Twenty Five Years As The "Voice of the Vikings"!

This fall I will be starting my 25^th year as the public address announcer for Augustana College football and basketball.  Like so many other things that have happened in the lifetime of an old-timer like me, these years have flown by.  Whether or not this season of Augie athletics will be my last is yet to be determined.  I have mentioned to several people that 25 years is long enough but, who knows, maybe Augie’s move back to the Arena for home basketball games will stoke my fire again just like the football team’s move from Howard Wood to Kirkeby-Over Stadium did a few years back.  So, as far as this being my last year as the PA “Voice of the Vikings”, I guess it’s too soon to tell.

Speaking of telling, I’ve decided to use this blog to tell the true story of just how I got started in this PA announcer “gig” in the first place.

I first became aware of the role of the PA announcer at sports events as a young kid way back in the late 1950’s listening to University of Minnesota football and basketball games on the radio. The PA announcer for the U of M and for the state high school basketball tournament in those days was a man named Julius Perlt.  Perlt was an icon as recognizable as Goldy Gopher himself to Gopher fans, and many other fans across the country. He had a unique voice which is difficult to describe.  Unless you had the experience of actually hearing it for yourself, there is no way that I could do it justice, but I can say that it was rather quaint, piercing and somewhat esoteric in that, as far as I could tell, you had to be born and raised in Minnesota to fully appreciate it.  Until 1963 I had only heard Julius Perlt’s voice on the radio or on TV, but that year I attended the state basketball tournament for the first time.  One of the first things I heard as I entered Williams Arena on the first day of the tournament was the voice of Julius Perlt.  I was quickly consumed with chills that engulfed my body from head to toe.  I could hardly believe that I was hearing that voice in person.  His voice, almost more than the games themselves, made that tournament a great experience for me.

There were three other PA announcers that had influence on me through my years.  One was Al Swanson.  Swanson was a high school English and speech teacher in Worthington, Minnesota.  He also served as the public address announcer for Worthington High School sports and for the district and regional high school basketball tournaments played in Worthington’s spacious gym.  Though Julius Perlt’s voice is hard to describe, Swanson’s can easily be described as commanding and forceful.  Hearing his voice addressing the crowd made every spectator feel like they were in attendance at a very significant and, perhaps historical, event.  When he announced the starting line-up, not only were the players pumped up and ready to rumble, but so was the crowd.  The crowds were always huge for those tournament games back in the 1960’s and people would come early and begin to fill the place long before the game began.  I’ll always remember Swanson imploring the fans to make room for the late comers with a booming voice saying, “More people need to be seated, so get to know your neighbor, and please squeeze together!”  Years later I used that line a few times myself whenever Augie hosted South Dakota State at the Elmen Center. 

When I first came to the Sioux Falls area as a young teacher and coach at West Lyon High school in the early 1970’s I began to attend Augustana basketball games whenever I could.  The Augie basketball announcer during those years was A. Richard “Pastor Pete” Petersen.  Pastor Pete had served as the campus pastor, dean of men, associate dean of students, assistant football coach, and assistant athletic director at Augie, and for more than 30 years he was the public address announcer at all Augustana athletic events.   He had a strong, powerful, deep voice that absolutely captured everyone’s attention. The sound system at the arena, though not what it is today, was exceptional for it’s time and Pastor Pete’s voice resonated like thunder. I’ve often heard people say that it was like hearing “the Voice of God”.  To me that describes it perfectly.

In January of 1992, just a few short months after winning the 1991 World Series, the Minnesota Twins Caravan came to Sioux Falls.  I remember that Kent Hrbek, relief pitcher Carl Willis, and radio announcer John Gordon were there, but the member of the group that I was most interested in meeting was long time Twins public address announcer Bob Casey.  This was three years after I had started announcing Augustana football and basketball games and I thought it would be interesting to meet a fellow announcer of Casey’s stature, so after the program was over I sought him out.  I found him to be cordial and unassuming and we spoke together at some length about the role and function of the PA announcer. During that conversation, Mr. Casey gave me some simple advice that has served me well over the last 22 years.  He said, “There are two things that you need to know if you want to be a good PA guy.  One is that you don’t have to have a great voice to do the job as long as you put energy and enthusiasm into it.” He went on, “the second thing is don’t try to copy anyone else. Just be yourself and develop your own style.” That was great advice from one of the best!  Up until that time I think I had been trying too hard to copy the Perlts, Swansons and Pastor Petes of the announcing world but, because of Bob Casey’s sage advice, I began to develop my own style, always with energy and enthusiasm.

Now it’s time for the true confessions.  I’ve been asked how I got started as a PA announcer in the first place. You might be surprised to learn that it started with a little white lie.  Obviously by now you know that I have always been interested in the role of the PA announcer and I always had a desire to be one, but until one day in 1987 the opportunity just had not been there.  I was in my first year as a counselor at Huron High School and I heard, through the grapevine, that our Athletic Director was looking for someone to announce the football games that fall.  I thought that this could be the opportunity that I had been waiting for so I went to him and offered my services.  He asked me if I had any experience doing public address and I was sure that, if I said no, he would say no in reply.

It was one of those make or break moments.  What should I tell him?   I had imagined myself in this role so many times.  As a kid I had actually practiced the art frequently while playing back yard games so that, in my mind, I did have some experience.  However, I was pretty sure that to Mr Heitema, the A.D.,  those things wouldn’t qualify me and so, out of desperation I told a little white lie and said that I had been a football PA guy at my previous school.  The next thing I knew I found myself in the announcers booth at Tiger Stadium and I was the “Voice of the Huron Tigers” for the next three years.  With the help of a friend and community leader, Lee Larsen, I also was asked to do the basketball games at the Huron Arena as well.

When we moved to Sioux Falls in the summer of 1990 I wasn’t ready to just give up my announcing endeavors so I wrote a letter and sent it to the Athletic Directors at all of the Sioux Falls high schools and also to the University of Sioux Falls and Augustana College  I included some recommendation letters from Huron coaches, administrators and community people, one of which was written by Lee Larsen, who just happened to be an old Augustana football player and Augie booster.  Then, a month before the 1990 football season was to get underway, Bill Gross, who was Augie’s Director of Athletics at the time, called me and offered me the football announcing position. As the saying goes, the rest is history.  I’m sure that Lee Larsen played a big part in Bill deciding to make that phone call, and I will always be grateful to him.

It has been a great 25 years. A fulfillment of a dream, you might say.  The people at Augustana have been great to work alongside of over the years.  I have such admiration for people like Bill Gross, Jeff Holm, Bryan Miller, Jon Eng and so many others in the Augustana athletic and academic community.  Bill has retired from the Athletic Department now and Jeff has moved on to another position.  A new administration has taken over and I’m anxious to get to know them as well. 

On September 13 the Vikings kick-off their home season against Minnesota-Duluth and I’ll be behind the microphone for my 25^th home opener.  It seems like only yesterday that it all began.  Thanks to everyone who made it possible and Go Vikings!