A milestone behind the microphone
A milestone behind the microphone By Andy Rennecke;
Published 11:08 p.m. CT Jan. 1, 2014
Steve Hammer could have already announced his 1,000th game at a St. Cloud State football or men’s basketball contest. He might be a couple of games short, too, but he knows it’s close. Buy Photo
Hammer has been the publicaddress announcer at St. Cloud State since the 198586 men’s basketball season. He took over as St. Cloud State’s fulltime announcer for football and men’s basketball the next
(Photo: JASON WACHTER, Jason Wachter, [email protected])
season. He’s announced countless high school basketball games at Halenbeck Hall over the years and knows he’s
close to passing the 1,000event mark as a PA man. “I used to do 50 games in a year,” Hammer said. “I’ve probably done 25 games a year the past few years. This is my 29th year of doing it. I was a part time announcer before I started doing it fulltime.” St. Cloud State athletic media relations director Anne Abicht came to the university in January 1985. She’s known Hammer for almost 29 years and couldn’t imagine anyone else calling St. Cloud State football and men’s basketball games. “There’s a great deal of continuity there with Steve,” Abicht said. “I think there’s a comfort level knowing the voice that is talking to you at all those games. He has a style that people are accustomed to. “When you think about Husky basketball and football, you think about the voice of Steve Hammer.”
His start Hammer first started getting interested in publicaddress announcing when he was attending Hutchinson High School. He called swimming meets and later did wrestling. His high school economic teacher, Art Avis, recommended that he try it. “Those were my first real ventures into publicaddress announcing,” Hammer said. Hammer attended St. Cloud State from 196670. He graduated in 1970 with a degree in economics and mathematics. He was interested in doing PA work when he was in college, but nothing materialized. “My parents moved from Minnesota to Pennsylvania during my freshman year, so I spent most of time here on the weekends,” Hammer said. “I went down to Halenbeck and talked with (thenathletic director) Eddie Colletti, but I never heard back from him.” Hammer entered the insurance business in 1971 after he graduated. He started his own business, Hammer and Associates, in St. Cloud in 1974. He was always a fan of St. Cloud State athletics, but didn’t really get involved until 1983 when he got involved with the booster club called the “Husky Hustlers.” “I got invited to a booster club meeting and that’s where I met (former St. Cloud State head men’s basketball coach) Butch Raymond,” Hammer said. “I had lunch with Butch one day and I told him I had experience doing publicaddress announcing. “It just so happened that year that Denny Smith, who had been doing men’s basketball games, became a basketball coach at Sauk Rapids. He had some conflicts and I was the sub that year. After that year, I took over fulltime.”
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Passion for the job
Hammer loves calling St. Cloud State games because it keeps him involved in athletics and the community. He’s been involved in St. Cloud State booster clubs for more than 30 years. Hammer wanted to be a sports broadcaster at one time, so this also quenches his old thirst for being involved in announcing in some form. Hammer gets paid for his work, but he keeps doing it because he’s passionate about it. “This gives me my fix,” Hammer said with a laugh. “I’m glad it’s turned out the way it has. It’s not radio or television, but that’s OK with me. “I love our teams. I live and die with the success of our football and basketball teams. I think there are a lot of people in Central Minnesota who have never been to a St. Cloud State football or basketball game. They don’t realize how good our teams are here.” Said Abicht: “Steve’s a great guy and he’s one of those people who is nice to have around as a community supporter. He’s excited about what he does and Husky athletics. He’s interested in what’s going on in every sport here. He loves coming to games and enjoys being around the people here.” Time commitment There’s a big time commitment to being a PA announcer. For one, you have to give up a lot of Fridays and Saturdays in the fall and winter. He says his wife of 41 years, Judy, is OK with him being away from time to time and having a passion for St. Cloud State sports. Despite the time commitment, Hammer keeps coming back. “Steve came on board when I was an assistant coach under Butch,” St. Cloud State men’s basketball head coach Kevin Schlagel said. “When you hear his voice, you know you’re at Halenbeck Hall. He has that deep, resonating voice that gets your attention right away. It’s neat to have a tradition with him here. “Everybody has an immediate connection to his voice. He’s been loyal and dedicated to this program and I’m very grateful for that.” Hammer arrives at football games around 11:30 a.m. for 1 p.m. kickoffs. He’s had the same spotter for more than 20 years in Dale Okland. Hammer watches the women’s basketball games before the start of the men’s games. He’ll go over and talk with opposing head coaches to make sure he’s pronouncing the names correctly. To Hammer, getting the names right is the most important part of his job.
“You want to do that right, I think that’s the most important thing I do,” Hammer said. “I remember back in my early days when I was announcing men’s basketball and the Huskies were playing a Russian team in an exhibition. I went to their interpreter and went over all the names. I practiced all of the rolling R’s in their names. “After the game, one of their assistant coaches came over and complimented me. He said in really broken English, ‘You did good job with names.’ That meant a lot.” How much longer? Hammer knows he’s going to keep doing the Huskies’ PA work through the end of the men’s basketball season in 2015. He’ll have put in 30 years by then. He feels that’s a good, round number to end on. “I told Kevin (Schlagel) when he was named the head coach that I’ll announce as long as he coaches. I never thought that would last 17 years,” Hammer said. “I’m thinking about one more year for sure.” Abicht wants Hammer to stick around for as long as he wants. “I’ll take him for as long as he wants to do it,” Abicht said. “For me, I like having that consistency. I always know that he’s going to be there. If he can’t be there, he always lets us know in advance. It’s nice having that dependable person.” Follow Andy Rennecke on Twitter @AndyRennecke. Read or Share this story: http://on.sctimes.com/Kk9DGF
Published 11:08 p.m. CT Jan. 1, 2014
Steve Hammer could have already announced his 1,000th game at a St. Cloud State football or men’s basketball contest. He might be a couple of games short, too, but he knows it’s close. Buy Photo
Hammer has been the publicaddress announcer at St. Cloud State since the 198586 men’s basketball season. He took over as St. Cloud State’s fulltime announcer for football and men’s basketball the next
(Photo: JASON WACHTER, Jason Wachter, [email protected])
season. He’s announced countless high school basketball games at Halenbeck Hall over the years and knows he’s
close to passing the 1,000event mark as a PA man. “I used to do 50 games in a year,” Hammer said. “I’ve probably done 25 games a year the past few years. This is my 29th year of doing it. I was a part time announcer before I started doing it fulltime.” St. Cloud State athletic media relations director Anne Abicht came to the university in January 1985. She’s known Hammer for almost 29 years and couldn’t imagine anyone else calling St. Cloud State football and men’s basketball games. “There’s a great deal of continuity there with Steve,” Abicht said. “I think there’s a comfort level knowing the voice that is talking to you at all those games. He has a style that people are accustomed to. “When you think about Husky basketball and football, you think about the voice of Steve Hammer.”
His start Hammer first started getting interested in publicaddress announcing when he was attending Hutchinson High School. He called swimming meets and later did wrestling. His high school economic teacher, Art Avis, recommended that he try it. “Those were my first real ventures into publicaddress announcing,” Hammer said. Hammer attended St. Cloud State from 196670. He graduated in 1970 with a degree in economics and mathematics. He was interested in doing PA work when he was in college, but nothing materialized. “My parents moved from Minnesota to Pennsylvania during my freshman year, so I spent most of time here on the weekends,” Hammer said. “I went down to Halenbeck and talked with (thenathletic director) Eddie Colletti, but I never heard back from him.” Hammer entered the insurance business in 1971 after he graduated. He started his own business, Hammer and Associates, in St. Cloud in 1974. He was always a fan of St. Cloud State athletics, but didn’t really get involved until 1983 when he got involved with the booster club called the “Husky Hustlers.” “I got invited to a booster club meeting and that’s where I met (former St. Cloud State head men’s basketball coach) Butch Raymond,” Hammer said. “I had lunch with Butch one day and I told him I had experience doing publicaddress announcing. “It just so happened that year that Denny Smith, who had been doing men’s basketball games, became a basketball coach at Sauk Rapids. He had some conflicts and I was the sub that year. After that year, I took over fulltime.”
Watch out! Deals, sweepstakes, freebies and more are falling like leaves.
LEARN MORE (http://www.sctimes.com/insider/deals/2017/08/18/fallfuninsider/104725602/? utm_source=bxag&utm_medium=bx&utm_campaign=InsFallFun)
Passion for the job
Hammer loves calling St. Cloud State games because it keeps him involved in athletics and the community. He’s been involved in St. Cloud State booster clubs for more than 30 years. Hammer wanted to be a sports broadcaster at one time, so this also quenches his old thirst for being involved in announcing in some form. Hammer gets paid for his work, but he keeps doing it because he’s passionate about it. “This gives me my fix,” Hammer said with a laugh. “I’m glad it’s turned out the way it has. It’s not radio or television, but that’s OK with me. “I love our teams. I live and die with the success of our football and basketball teams. I think there are a lot of people in Central Minnesota who have never been to a St. Cloud State football or basketball game. They don’t realize how good our teams are here.” Said Abicht: “Steve’s a great guy and he’s one of those people who is nice to have around as a community supporter. He’s excited about what he does and Husky athletics. He’s interested in what’s going on in every sport here. He loves coming to games and enjoys being around the people here.” Time commitment There’s a big time commitment to being a PA announcer. For one, you have to give up a lot of Fridays and Saturdays in the fall and winter. He says his wife of 41 years, Judy, is OK with him being away from time to time and having a passion for St. Cloud State sports. Despite the time commitment, Hammer keeps coming back. “Steve came on board when I was an assistant coach under Butch,” St. Cloud State men’s basketball head coach Kevin Schlagel said. “When you hear his voice, you know you’re at Halenbeck Hall. He has that deep, resonating voice that gets your attention right away. It’s neat to have a tradition with him here. “Everybody has an immediate connection to his voice. He’s been loyal and dedicated to this program and I’m very grateful for that.” Hammer arrives at football games around 11:30 a.m. for 1 p.m. kickoffs. He’s had the same spotter for more than 20 years in Dale Okland. Hammer watches the women’s basketball games before the start of the men’s games. He’ll go over and talk with opposing head coaches to make sure he’s pronouncing the names correctly. To Hammer, getting the names right is the most important part of his job.
“You want to do that right, I think that’s the most important thing I do,” Hammer said. “I remember back in my early days when I was announcing men’s basketball and the Huskies were playing a Russian team in an exhibition. I went to their interpreter and went over all the names. I practiced all of the rolling R’s in their names. “After the game, one of their assistant coaches came over and complimented me. He said in really broken English, ‘You did good job with names.’ That meant a lot.” How much longer? Hammer knows he’s going to keep doing the Huskies’ PA work through the end of the men’s basketball season in 2015. He’ll have put in 30 years by then. He feels that’s a good, round number to end on. “I told Kevin (Schlagel) when he was named the head coach that I’ll announce as long as he coaches. I never thought that would last 17 years,” Hammer said. “I’m thinking about one more year for sure.” Abicht wants Hammer to stick around for as long as he wants. “I’ll take him for as long as he wants to do it,” Abicht said. “For me, I like having that consistency. I always know that he’s going to be there. If he can’t be there, he always lets us know in advance. It’s nice having that dependable person.” Follow Andy Rennecke on Twitter @AndyRennecke. Read or Share this story: http://on.sctimes.com/Kk9DGF
