If you’ve been to any Calgary Hitmen, Flames, Roughnecks, or Stampeders games throughout the last decade, chances are high an Airdrie resident was there, ramping up the home crowd with his microphone in hand and a sense of boundless energy.
For the last 10-plus years, Bayside resident Joe McFarland has been the game-day host for the Calgary Hitmen, while also serving in the same role on occasion for the Calgary Roughnecks and Stampeders. He’s also filled in as in-game presenter for some Calgary Flames’ home games over the years.
McFarland describes his role as being the Scotiabank Saddledome's “chief noisemaker.” His job is to entertain the crowd between stoppages and periods, and encourage the home fans to pump up the volume to cheer their team onto victory. He also narrates the contests and quizzes that fans can watch on the jumbo-tron between periods.
He said he’s always likened the job to being “the opening act at a rock show.”
“You’re not there as the main attraction, you’re not there for a three-hour set, but you’re there to get people off their hands, make a bit of noise, give them a laugh, that kind of thing – and hopefully they play along,” he said.
Away from the steps of the Saddledome, McFarland’s background is in radio, having graduated with a broadcast diploma from Lethbridge College in 2005.
However, he said working in the media wasn’t his original objective. A farm kid from Carmangay in southern Alberta, he said he was initially enrolled in accounting at the University of Lethbridge in 2002.
It was during his time at the U of L that McFarland received his first opportunity to be a game-day sports host, when a friend of his – who did the public-address (PA) announcing for the U of L Pronghorns’ basketball games – asked him if he’d be interested in doing something similar for the university’s hockey teams.
As a life-long hockey fan, McFarland said he figured attending Pronghorns games and drumming up the atmosphere would be a pretty cool way to make a few bucks.
“I was hesitant and didn’t think anything of it, but thought, sure, I can get paid about $50 a game, or whatever it was,” he said.
After transferring to Lethbridge College and obtaining a broadcasting diploma, McFarland started his journalism career at radio stations in Lloydminster, Medicine Hat, and Calgary, before a second stint in Medicine Hat starting in 2008.
He said at each stop along the way, the opportunity to present at local sporting events seemed to follow him. When he was in Medicine Hat, be became the Medicine Hat Tigers' game-day presenter. After he moved back to Calgary in 2010, McFarland said the Tigers' owners were able to put him in touch with the Hitmen to perform the same role at the Saddledome.
And he's worked for the WHL team ever since, with a few other game-day hosting opportunities coming along way, including positions with the Roughnecks, and Flames. He also got to present at University of Calgary Dinos football games, and then enjoyed a five-year tenure as the Stampeders’ in-stadium host from 2014 to 2019. He said that particular job was a dream-come-true, as a life-long Stampeders’ and CFL fan.
McFarland, who moved to Airdrie in 2017 and has called the city home ever since, said the best part about being a game-day host has been the opportunity to make life-long connections with fans. He also loves getting to contribute to the success of Calgary's local sports teams.
“The cool thing looking back on it from my perspective is that I’ve been able to be myself all the way through,” he said. “I haven’t had to play a character. I know I’m not a stand-up comedian by any stretch, and I’m not a lot of things. But I know that I am who I am and can play to those strengths.
“It means a lot to me to know that people value what I bring to the table. It’s my little outlet in a sense, and I get to have some fun and bring a bit of entertainment in between whistles and in between periods at the ‘Dome.”
With nearly two decades of game-day presenting behind him, McFarland recognizes his time pumping up the home crowd at the Saddledome will eventually come to an end, and said he's appreciated the opportunity to do a job that not many people get the chance to do.
“I try to take a moment every game to soak it all in and look around, and not take it all for granted,” he said. “At some point, the dream is going to die. I’ll get old and going up the 'Dome stairs is going to be too hard on my brittle knees. When that day comes, I just want to be able to say I had a good time doing it. If it’s taken away from me tomorrow, I’ll be good with it, because it’s been a great run.”
