Beloved Audio Technician Matt Yerke Remembered For Work Ethic, Disposition

Transcript

00:00I'm Jill Painter-Lopez for Sports Illustrated, and Matt Yerke was an audio technician for

00:07Laker Broadcast for about the last 25 years.

00:10Sadly, he passed away suddenly at the age of just 44 years old on May 5th, but I'm here

00:16to tell you a little bit about him.

00:18He loved the desert, outdoors, he loved animals, and he loved being a part of the crew for

00:23not only Lakers, but Dodgers, Angels, Clippers, Kings, Ducks.

00:27I had the pleasure of working with him on Ducks for four seasons, and so many broadcasters

00:33knew of him.

00:34So many team personnel knew about Matt Yerke.

00:38He was very friendly, nice, and very good at his job.

00:41His sister, Mickey Yerke, said one of the things that he just loved to do was ride his

00:46motorcycles, his BMX bikes, and really just have fun on camping trips with his dad and

00:52his friends.

00:53But he's not one of the people that you see on your screen every day.

00:56He's behind the scenes.

00:58But it is people like Matt Yerke who make Southern California sports broadcasts possible.

01:03They're there early, they leave late, and Matt was responsible for so much of the audio

01:09that you heard, and he could easily make anyone comfortable.

01:12He could talk to Kobe Bryant and Magic Johnson, even Ice Cube, Jeff Bridges, people that he

01:18miked up over the years, just as easily as he could talk to fans, interns, and the like.

01:24So we mourn the passing of Matt Yerke today, but certainly celebrate the life of somebody

01:29who worked in the sports scene here in Southern California, and especially on Lakers broadcasts

01:35for the last 25 years.