Question for 'Hawkeye' about his broadcasting career?

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Hawk, was just curious if you could give us a little background on your broadcasting career, where did you start , and where are you now?

At one time I thought about that career, I got as far as interning at 98 Rock in Baltimore (brief stint) there just wasn't enough money in it quick enough for me to stick with it.

What are your thoughts on the industry opportunities in your experience?

Hope this isn't too personal.:103631605
 
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J-Man, I graduated college from the University of Northern Iowa (GO PANTHERS) in 1982 and had a couple of part-time gigs as a D-J for a few months, before I got a full-time job as a night D-J and sports announcer at a small FM station in northwest Iowa. Along with my D-J duties, I also read news and sports and cut commercials. I broadcast games about once a week. In fact, the first football game I did, I was outside with electrical equipment and it was pouring rain. And then after the game, I went back to the station and played D-J until we shut down. After about a year and a half, the news director quit, and I took over. Four years after that, I moved to another station in Iowa and was the news and sports director for 15 years. But instead of one FM station, we had an AM and an FM, and added another FM after I was there about 10 years. So I was very busy. Worked news from 5:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. Monday-Friday and also covered meetings and other news events outside my work hours. For sports, I basically covered the two high schools in town and we had another other people cover outlying schools. Feel free to ask my any questions, as I broadcast about every sports event possible, except I never did a soccer match.
 

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Jman--

Fire away with questions.......this could get interesting.


:103631605
 

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hawkeye171 said:
J-Man, I graduated college from the University of Northern Iowa (GO PANTHERS) in 1982 and had a couple of part-time gigs as a D-J for a few months, before I got a full-time job as a night D-J and sports announcer at a small FM station in northwest Iowa. Along with my D-J duties, I also read news and sports and cut commercials. I broadcast games about once a week. In fact, the first football game I did, I was outside with electrical equipment and it was pouring rain. And then after the game, I went back to the station and played D-J until we shut down. After about a year and a half, the news director quit, and I took over. Four years after that, I moved to another station in Iowa and was the news and sports director for 15 years. But instead of one FM station, we had an AM and an FM, and added another FM after I was there about 10 years. So I was very busy. Worked news from 5:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. Monday-Friday and also covered meetings and other news events outside my work hours. For sports, I basically covered the two high schools in town and we had another other people cover outlying schools. Feel free to ask my any questions, as I broadcast about every sports event possible, except I never did a soccer match.

What if any big time players have you broadcast for?

Is your media career still going?

Future broadcasting goals?

Did Fishhead really have a strong arm?

He claims he is the spitting image of Joe Orsulak as a ball player.
 

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First of all, very few patrolled rightfield at the venerable Ottosen Stadium, as well as Fish. He knew how to catch the ball on the approach and make strong throws, as opposed to most who camp under the ball, and then take two steps to throw, allowing the winning run to score. I covered Adam Haluska of Iowa throughout his high school career. Funny thing is, Haluska was recruited by Purdue in football to be a wide receiver. I spoke many times with former Iowa State coach, Larry Eustachy (yea, the guy was fired because pictures of him with U of Missouri co-eds showed up in the Des Moines Register), while he was recruiting Haluska. I've done games with Nick Collison of the Sonics, Reaf LaFrentz of the Celtics, the Benes that pitched for the Cardinals and former Twins third baseman, Scott Stahoviack (sp). So not alot of big names, but I've interviewed Hawk coaches Kirk Ferentz, Steve Alford, Dan Gable, Dr. Tom Davis and of course, Hayden Fry. Plus many Iowa State coaches, like Dan McCarney, Tim Floyd, Bill Fennelly (women's b-ball) and Jim Walden. I guess I also interviewed B.J. Armstong, Roy Marble and Ed Horten, when the Hawk seniors played in Rockwell City, Iowa back in the late '80's. I also was the M.C. for the Minnesota Viking players when they took on some local all-stars in a basketball game. I remember sitting next to Matt Blair.
 

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Very nice, Hawk!

Are you still in the busniess?

Haden Fry seems like a great guy, the times I have seen him interviewed, very down to earth....a lot of those older coaches seem to be pretty accessible, Lefty was a very nice man to talk to as well...I think the older coaches who came along making peanuts are usually the friendliest to speak to.

What player or coach that you dealt with was the biggest prick that you personally witnessed?
 

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I'm not in the business now, but you never know. I'm more accustomed to the smaller market, like in Iowa. I now live near Tampa, so it's a different ballgame. I don't even know if they broadcast high school sports. As far as Hayden Fry goes, he was very easy to talk too. He was the first person I interviewed, that I worshipped growing up. Kirk Ferentz, also very down to earth. Dan Gable, very intense, but again, easy to talk too. I don't think I've really interviewed or dealt with many A**holes. I was pretty fortunate that way, but you have to remember, alot of the bigger names, know who to treat the media. I remember talking to Johnny Orr one night in Glidden, Iowa (town of about 1,000) and he told me, over a drink of course, that he could arrange an interview with Bobby Knight (and that was when Knight was viewed as a prick) and Knight would be very polite and an excellent interview. That is, if I was polite to him(Knight). So I think many times, players and coaches treat the media, the way the media treats them. But the viewers see the face the media wants them too.
 

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No. But I had alot of memorable experiences with the high school teams and dealt with many quality coaches. Several coaches I dealt with in basketball won over 300 if not 400 games in their careers. I even received a note from one coach, after his team had lost, saying he listened to a tape of the game and was very pleased with my unbiased play by play. One of the highlights of my career was broadcasting the first game in Palmer High School's 103 game boys basketball winning streak, the longest in the nation. I also broadcast their last win the streak and many during it. Fish, has an interesting story regarding Palmer High School, but I won't go into that.
 

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Speaking of FRY and HAWKEYE171........

On a NEW YEARS EVE night in Vegas, Hawk and myself are walking through the MGM GRAND casino crowd of THOUSANDS and we bump right into Mr. Fry.......

:lolBIG:

So of course, Hawk had to do a 2 minute half snockered interview with him.
 

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:toast:
Journeyman said:
Is it true that Hawkeye171 is a bigger drinker than Fishhead?
:drink:

I'm only 5-6, Fish is 6-1 or so. And the story Fish relayed about meeting Fry in Vegas is true. My favorite drunken moment, was meeting Phil Neikro in hotel in St. Louis. Neikro was my favorite player growing up, and I met him around 3 in the morning back in '82. I talked to him, like he was my best friend. But again, it was 3 in the morning and he actually woke me from a drunken slumber in one of the lobby's chairs. I had a Braves hat on, so he thought he should say hello.:suomi:
 

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hawkeye171 said:
:toast: :drink:

I'm only 5-6, Fish is 6-1 or so. And the story Fish relayed about meeting Fry in Vegas is true. My favorite drunken moment, was meeting Phil Neikro in hotel in St. Louis. Neikro was my favorite player growing up, and I met him around 3 in the morning back in '82. I talked to him, like he was my best friend. But again, it was 3 in the morning and he actually woke me from a drunken slumber in one of the lobby's chairs. I had a Braves hat on, so he thought he should say hello.:suomi:

:lolBIG: That is classic! Woken by your favorite player. :suomi:
 

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hawkeye171 said:
:toast: :drink:

I'm only 5-6, Fish is 6-1 or so. And the story Fish relayed about meeting Fry in Vegas is true. My favorite drunken moment, was meeting Phil Neikro in hotel in St. Louis. Neikro was my favorite player growing up, and I met him around 3 in the morning back in '82. I talked to him, like he was my best friend. But again, it was 3 in the morning and he actually woke me from a drunken slumber in one of the lobby's chairs. I had a Braves hat on, so he thought he should say hello.:suomi:

GAWD.........:lolBIG:
 

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:toast: :drink:

I'm only 5-6, Fish is 6-1 or so. And the story Fish relayed about meeting Fry in Vegas is true. My favorite drunken moment, was meeting Phil Neikro in hotel in St. Louis. Neikro was my favorite player growing up, and I met him around 3 in the morning back in '82. I talked to him, like he was my best friend. But again, it was 3 in the morning and he actually woke me from a drunken slumber in one of the lobby's chairs. I had a Braves hat on, so he thought he should say hello.:suomi:

This really is one of the many classic RX posts over the years............
 

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And my girlfriend drinks more than me. In fact, at 9:30 edt, we were in a bar, drinking beer and playing jenga (great bar game). At least I left by noon. She may still be there.
 

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