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Zone Read: AZ Family’s Mark McClune Unplugged

Arizona Sports News online

Arizona’s Family Sports Director Mark McClune has been a sports media staple in the Valley for nearly two decades.

The host of “The Extra Point” (which you can catch every night on 3TV), a dedicated husband and father, and all around good guy from Texas sat down with the “Zone Read” earlier this week to discuss a myriad of topics both inside and outside the sports world.

In many ways, you’ve become a Valley icon. Take us through what brought you to Phoenix? “So, if you hang around enough, you get to icon status by default (laughing)? I don’t want to be like Russell Wilson or Aaron Rodgers where I hang around too long. I might have to peace out when I hit 50.

“No, it’s crazy. I’m constantly thinking about how I’ve almost been here 20 years. I still feel like I just got here in a lot of ways. It was such a fight and a journey to get here. I didn’t even know if I’d get here, or if I’d stay. I started in Medford, Oregon and was there for a year. April [Warnecke, his wife and AZ Family meteorologist] showed up and said, ‘Who are you? You seem fun.’ We had a tent and a dog. We didn’t have any money but it was cheap to live so we would just camp and go to high school football games.

“Then I took a job in Spokane, thinking she’d she’ll get a job up here, easy. She’s way better than me. She’s going places. I’m just watching sports. Two and a half years later she was still in southern Oregon. It was hard.  It was really hard. She eventually did get a job [in Spokane] and didn’t have to sign a contract. Four months later, she’s in Phoenix and I’m in Spokane going, ‘What just happened, and how in the world am I going to get a job in Phoenix?'”

One of the characteristics I admire about you is you’re always so even-keeled and have such a positive attitude about everything. Is that simply your personality and how you were raised? “That’s a huge complement, E. I appreciate it. I think I just get my energy around people and just telling stories. At the end of the day, I probably just want to go have a couple of beers, watch sports, and tell dumb stories (laughing). I think everybody wants to do that.

“It’s not like we’re doing brain surgery here covering sports…if you just start chatting somebody up, you get into some great conversations covering sports. Everybody’s got a story. That’s what I love…I mean, I think at some point I’m definitely going to retire, but what would I do all day? I’d probably just watch sports and that’s kind of what I already do (laughing). So, let’s keep rollin’ here!”

When did you first know you wanted to work in sports? “Man, I was probably six or seven years old, got done with Sunday church. Came home and turned on the Tom Landry show on ‘Dallas Cowboys Weekly’ and ‘The NFL Today’ with Brent Musburger and the, ‘You’re looking live at Los Angeles where today the Philadelphia Eagles will take on the LA Rams!’ I was so attracted to the, ‘You are looking live!’ part of it and Musberger. I never got to meet him.

“Did you get to meet him?”

I did. I met him once in Vegas. “How was that? They say, don’t meet your heroes.” 

Ok, I’m going to reel this conversation back in. “Thank you.”

You’ve always had a passion for covering high school football  in every market you’ve worked in. What’s been your favorite part about covering AZHS football? “I think just seeing it grow. I got Arizona in ’06 and I was watching Brophy play Hamilton. In my snooty Texas high school football [mentality], I was like, ‘Okay, they’re not there yet.’

“Now, just to see it grow. You go to games on Friday nights and it’s legit, man. All the athletes and all the games…it’s the most honest look at sports.

“It’s almost gotten frustrating because there are so many great stories. I just don’t feel like we can get to them all. We can have seven cameras in the field [and it’s not enough]. With all the growth in the Valley, we need two helicopters.”

As someone who understands Texas high school football and played Texas high school football. Now covering it here, do you feel Arizona is inching closer to some of those bigger, blue blood prep football states like Texas, California, Florida, etc.? “I think so, just by evidenced of how many guys are coming out of here with big-time offers. I think everybody knows by now…skill position wise, it’s crazy…you have two Arizona quarterbacks [Spencer Rattler and Tyler Shough] playing for the Saints. On Sundays, you look up, and there’s another kid you saw playing high school football here in Arizona.”

When did you lose your Texas accent? “(laughing) I think being around broadcasters you do.”

Have you ever taken a Waymo? “(laughing) Yes! Yes, I have. In fact, my son is taking Waymos now and there’s a charge on our card. Yes, we are definitely Waymo people.”

How was that first experience being in a car with no driver? “Well, it was terrifying for two reasons. One, I was by myself and never done it before and, two, I just had surgery on my around this time last year and I didn’t have anybody to pick me up. I thought to myself, ‘I’m probably not going to notice [no driver]. Picture me, with my eye covered, taking a Waymo home (laughing).”

Who would be on your Mount Rushmore of Arizona high school football? Go. “Oh, man. Brock Purdy. Bijan Robinson. Man, that’s a tough one. Ok, so I’m going to go D.J. Foster and do I go Brett Hundley? Do I go Gerell Robinson? Do I go someone more new school? Tyler Shough? It has to be somebody that won a state championship. Maybe Connor Brewer. I’d have to think about it longer.”

Where did you take April on your first date in Medford? “Hiking. She had this really cool dog. This is how she roped me in and hooked me. So this dogs name was Merton, who she acquired when she in Tucson down there for [college]. He was the coolest dog ever. I was hanging out with her and I was like, ‘Your dog is really cool. Can we go walk your dog sometime?’

“So, that’s how I started hanging around her and I never left her alone after that.”

You work nights. She works mornings. How is the life balance, especially when you add two boys to the mix? “It’s wild. It’s full contact. It’s all day. So, basically, she’s up, she’s out of the house, she’s on the air between 4:30-5:00AM every day. I’m up with the kids, getting them ready, taking them to school. Hopefully, the oldest will drive soon but that’s a whole ‘nother set of concerns. I walk the dog.

“Then I’m on the phone trying to get cameras to ASU, the Cardinals, Suns, D-backs, high school – you name it. Then maybe I’ll go to the gym for some stress release and then head on into work. After the early stuff is done with the news, I’ll run home, run a kid to practice…it’s crazy, but it’s the joy of my life. We’re very, very blessed.”

It’s chalk in the Open Division Final Four. Do you have any thoughts, predictions, whatever for Saturday? “I don’t know who’s going to lose. I mean, I just think they’re going to be great games. That Chandler-Hamilton round one was epic. If I had to pick, I would say Hamilton and Basha [advance]. I like Noah Roberts a lot at Basha. I think he’s a difference maker.”

Last question – you have a kid at Arcadia. You live in that area. The Titans are having a great season – undefeated heading into the semi-finals. Is there a buzz in that community about the success of the football program? “I think they’ve done a great job and the community has really rallied around them. They have a lot of support from the parents and the booster club. They’re keeping a lot of the [neighborhood] kids home who haven’t stayed home. I think Arcadia is really on the rise.”

Bags of Love

Mountain Ridge associate head coach and offensive coordinator Nyles Outley continues do outstanding work in our community, giving back to those less fortunate. 

Bags of Love is an annual initiative (now in year six) by Rose City Helping Hands designed to provide essential support to individuals experiencing displacement or hardship. The goal is to assemble and distribute pre-packed bags filled with necessities that offer comfort, dignity, and care. 

“Growing up, I was always taught it was better to give than receive,” Outley said to the “Zone Read.” “My mom, a devoted member of the Salvation Army, instilled in me the true meaning of servie and compassion from a young age. Because of her example, giving back has always been a natural part of who I am.

“I also believe that God has blessed me in many ways throughout my life, and with those blessings comes the responsibility to uplift others. Bags of Love is my way of honoring those values — sharing what I can, serving those in need, and spreading love where it’s needed most.”

The recipients of Bags of Love are community members in need — specifically individuals who are homeless or displaced. These bags directly support those facing difficult circumstances by providing items that can improve their daily wellbeing.

For more information, click here.

Thank you Coach Nyles for always putting others above yourself.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

 

 

 

 

 

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