Max Falkenstein
Encyclopedia
Max Falkenstien is a retired radio sports announcer. In his sixty year career at the University of Kansas
(1946-2006), Falkenstien has covered over 1,750 men's basketball games and 650 men's football
games — a span that included every game played in Allen Fieldhouse
until his retirement and was one of the longest announcing tenures in sports. By comparison, Vin Scully
's 55 years with the Los Angeles Dodgers
is the record for longest broadcasting tenure with a single club in all of professional sports
.
came on March 1, 2006, in the last home game of Kansas' 2006 basketball
season. The game, which Kansas won, 75-54, was played against the Colorado Buffaloes
. Falkenstien was honored in a special halftime ceremony, which included his family, friends, some former KU players, and a speech from his on-air partner of 22 years, Bob Davis. Athletic Director
Lew Perkins
presented Falkenstien with a bronze
Jayhawk
to commemorate his long years of service to the University of Kansas
. His name and "number" (60, for the number of years he had broadcast for the Jayhawks), were also hung on a banner in Allen Fieldhouse with those of the other great players that have played for KU. This retirement
ceremony made Falkenstien the 27th KU basketball person so honored by the University, and the first non-athlete.
This game was also held on Kansas' senior night, which honored senior players Christian Moody, Jeff Hawkins
, Moulaye Niang, and Stephen Vinson in a post-game ceremony.
. The fourth-seed Jayhawks lost the game, 77-73, to the thirteenth-seed Bradley
Braves of the Missouri Valley Conference
.
The last football broadcast of Falkenstien's career came in the 2005 Fort Worth Bowl, as Kansas defeated the Houston Cougars
42-13.
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas is a public research university and the largest university in the state of Kansas. KU campuses are located in Lawrence, Wichita, Overland Park, and Kansas City, Kansas with the main campus being located in Lawrence on Mount Oread, the highest point in Lawrence. The...
(1946-2006), Falkenstien has covered over 1,750 men's basketball games and 650 men's football
Kansas Jayhawks football
The Kansas Jayhawks football program is the intercollegiate football program of the University of Kansas Jayhawks. The program is classified in the NCAA's Division I, and the team competes in the Big 12 Conference....
games — a span that included every game played in Allen Fieldhouse
Allen Fieldhouse
Allen Fieldhouse is an indoor arena at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas. The arena, named in honor of Dr. Forrest C. "Phog" Allen, who coached the university's men's basketball team for 39 years, is one of college basketball's most historically significant and prestigious buildings...
until his retirement and was one of the longest announcing tenures in sports. By comparison, Vin Scully
Vin Scully
Vincent Edward Scully is an American sportscaster, known primarily as the play-by-play voice of the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team on Prime Ticket, KCAL-TV and KABC radio...
's 55 years with the Los Angeles Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
is the record for longest broadcasting tenure with a single club in all of professional sports
Professional sports
Professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, are sports in which athletes receive payment for their performance. Professional athleticism has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larger audiences, so that sports organizations...
.
Early life and career
- Edith and Earl were his parents' names. Earl was business manager of the KU athletic department for 33 years.
- Falkenstien's biology class at Liberty Memorial High School trooped over to KFKU, then KU's 50-watt radio station, in the early 1940s. "Each of us had to make some kind of comment -- it must have been a boring show," Falkenstien reflected, "and a lady came up to me afterward and asked me if wanted to be in radio because I had such a clear voice."
- His first job in radio was at WREN, then a Lawrence radio station. "A guy named Earl Bratten gave me some news copy to read and I got the job," Falkenstien said. He worked before and after school and on weekends, usually 40 hours a week, and earned $90 a month. "The first time I ever went on the air was a Sunday morning to give a promo for an Eleanor Roosevelt broadcast," Falkenstien said, smiling. "It was just a 30-second plug, but I was so scared when that red light came on."
- Falkenstien graduated from Liberty Memorial High School in 1942, six months after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. After a semester at KU, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps in hopes of becoming a meteorologist. He left the service in March 1946.
- After leaving the service, he went back to work for WREN. His first assignment was to do the play-by-play for the NCAA district final game between KU and Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State University).
- Credited with founding the KU Sports Network not long after World War II ended, Falkenstien quickly gave up the network because he really wasn't interested in earning a living as a play-by-play broadcaster. He was program and station manager of WREN radio from 1955 until 1967, when he had a falling out with the station's owner, former Kansas Governor Alf LandonAlf LandonAlfred Mossman "Alf" Landon was an American Republican politician, who served as the 26th Governor of Kansas from 1933–1937. He was best known for being the Republican Party's nominee for President of the United States, defeated in a landslide by Franklin D...
. He then became the head of news and sports at WIBW radio and television from 1967 to 1970. After a one-year stint as the first general manager of Sunflower Cablevision, Falkenstien spent 23 years at Douglas County Bank, retiring as a senior vice president in December 1994. - Falkenstien has a degree in mathematics (Kansas, '48)
Final home broadcast
Falkenstien's final broadcast in Allen FieldhouseAllen Fieldhouse
Allen Fieldhouse is an indoor arena at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas. The arena, named in honor of Dr. Forrest C. "Phog" Allen, who coached the university's men's basketball team for 39 years, is one of college basketball's most historically significant and prestigious buildings...
came on March 1, 2006, in the last home game of Kansas' 2006 basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
season. The game, which Kansas won, 75-54, was played against the Colorado Buffaloes
Colorado Buffaloes
The University of Colorado Boulder sponsors 16 varsity sports teams. Both men's and women's team are called the Buffaloes or Golden Buffaloes . "Lady Buffs" referred to the women's teams beginning in the 1970s, but was officially dropped in 1993...
. Falkenstien was honored in a special halftime ceremony, which included his family, friends, some former KU players, and a speech from his on-air partner of 22 years, Bob Davis. Athletic Director
Athletic director
An athletic director is an administrator at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic programs...
Lew Perkins
Lew Perkins
Lew Perkins is a former Director of Athletics, most recently at the University of Kansas. Perkins joined KU in June 2003, taking over for Al Bohl...
presented Falkenstien with a bronze
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
Jayhawk
Kansas Jayhawks
The sports teams at the University of Kansas are known as the Jayhawks. They are one of three schools in the state of Kansas that participate in NCAA Division I. The Jayhawks are also a member of the Big 12 Conference...
to commemorate his long years of service to the University of Kansas
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas is a public research university and the largest university in the state of Kansas. KU campuses are located in Lawrence, Wichita, Overland Park, and Kansas City, Kansas with the main campus being located in Lawrence on Mount Oread, the highest point in Lawrence. The...
. His name and "number" (60, for the number of years he had broadcast for the Jayhawks), were also hung on a banner in Allen Fieldhouse with those of the other great players that have played for KU. This retirement
Retirement
Retirement is the point where a person stops employment completely. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours.Many people choose to retire when they are eligible for private or public pension benefits, although some are forced to retire when physical conditions don't allow the person to...
ceremony made Falkenstien the 27th KU basketball person so honored by the University, and the first non-athlete.
This game was also held on Kansas' senior night, which honored senior players Christian Moody, Jeff Hawkins
Jeff Hawkins
Jeffrey Hawkins is the founder of Palm Computing and Handspring...
, Moulaye Niang, and Stephen Vinson in a post-game ceremony.
Final broadcast
The last broadcast of Falkenstien's sixtieth season came on March 17, 2006, in the first round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament2006 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 2006 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 65 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2005–06 basketball season...
. The fourth-seed Jayhawks lost the game, 77-73, to the thirteenth-seed Bradley
Bradley University
Bradley University, founded in 1897, is a private, co-educational university located in Peoria, Illinois. It is a small institution with an enrollment of approximately 6,100 undergraduate and postgraduate students and a full-time faculty of approximately 350....
Braves of the Missouri Valley Conference
Missouri Valley Conference
The Missouri Valley Conference is a college athletic conference whose members are located in the midwestern United States...
.
The last football broadcast of Falkenstien's career came in the 2005 Fort Worth Bowl, as Kansas defeated the Houston Cougars
Houston Cougars
Houston Cougars is the name given to the sports teams of the University of Houston. Informally, the Houston Cougars have also been referred to as the Coogs, UH, or simply Houston. Houston's nickname was created by early physical education instructor of the university and former head football...
42-13.
Accolades
- 1995: Inducted, College Athletics Hall of Fame
- 1996: Winner, College Football Hall of Fame's Chris Schenkel Award. The award, named for legendary college football announcer Chris SchenkelChris SchenkelChristopher Eugene "Chris" Schenkel was an American sportscaster. Over the course of five decades he called play-by-play for numerous sports on television and radio, becoming known for his smooth delivery and baritone voice.-Early life and career:Schenkel began his broadcasting career at radio...
, is given annually to a college football broadcaster who has excelled in his field and contributed to his community.http://www.footballfoundation.com/news.php?id=663 - 2001: Kansas Sports Hall of FameKansas Sports Hall of FameThe Kansas Sports Hall of Fame is a museum located in Wichita, Kansas, dedicated to preserving the history of sports in the state of Kansas. The museum provides exhibits, archives, facilities, services, and activities to honor those individuals and teams whose achievements in sports brought...
; named "Best College Radio Personality" by The Sporting NewsThe Sporting NewsSporting News is an American-based sports magazine. It was established in 1886, and it became the dominant American publication covering baseball — so much so that it acquired the nickname "The Bible of Baseball"...
. - 2004: 15th Recipient of the Curt Gowdy Media AwardCurt Gowdy Media AwardThe Curt Gowdy Media Award is an annual award given by the Basketball Hall of Fame to outstanding basketball writers and broadcasters. It is named for American sportscaster Curt Gowdy, who was the Hall of Fame's president for seven years...
, given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in recognition of excellence in electronic and print sports reporting. - Member, Beta Theta PiBeta Theta PiBeta Theta Pi , often just called Beta, is a social collegiate fraternity that was founded in 1839 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, USA, where it is part of the Miami Triad which includes Phi Delta Theta and Sigma Chi. It has over 138 active chapters and colonies in the United States and Canada...
(Alpha Nu chapter)
External links
- Max's speech during his final game in Allen Fieldhouse
- Max has "jersey" retired during halftime, 1 March 2006
- Voice of Jayhawks Still Clear - article by Chuck Woodling of the Lawrence Journal-World, Tuesday, August 22, 1995
- Honest, Max Set Standard - article by Bill Mayer of the Lawrence Journal-World, Saturday, 4 March 2006
- KUSports.com News Page devoted to Max Falkenstien -- located on www.kusports.com and updated as news becomes available pertaining to Mr. Falkenstien