach Chris Yeager has been a guest on the show several times and enjoys watching it.

"I think the biggest thing is Max and Snapper have a passion for high school athletics," Yeager said. "They go beyond the game and get into the personalities of the players and coaches. They're also good at hyping things, especially rivalries.

"During football season I have a self-imposed media blackout for myself, but I have parents who tape the show and then give me a DVD so I can watch it later."

This summer Lancaster and Harbuck launched a website for the show that includes video clips and photos.

"When we started this show I had no idea that 10 years later we'd still be on," Lancaster said. "We try to project a positive image because there's enough negativity in our society today."

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