BALTIMORE — It’s a dream job for an avid sports activities fan: journey coast to coast throughout the U.S. each week, attend the perfect sporting occasions and receives a commission for it.

It may be arduous work, nevertheless it’s a labor of affection for one Baltimore man.

WJZ Sports Director Mark Viviano met Russ Dlin three a long time in the past when he was contemporary out of school and wanting to get a job in tv sports activities.

He achieved that purpose very quickly. Since then, he has traveled tens of millions of air miles and attended hundreds of sporting occasions—and he has no plans to cease any time quickly.

On the uncommon event that Dlin is house in Maryland, he is usually in entrance of a pc scouring the web for sports activities statistics and data whereas writing detailed notes.

Dlin shares these notes and statistics with recreation broadcasters for CBS Sports and ESPN.

His fall schedule is stuffed with school video games each Saturday and NFL video games on Sunday.

In the winter, he focuses on basketball video games. In the spring and summer time, lacrosse video games have his consideration. Dlin attends sporting occasions 47 weekends a yr.

This sports activities gig is Dlin’s “side hustle.” He has a full-time job in lodge gross sales.

“It’s uh, let’s put it this way, honestly, the last day I’ve had off was June 1,” Dlin instructed Viviano. “That was the last day I had off, and it’s now January what?  Something? Whatever it is.” 

The accumulation of press credentials is a reminder and a highway map of the place Dlin has traveled. He has labored video games in 49 of the 50 U.S. states. Alaska is his solely outlier.

How many video games has Dlin labored? The estimate is roughly 4,000 with effectively over one million frequent flier miles to indicate for it. For Dlin, it is all definitely worth the work on recreation day.

“I feel the energy of the crowd and I’m like, wow, this is such a great environment to be at,” he mentioned. “It’s unbelievable. I shake my head sometimes because I realize wow- I get to experience this.” 

Dlin has the keenness of a spectator, however he’s a key participant on recreation day. He feeds statistics and data to the play-by-play particular person and shade commentator. His info and timing are prime notch, and that is what has stored him on the job for 30 years.

“Being in an NFL booth on Sundays is like being in controlled chaos,” CBS sportscaster Spero Dedes mentioned. “So, if you have someone next to you who trust implicitly as I do—Russ, who knows what I need before I even ask him the question. . . It could be a certain number on Lamar Jackson. It could be something on John Harbaugh’s defense. He just instinctively knows what I need when I need it and it’s there for me. And you can’t put a price on that, you can’t put a premium on that. It’s the reason he’s one of the best out there.”

Dlin loves his job. He mentioned he enjoys the work and the private connections that he will get to make.

“I grew up idolizing a lot of these broadcasters, and now I get a chance to work with them or worked with them over the years,” Dlin mentioned. “I gotta pinch myself sometimes. I’m like, wow, I grew up watching these broadcasters. All of the sudden, I’m doing games with them. Like what? You know, and I’ve become friends with a lot of them. It’s really the relationships over the years. 

Dlin has some advice for those who dream of entering the sports world.

“Do your work; do what you are speculated to do,” he said. “Go above and past the decision of responsibility, and you will final on this enterprise a very long time.”