As he prepared to head to Turin, Italy, four years ago for the Winter Olympics. Mike Corey got a 437-page book to help him learn every rule governing speed skating from the basic to the obscure.

Corey, a 1999 graduate of the University of Massachusetts and normally the voice of Delaware sports, had earned a dream gig. Westwood One hired him for three weeks to be part of the radio syndicate's team covering the 2006 games.

So he turned himself into a speed skating expert almost overnight.

"I did a lot of research," said Corey, laughing.

Four years later, Corey is calling speed skating again. Reached by phone at the media center in Vancouver, British Columbia, he was preparing again for his second Winter Olympics. This time it was a refresher course on the rules, while learning as many details as possible about the athletes themselves.

"You try to learn as much as you can about the competitors: Who is racing? What's their background? What have they done before?" Corey said. "Speed skating has really become one of the premier Olympic events and it's certainly something people follow.

"It's fun. It's not too hard to understand," he added. "They've promoted it a lot before the games have started. Of the 25 medals the United States won in 2006, 10 were in speed skating."

Corey, a Brattleboro, Vt., native, arrived at UMass knowing he wanted to be a broadcaster. He dove right into sports coverage for student-run station WMUA, working play-by-play on every sport the station broadcast.

By the time Corey was a senior, he was filling in at WHMP in Northampton, which at the time had rights to UMass games. He called high school and some UMass games.

Few recent graduates land Division I play-by-play jobs right out of college, but Corey was hired at Delaware right away in 1999 and has been the voice of the Blue Hens ever since.

But there will be a fill-in voice calling Delaware games for the next two weeks while Corey is in Canada.

He's been impressed by Vancouver and its Olympic presentation so far.

"It's an amazing set-up. It makes you realize how many people it takes. They've done a good job. They prepare for years for something that's going to go on for a couple weeks," he said. "It's pretty amazing.

"It's beautiful here," he added. "You can see the mountains across the river. Everything I heard about how awesome the city is has been true. It's a lot of fun here."

Corey said he hopes to take full advantage of what little down time he has during the Olympics.

"There are three days where there's no speed skating. I'm going go up to the mountains and see those events," he said. "Maybe check out a few hockey games. It's a little more familiar this time around. I'm having a lot of fun."

Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Follow UMass coverage on Twitter at twitter.com/GazetteUMass. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at http://www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage.