The rise of Brad Moon

Horses, paintings, hockey and the rodeo may not seem to have anything in common, but one man brings it all together to make one exciting life for himself. Whether it’s bull riding, showing his stuff at an art gallery, entertaining thousands of people during a game or causing shenanigans Brad Moon, 29, public address announcer for the Spokane Chiefs, does it all.

Before joining the excitement of hockey, Moon was devoted to the Spokane Indians for five years and retired just last season. Brett Sports (who owns both the Indians and the Chiefs) hired Moon for the PA announcer position while he was still doing radio work, and he said, “It’s been a roller coaster ever since.

“Most things in my life, I kind of just fall into,” said Moon, referring to radio and his current position being a “happy accident.” Moon started radio in high school and ended up teaching a radio broadcasting class at Yakima Valley Community College. After doing odd radio and public relations jobs for about five years, Moon got the chance to work with the Chiefs and loves being in his seventh season with them.

Primarily, Moon is an artist who creates different oil and pastel paintings, as well as charcoal drawings and comics. Right now the Timber Stand Gallery in Sandpoint, Idaho, has a few of his pieces out on display and Moon hopes for a bit of success.

“That’s my first love and my passion: art,” he said, adding that according to his mom, he’s been drawing since before he was walking.

When it comes to comics, Moon said he’s huge into Star Wars, Batman and Hellboy and would love to get hired by DC or Marvel. Right now, however, he does independent work and helps his friends’ company out.

Radio was something Moon fell in love with after finding that he has a talent for it. He looks forward to many, many years with the Chiefs and the great staff that he calls a big, dysfunctional family.

While during the week, the staff isn’t extremely busy, weekends and game days can be demanding. After the 5 o’clock staff meeting, Moon goes to the press box where he keeps the crowd aware of penalties, goals and other things taking place during a game. Everyone working for the Chiefs has to multi-task and coordinate everything to make it an enjoyable experience for the fans.

“It’s a lot of reading and talking. It’s a lot of multi-tasking,” said Moon about his job. Between keeping the crowd up to speed during the game, running promotions and coordinating videos with sound, it can get pretty hectic.

One of Moon’s favorite promotions is “Kiss the Girl,” where he gets to embarrass people until they kiss while being projected on the big screen. The best or most entertaining kiss gets a prize from the sponsor; Red Robin sponsored the promo last year and Smith Orthodontics took over this season.

“It’s one of those things that if you know the person sitting next to you, great. If not, you will by the time the promotion’s done,” said Moon. “Ultimately, that’s my job to make sure that the crowd is having a good time.”

Within the last year or so Moon got the opportunity to fulfill his childhood dream and ride a bull. “Since I was a kid, I’ve always loved the rodeo,” said Moon. “It’s something I’ve always wanted to kind of get into.”

His first experience landed him in the hospital with a broken clavicle because he got stepped on, twice. Since his second experience ended up better with Moon staying on for eight seconds, he’s now concentrating on practicing and getting better in time for spring. “It’s the most amazing experience; it’s the most frightening experience,” Moon said of bull riding. “I’ve never found a rush like that.”

While his parents are starting to accept Moon’s extreme sport, he said he’s not looking to make a living out of it. “It’s just something to kind of get out of my system,” he said.

Moon spends his weekends outside on a farm taking care of horses and the ranch. “That’s how I get most of my stress out: ranching,” he said.

While ranching is relaxing and another love of Moon’s, he is not looking to trade his Chiefs for the country life yet. He likes having control over a big crowd and watching the Chiefs in action against their rivals, the Tri-City Americans.

“I get paid to watch minor league hockey,” said Moon. “There are worse ways you could spend Saturday nights.”

Story by Alina Shanin.