The Barometer Online

Issue date: 4/20/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Peter Strong Mike Parker

For the full length mp3 audio version of the interview, follow this link.

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Let's talk about Omaha. I heard that you were part of the coaches' talks. What was up with that?

Well, you know it's not as if the coaches came to me and said, "So Mike, what do you think we ought to do tonight?" [Laughs.] Not quite like that. All I meant by being included was I felt comfortable with any of the coaches at any point in time of asking them anything about anybody on the team, a strategy, an umpire's call. They were so wonderfully inclusive with everything ... I think most everything. I'm sure there were things I wouldn't know when I sat down in the booth to call the game. But I just felt like they let me in on what they were thinking, why they were doing things a certain way, why certain players were starting ... I just felt really blessed by that and by being included.

What's it like to hear the final play call now?

I have to admit I never, ever will get tired of hearing the phrase, "the Beavers are the national champions," whether I said or whoever said it. At times - even though I've seen and heard it many times - the whole experience comes flashing back and it gives me goose bumps. I'm not tired of it yet and I hope I never will be.

Talk about the [football team's] win over USC. What was it like to call that in comparison to Omaha? How was the adrenaline rush different?

2006 was such a great run for Oregon State athletics. For me to get to be in Omaha and call all that, I didn't think anything could ever approach it. But as a one-time event, the win over USC was awfully close. Omaha was a building thing: you had to keep winning and the drama was night in and night out. Football's a big time event mentality. You gear up for a huge event every weekend. And to have it all come together the way it did and to have that beautiful weather day and USC's 27-game winning streak, the Beavers had won a couple games going in and you all hope that maybe, just maybe, if all circumstances are right you can win this game.

Well the Beavers were the better team that day. I'm glad the game wasn't a minute or two longer, but the Beavers did deserve to win that game. It was an awesome event to be around. The excitement of seeing the Beavers win that game and Matt Moore and others being carried off the field in that sea of orange wasn't quite as good as the national championship, but it was probably the most enjoyable thing I've had in football here.

How did you get involved in sportscasting?

When I was about 7 years old I heard Vin Scully on the radio in my neighbor's garage. I didn't even know what baseball was, didn't really know what the radio was or who he was, but I liked the sound of what I was hearing. I said to my neighbor, "Mr. Holland, what is that that you're listening to?" And he said, "That's the Dodger game." What are the Dodgers? Who are the Dodgers? My parents were not into sports at all. But I just kind of walked over and was just staring at this beautiful voice coming out of this black box.

I was really captivated at age 7 and I've just followed a dream since then to get to do what I'm doing now.

Did you play sports when you were younger or did you steer clear of them because you knew that radio was your calling? No pun intended.

I did play - and I used to tell everybody, "After my 15-year career in the major leagues I'll become a baseball commentator." That was my goal ...

I would announce the pick-up games I would be playing in with my friends. I would say, "Parker passes over to Conely, Conely enters the low post, back out to Parker who dribbles to the left, 15-footer" during the game and the guys would say, "Parker shut up and play." In street football games I would say, "Parker back to throw, he's got a man open, Conely streaking down the sideline makes the catch." So I was practicing when I was 9, 10, 11 years old for the future.

Do people ever comment on being surprised that you sound the same in person as you do on the radio?

You know what's funny about that is every once in awhile, in Fred Meyer or a store in town, somebody who I don't know ... I'll ask, "where's your dishwashing soap?" [They answer] "Well Mike it's down aisle three." I'll say "Oh, well, thank you ... " and then I'll read her name tag and ask how she knew who I was. And she'll say "Oh you're the voice of the Beavers." So that sort of thing happens once in awhile.

Who's your favorite OSU athlete of all time?

There's quite a few of them and I'm not sure that I could narrow it to one. I will say that Jonathan Smith, a former quarterback ... If I had to pick one I would probably say Jonathan because I saw his career - not his whole career - and then he was a graduate assistant here and got to see him move to Idaho. He's always been a very kind, helpful, intelligent person. Sammie Stroughter now on the football team is another guy I greatly admire and is a go-to kind of guy to talk to about various things. I respect him as an athlete and he's just a delightful person to be around....There have been a lot of them.

What's your favorite OSU moment besides Omaha?

The USC win would be right up there, the Sun Bowl 2-point conversion would be right up there. And the win over Hawaii this past year - I was so pumped about that win. Just the emotion - I was ready to jump out of the booth. I was so tired of the noise and the constant dim that was going on by the fans ... winning that game I was so fired up about it. Jim Wilson, my color partner, was having to pull me back in. He thought I was going to jump out of the box.

Do you ever wish you could just sit in the stands as a fan and watch the game instead of calling it?

Yes, I do. I feel ... to be able to call these games, it's the best job in the world as far as I'm concerned. For a lot of people, going to the games is their release, their outlet. I do miss being able to just do that. The games that are diversions and entertainment for fans, for me - while I love it - is still a job. I always try to keep that in mind, though the fan takes over in me during the broadcast sometimes. I miss that. I don't get enough time to just sit and be a fan.

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