Erik Dobratz Biography
Erik Dobratz is an American journalist who has been a part of Sports Team 8 for more than 20 years. He can be seen during News 8’s 6 pm and 11 pm newscasts. He worked as a sports producer for several years, until he made the move to sports reporting in 2011, where he has been working with Sports Team 8 ever since.
Erik Dobratz Age
Dobratz was born on June 9, 1973. He is 46 years old as of 2019.
Erik Dobratz Career
Erik joined News 8 back in 1998 as a writer for the news department. He went on to produce the noon and then the 5 pm newscasts. In 2002, he was asked to produce Pilot Pen sports coverage for News 8. When the tournament was over, the Sports Department came calling.
Erik’s years of behind the scenes access to Connecticut’s biggest sporting events made him a natural addition to the on-air team. He has traveled to Atlanta and New Orleans to cover UConn for the Women’s Final Four.
Erik has also produced numerous golf and tennis specials for News 8, as well as the Emmy, nominated production of Huskies All Access, Inside Huskies Football, and the MyTV9 High School Football Game of the Week.
In fact, he made his on-air debut with Sports Team 8, doing color commentary for the MyTV9 High School Football Game of the Week.
Prior to joining News 8, Erik worked for WLIS/WMRD radio in Middletown and the CBS Radio Network in New York City.
Erik Dobratz Education | Wife
He has a degree in Journalism and Political Science from the University of Connecticut. He currently lives in Hamden with his wife and two children.
Erik Dobratz Workers Spent 80 Hours Per Week at Site
Workers had been spending more than 80 hours a week at the site of the Middletown explosion that killed five people, according to two people affected by the tragic incident.
Erik Dobratz told the Associated Press that his father, Ray Dobratz, was working 12 hours a day, seven days a week, for six months.
Others were also working long hours because they were under pressure to finish and were exhausted, he told the AP.
Paul Gaskins, who was working on a steam turbine at the time of the explosion, says they worked 12 to 13 hours every day. He says they were not rushed.
A spokesman for the contractor, O&G Industries Inc., would not comment. A message left at Keystone Construction, where Dobratz worked, was not immediately returned.
Erik Dobratz Article
CIAC hopes new rules will reduce concussions, make football safer for high school athletes
CHESHIRE, Conn. (WTNH) — The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) has rolled out new guidelines that it hopes will make high school football safer to play.
The rules include reducing the amount of time the players are in full-contact practice by 50% for both the fall and spring seasons.
“As you go through the season it will reduce to 45 minutes of contact time during the week,” said CAS-CIAC Executive Director Glenn Lungarini. “Then 30 minutes and continue to decline.” The rules even apply to a bye week when players practice but don’t have a game.
“There’s no contact during those practices,” said Lungarini. “They still condition. They still run through patterns. They still go through some of the technical work but the players are not engaged in contact with each other during that week.”
According to a new study published in The Journal of Pediatrics, football head traumas are still on the rise, and concussion rates increased in football games by 18% from 2013-20018.
Terry O’Neil, who teaches coaches how to practice will less contact, said even the NFL is reducing full-contact practices.
“Four percent of NFL concussions occur on the practice field because they’ve learned how to practice,” O’Neil said. “That same number in high school is 58 percent.”
Erik Dobratz Travelers champ Bubba Watson brings pop-up candy shop to the championships
Article by Erik Dobratz;
Three-time Travelers champion Bubba Watson has not had any trouble finding the sweet spot on his clubs here in Cromwell.
Now fans can find Bubba’s Sweet Spot and get a taste of Pensacola, all thanks to his pop-up candy shop.
Bubba was all for the idea of a pop-up candy shop at the championship, as long as all the profits go the charity.
Meanwhile, Bubba will go to work Thursday in hopes of winning the tournament for the fourth time.
“The golf course is in perfect shape, so I’m looking forward to it and looking forward to the pairing I got,” Bubba said. “Learn from the young guys and watch them play some good golf.”
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