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Paul Bass, right, with Jim Stewart.
Just when he thought he was out, Paul Bass is back in.
At least occasionally.
After retiring as head coach of the Westhampton Beach wrestling program following the 2018-2019 season, Bass handed what he built in his 30-plus years off to his cast of apprentices and, while he always lent a helping hand when asked, he very much walked away to spend more time with his wife, Kim, and their three sons, all of whom graduated from Westhampton Beach and put together strong wrestling careers that continued in college.
But when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and spectators weren’t allowed in gyms, Westhampton Beach, as did most, if not all, schools, started to livestream its games and matches, including wrestling. Livestreaming events allows fans, family and friends to catch the matches from any location, as long as they have an internet connection.
Pete DeTore, who took over the helm as the head coach of the Hurricanes wrestling program this season, joked with Bass before the start of this season that since they were going to continue to livestream matches, maybe he could do a little play-by-play for some of them.
“Knowing the way he is, he took it seriously,” DeTore said of Bass, with a laugh. “And it’s turned into something spectacular.”
Bass said he has been wanting to do something of a commentary or play-by-play, or even a podcast, for quite some time now. He said watching his own kids wrestle in college via a livestream was tough to watch himself, being that he couldn’t hear or see who was scoring what points, or even sometimes what the score of a match was. He knew that similar fans of the Hurricane wrestling team, especially grandparents and the laymen to the sport, would have a hard time following the match on the livestream.
Both Bass and DeTore have gotten rave reviews for putting it all together, which is more than just play-by-play of the current match. Bass will have guests come down and sit next to him mat side and talk about everything from wrestling to how the sport has affected their life personally, among other things.
“I know what it’s like being a parent and not being able to be there,” Bass explained. “And most of the parents are into other kid’s matches. I remember watching matches with my dad when he was elderly, and we’d sit down and watch the boys wrestle. And he’d go, ‘What’s the score?’ And I’d just be like, ‘I don’t know.’ So it makes me feel good that we can do this.”
DeTore, who sets everything up for Bass technology wise prior to the matches, said his former coach and current mentor is keeping the wrestling tradition alive in the community.
“He provides a way for people to understand the sport, not just the athletic part of it but the more human side of the sport,” he said. “He’s had alumni on, and it’s great for the kids to turn around and hear what he has to say. He had one of our seniors, Randy Cabrera, as a guest and they spoke about how he’s turned it around and his ability to stay consistent throughout the season, and things like that really help the kids buy more into what the coaches are saying, gets them believing in what we do, which is great.”
Bass hooked up with another longtime East End wrestling coach, Jim Stewart of East Hampton, when East Hampton hosted Westhampton Beach in a dual meet earlier this season. Both coaches, who do not apologize for their love of their former programs, certainly stuck up for their teams during that telecast, but it was all in fun.
“I would comment when I thought something wasn’t quite called in our favor and Paul called me a homer,” Stewart explained. “Of course, I would root for East Hampton, and he rooted for Westhampton.
“I overheard people at the Cory Hubbard tournament, a couple of the parents, who appreciated being able to hear the play-by-play when they couldn’t get to the tournaments or matches,” he continued. “When I spoke to him at the dual meet, there were people phoning in, people emailing, texting us, comments were coming up on the YouTube. It was a great deal of fun.”
Bass will sit mat side and do his play-by-play when he has the time to do it and when the team asks him to. With the season readily coming to an end, with counties coming up this weekend, he may not have another opportunity to do it this season, but he would certainly like to continue to do it next season, and he even mentioned the possibility of starting up a more regular podcast, if someone would help him on the technology side of things.
“You know, I’m an outsider now. I’m not a coach. So they can call me whenever they want me to do something, and I’ll be there whenever I can. But it’s not my call. It’s whatever they want. It’s their show and they’re all doing a great job,” he said. “I would really like to get a podcast going though, and not just about wrestling but about life in general. A lot of these kids have come back to me and talked about how wrestling kept them on the straight and narrow and there are some really good stories out there.”
DeTore said he would certainly be amicable to keeping the play-by-play, and even a podcast, going.
“I think it gives another dimension to the program, it keep things more relevant,” he explained. “And we talk about it all the time, but wrestling is 90 percent mental, like a lot of sports. But with wrestling, watching film and hearing all these great sound bites, it’s all good stuff that you can use and another aspect of the that keeps us focused on the sport. And the great thing about a podcast is that wrestling transfers to every sport. If gives you that mental edge and teaches you to be self-reliant and self-sufficient and it’s really just a precursor to life. You’re going to get knocked down. It’s up to you to get back up again, and I think something like a podcast would help everyone.”
