Issue date: 3/4/10 Section: Sports

The story can begin at almost any place and almost any time.

You can start on the radio during a Wednesday night in the winter, where he can be heard as the color commentator for Truman basketball games. Or on a Saturday afternoon in the fall, when he is a sideline reporter for Bulldog football.

You can start at a nearby school two nights ago, where you can see him officiating basketball games for fifth through eighth graders.

You can start at the Thompson Campus Center at A.T. Still University, where you can find him opening the building three mornings per week. He does not have a set job title but does a variety of work at the recreation center.

Or, if you want to travel back in time, you can see him on the basketball court, read his articles from the Kirksville Daily Express or see him involved in about 100 competitive softball games during the summer.

Even further back, you might see him watching football practice or working as the sports editor at the Truman Index. Or you might find him at an intramural bowling game in the Student Union Building.

For Hank Janssen, long-time radio broadcaster and Kirksville sports extraordinaire, it doesn't matter where, or when, you start. He has not changed much since he arrived in Kirksville roughly 38 years ago.

"Got older, that's about it," said Jack Schrader, men's basketball head coach, who has known Janssen since 1981.

Football head coach Gregg Nesbitt, who has known Janssen since the 1970s, gave a different perspective.

"Hank is refreshing," he said. "Things have changed, the University has changed, certainly the community has changed a little bit. Hank is like stepping back into a time warp when you talk with him."

On the airwaves

Janssen just finished his 15th year with play-by-play partner Brad Boyer on KRES. Janssen's radio career started in the early 1980s when he worked both football and basketball. Janssen was the color commentator unless he had to broadcast the game by himself.

With nearly 30 years experience of covering Bulldog athletics, Janssen rarely needs help from a media guide to jog his memory.

"As I call him, he's 'Mr. Bulldog,'" Boyer said. "What he is for me, and I think for the listeners, he is my media guide that's alive."

Janssen can re-tell games, such as the 1999 men's basketball playoffs and the 2001 Ol' Hickory Stick football game, which was the last time Truman won, as though they happened yesterday. He can also recall the 1980 football game against Pittsburg State University. He remembers Truman kicked a late field goal to win 17-14 and that the game was played in St. Joseph.

Continued...

Page 1 of 3 next >

Article Tools