Media: Travel is toughest element of job
Continued from page 6C
the radio station’s “gopher” and said
he “just got hooked. ” His senior year
he was able to get on the air part time
and the first month out of high school
he was hired as a full-time employee.
"I didn’t go to school for it, I did
n’t study for it, I just fell into it,”
Allen said.
After working his way through sev
eral stations, Allen got the call in 1987
to work for the Ducks. He continues to
work at KUGN 590 as the Oregon play
by-play broadcaster for both men’s
basketball and football. He also
anchors news talk weekday mornings.
“I was hired by the University of
Oregon, so I am a staff member
there,” Allen said. “When I was hired
(Bill Burn) told me, ‘Don’t be afraid
to be a fan. You work for the Univer
sity of Oregon, 95 percent of the peo
ple who will be listening to the
games are Duck fans, they don’t
mind if you are positive about the
Ducks.’ At the same time, I was aware
that people early on would call me a
homer because I sounded so positive
for the Ducks.”
That fine line is something that
Allen hasn’t worried about in a long
time: See the call of the Wheaton
play from over 11 years ago.
Known nationally for that call,
Allen remembers that as the shining
moment in his broadcasting career. It
was a time that he went from an
nouncef to fan and it didn’t end up
sounding bad.
“It was so automatic,” Allen said of
the call. “When that play began I was
a professional announcer doing my
job. By the time (Wheaton) is a third
of the way down the field the profes
sionalism sort of got lost and I became
a fan. I got caught up in the moment.
“I get a lot of credit for a great play,
when it was really Kenny Wheaton
who made the great play. I was just
saying what I was seeing. ”
Flying away
Both Allen and Giansante agree
that the extensive travel schedule is
the toughest factor to deal with.
Every home and away game for both
broadcasters is another event they
Tim Bobosky | Photo Editor
Oregon graduate Joe Giansante, left, describes a recent home Oregon football game.
Giansante works as the play-by-play broadcaster for the Oregon Sports Network.
have to be at, whether it is in the
friendly confines of Autzen Stadium
or a basketball road trip to Tennessee.
“The traveling is really tough,”
Allen said. “It’s fun, there is an ele
ment of fun to it. You get to be with
the team, in a small way you get to be
a part of their family. But you also
miss your family too.
“I’ve missed a lot of birthday par
ties, a lot of sporting events, a lot of
school plays, and stuff like that. And
that was hard.”
While Allen’s children are grown
up, Giansante has two young daugh
ters that are dealing with the process.
“Being away from my family and
traveling is definitely the hardest part
of the job,” Giansante said.
Kickoff or tipoff?
And what sport is the best
to broadcast?
“There is nothing better than the
spectacle of a Saturday,” Giansante
said referring to football. “Basketball
I enjoy so much because there are
fewer players ... you get to know
them a little bit more on a personal
basis, you become a little more con
nected to their successes and failures
because you know them so well —
you travel with them on the road,
there is only 15 of them instead of
105.1 think you get connected a little
bit more with basketball and live and
die with their success more than you
do with football.”
Allen agrees that both sports bring
a different excitement and energy.
“Each has its season,” Allen said.
“What I mean by that is when foot
ball starts, I am so anxious for foot
ball I just cannot wait for it to get go
ing. Then, by the end of the season,
traveling and working, you start to
get a little tired — the season seems
long. Then it’s like, football has been
fun, but it’s nice for a change so you
are anxious for basketball.
“By the end of basketball season, it
has been a long season and the travel
ing gets to you ... you are starting to
look for basketball to be over, then
you can’t wait for football to start the
next year. It comes in cycles, you can’t
wait for it to get going, but then when
it gets to the end of it you are ready for
something else to come along. ”
The new cycle is in overdrive as
basketball season is beginning and
football is winding down. Now it is
time for Giansante and Allen to put
away the football slogans and dust
off the basketball jargon, which
shouldn’t be a problem since both
are just moving along in the next
phase of their dream.
smiller@ dailyemerald, com
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