Scott Lynn thought he had the perfect semi-retirement gig.

He was thrilled to be the man behind the microphone for The University of Tampa and Eckerd College after 34 years of an award-winning television and radio career in Portland, Ore.

A few years after suffering a job layoff in Portland, Lynn found comfort in calling play-by-play for Division II college athletics.

After all, play-by-play had always been his first love professionally.

And he was back in the Tampa Bay area, a place where he got his first top-20 market job in his mid-20s before moving on to Portland, where he'd spend the majority of his career.

It turned out to be a career any sports fan would be jealous of.

Lynn covered once-in-a-lifetime stories like the legendary "The Dream Team".

He met legendary broadcasters he idolized like Jack Buck, Harry Caray, and Tom Brokaw.

He even got a special trip to the White House and called play-by-play for a game a few rows in front of President Obama.

"I was just a farm boy from Illinois," Lynn said.  "Who would've thought that I could've had this life where I got to meet all these people?"

Little did Lynn know that the most exciting gig of his career was about to come up out of nowhere.

Lynn and his wife, who had also been laid off, moved to Largo a few years ago hoping to settle into retirement.

"That's what my wife said- 'Wait a minute, I thought you were retired!'" Lynn remarked while reminiscing.  "And I said, 'Well, I am.  But can I pass this up?  No, not really.'"

A week before the start of the 2017-18 NBA season, the Portland Trail Blazers came calling.

They wanted Lynn to fill in for long-time radio play-by-play man Brian Wheeler (who has dealt with some health issues recently) for the first few weeks of the season.

"I had to pack the biggest suitcase I had and get ready and just go," Lynn said.  "But no, I didn't expect it.  I mean, I'm literally on the peach.  Everybody talks about being on the beach- I was on the beach, and I get this phone call: 'You want to come back and work in the NBA?'"

Lynn had done some work with the Trail Blazers before, but not a lot of play-by-play.

And his radio play-by-play experience was limited.

Although he'd done extensive work as a television play-by-play broadcaster, radio was much more difficult due to the attention to detail that is needed to paint the picture.

Still, he jumped at the opportunity to call games at the highest level.

Lynn was behind the mic for Damian Lillard's game-winning shot over the Lakers during his fill-in stretch, something he never thought he'd be around for about a decade ago.

On Christmas of 2008, he felt sick, and initially thought he had food poisoning.

Two days later, he was rushed to the emergency room and learned he was dealing with something much worse.

"I came back to the ER, and the doc says, 'I'm sorry, you have classic colon cancer.  The surgeon's on his way in, and you'll have surgery as soon as he gets here.'"

Lynn spent the time during his six months of chemotherapy transcribing interviews he'd conducted to write his first book.

It's titled "Thornridge: The Perfect Season in Black and White", and it details the best high school hoops team ever in the state of Illinois.

The writing helped him focus on other things besides his Stage Three colon cancer, and so did the overwhelming support he received from the Portland community.

"They presented me with this huge get-well card, basically from my radio station," Lynn said.  "They had it signed by a number of people from around town as well as all the station employees.  All that stuff kind of meant a lot."

Nine years later, Lynn is living his dream.

He was asked again this past week to fill in calling more Blazer games, and he'll be ready in relief if he's needed for further assignments this season.

"I'm on the team plane with them, and I've experienced that life," Lynn said.  "And I realize that it's a young man's game (laughs).  It's really hard work."

To prepare, Lynn takes copius notes, and he watches games he previously recorded to get ready for each opponent.

"You're looking for hairstyles, body styles, how they run," Lynn said.

Even when the schedule gets crazy, Scott Lynn enjoys every second of the job he loves.

"You realize it's not forever," Lynn said.  "I was given a second lease.  And I just wanted to make it to the first Christmas after that.  And now I've made it nine Chistmases."