Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – His hearty chuckle at the end of the story is a perfect mic drop. Nick Belmonte has probably told this one hundreds of times, but more than 30 years after it happened, the tale recently took on added significance.

In the late 1980s as Belmonte broke into broadcasting, he worked as a sports analyst for WLRN in Miami, a PBS station that aired various live sporting events to fill the schedule, oftentimes from one of the area's many high schools. Along the way, Belmonte heard about an upstart cable sports channel called Sunshine Network and its plans to broadcast a Florida State-Florida midweek baseball game, a rarity in those days. Belmonte tracked down the producer and offered his services.
 

A former Gators outfielder who as a junior in 1976 stole 42 bases – a school record that remains standing today and at the time a Southeastern Conference single-season record – Belmonte saw an opportunity and didn't want it to slide by.

"I'm living in Miami at the time but to make it easier for them, as luck would have it, I'm going to be in Gainesville on that Tuesday night,'' Belmonte said.

At least that's what Belmonte told the guy.

Producer: "Oh, you'll be there."

Belmonte: "Yes, I would love to do the game."

Producer: "Well, if you're going to be there, that's great. We'll have you on."

And now for the punchline.

"As soon as I hung up, the first thing I had to do was book a flight to Gainesville because, believe me, I was not going to be in Gainesville that night,'' Belmonte said this week. "I did the game."

All these years later, Belmonte continues to serve as a TV analyst for Florida baseball games, working alongside play-by-play partners Mick Hubert (32nd season together) or Jeff Cardozo on the SEC Network. Belmonte has also worked NCAA Tournament games for ESPN the past two decades, the first ex-Gators player to do so.

The 2021 season has an added twist for Belmonte. The Gators moved into Florida Ballpark, where they are hosting Florida A&M on Sunday in the final game of a three-game series. But that's not it. No, this change is much more personal. The new ballpark includes a feature Belmonte never imagined when he first started out: A TV booth named in his honor in recognition of generous gifts to the University Athletic Association from Darlene Belmonte, a two-time UF graduate and Nick's older sister. Darlene has also established a baseball scholarship endowment in honor of Nick.

Less than a year older than her younger brother, Darlene has lived in California since 1984 but remains passionate about the Gators. When she can, she tunes into UF baseball games that Nick is working to hear him in his realm.

"That's a long consecutive tenure broadcasting. You don't see that very often,'' Darlene said. "I thought this would be a great thing to do, kind of surprise him. I was thinking about all the accomplishments. That's really what made me think of it."

In his 34th consecutive season calling Gators games, Belmonte is a fixture around the program who has spent most of his life connected to the game in some capacity. He starred at North Miami High and Miami Dade Community College prior to joining the Gators in Coach Jay Berman's first season in 1976. Following two seasons at Florida, Belmonte embarked on a professional career with the independent Boise (Idaho) Buckskins. He hit .331 and stole 52 bases but the team disbanded due to financial difficulties, and after a couple more seasons in the minors and a knee injury, Belmonte returned to South Florida in search of the next chapter.

A broadcast major at Florida, Belmonte put his outgoing personality and baseball knowledge to work in the TV and radio booth. Away from the ballpark, he spent a brief time as a teacher and in sales, but his primary professions are broadcasting and scouting. He is a current scout for the Chicago Cubs and managed the Salt Lake City team in the Pioneer League to three consecutive first-place finishes in the early 1990s.
"Eighty-five to 90 percent of my working life has been in baseball,'' Belmonte said. "I just feel blessed to still be working with the University of Florida baseball program."

When Belmonte arrived at Florida Ballpark for the inaugural series against Miami in late February, he was unaware that a permanent sign with his name on it hung by the door as you enter the booth.

Talk about a curveball.

"Nobody told me it was going to be there,'' he said. "That was pretty emotional. It was pretty emotional thinking back of all the years of my affiliation with the program as a player and 34 years as a broadcaster."

Darlene, who owns a company in California that administers testing for diagnostic imaging equipment, has an undergrad degree from UF and a master's from Georgetown in Russian Linguistics. She later returned to UF to earn a master's in medical physics.

As much as Darlene has accomplished in her own life, there's a special place in her heart for being able to honor her younger brother in this way. She's always been one of his biggest fans.

"If you think of it, it makes sense,'' she said. "I grew up watching all this stuff. He was very, very surprised. He couldn't believe it. He was absolutely thrilled. I just told him that it's an honor that you deserve."

Not long after hanging up the phone this week to discuss his sister's gift, Belmonte sent an email. It was another story, this one of a more serious nature than the one about his early days as a broadcaster.

In 2010, Darlene was diagnosed with leukemia and underwent chemotherapy treatments and a bone-marrow transplant. Nick made the cross-country trip to visit and provide support. UF baseball coach Kevin O'Sullivan and former Gators basketball coach Billy Donovan called Darlene to raise her spirits.

"It wasn't looking good,'' Nick said.

In visits to the hospital, Nick brought along a CD with Gators fight songs recorded by the UF band. He would play the CD to motivate her on walks around her floor.

"She was barely walking,'' Nick said. "As she heard it, she started to dance (best she could) around the corridor. Everyone was sticking their head outside their room to see what was going on. We did this nightly. It was a true Gator moment.

"Darlene is just a great big sister. She outdid herself on this one."