On Wednesday night, Marney Gellner, of Fox Sports North, became just the second woman to call play-by-play in an NBA televised game.
Which is kind of funny when you learn from Marney, that sports broadcasting wasn’t her first choice for work.
Nah, her dreams as a kid, back in her hometown of Minot, North Dakota were far different.
“I had a notebook of skits because I was going to have an Saturday Night Live character. I was going to write or be a sketch player, whatever they needed,” Gellner said with a smile.
So, in her mind, to get there, she could start in television.
After all her college required her to have an internship to get her degree, so, she went to a North Dakota TV station and well, all these years later, TV is a place she never left.
Sports was a natural fit for Gellner, a 4-sport athlete in High School and a 2-sport athlete in college.
For 16 years Gellner has been a lady of all trades for Fox Sports North, covering basketball and baseball in a variety of roles, but never in the play-by-play chair for the Timberwolves.
To learn she was following online ONE other woman was a shock to her as well.
“I was stunned to hear that,” Gellner said.
Yes, the last was Leandra Reilly - calling two games - in 1988.
So, knowing her place in history Gellner tried to stay steady because as a rarity she knew she had to be ten times as good.
“That was honestly on my mind last night, just be clean don't make mistakes, don't even stand out,” Gellner said.
And she couldn’t say enough times that she wanted no part of celebrating her one night on too much, as she was filling in for her friend, the voice of the Timberwolves, Dave Benz who was handing a family issue.
Because no matter what, Geller is not the type to make a night about her, when the focus to her, should be on the health and well-being of the family of Benz.