Saturday, September 6th, 2008

The man behind the mic

In his first season as men's basketball announcer, Eric Danielson brings a new voice to an old set of traditions.

Eric Danielson, Lawrence native, announces the basketball games this season and feels the pressure of getting things just right.

By Rustin Dodd (Contact)

Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008

Minutes before Kansas’ Big Monday matchup against Oklahoma, Eric Danielson sat ten feet from the Kansas bench.

With a headset wrapped around his ear and pen and paper in hand, Danielson might have been the most nervous man in Allen Fieldhouse. Sure, Brandon Rush and the rest of the Jayhawks were about to take the floor in front of 16,300 people and an ESPN television audience. But Danielson had his own problems. He had to deliver the words that have become as synonymous with Kansas basketball pregame traditions as the Rock Chalk Chant. Finally the moment came.

“At guard from NEW YORK,” Danielson yelled.

“NEW YORK,” the crowd answered in unison.

“Russell Robinson,” Danielson said.

Most Kansas fans have heard Danielson’s voice, but they may not know the man behind the vocal chords. The Lawrence native is working his first men’s basketball season as the public address announcer at Allen Fieldhouse. Danielson, who did the public address announcements at women’s basketball games last season, began working men’s games in November when the former public address announcer, Hank Booth, left for health reasons. Booth had been doing the announcements since the 2003-04 season, when he replaced long-time announcer Howard Hill.

Danielson’s promotion to men’s game was also an increase in pressure.

“I was absolutely nervous,” Danielson said, partly because he grew up an avid Kansas basketball fan. But mostly, Danielson said knew he had to nail Russell Robinson’s introduction.

“Somebody, I don’t know who it was, they recorded it and they put it up on YouTube,” Danielson said. “And it was just the recording of the player intros on the video board. You could hear me in the background, and I listened to it, and I must have been so incredibly nervous because it sounded so rushed.”

Danielson spent his childhood in Lawrence and is becoming more and more acquainted with the University. Danielson went to school at the University of San Diego on a vocal performance scholarship and graduated in 2000.

“I sang my way through school basically, in a real small select 12-person singing group,” Danielson said. “I’d always done something with my voice, but I knew I didn’t want to continue the singing path.”

After graduating, Danielson went to work in Lawrence at Harris Construction. But he received his first break in the vocal work from Hank Booth, the man he replaced at the microphone. Booth was a family friend, so Danielson went to talk to him.

“I said I’d love to get involved in doing radio commercials or something, and he actually said, if I ever wanted to do P.A. work, there is an opening at the women’s team,” Danielson said.

Now it’s Danielson who informs the Allen Fieldhouse crowd of every Mario Chalmers three-pointer, Darnell Jackson dunk, or Brandon Rush jump shot. Danielson also said being the announcer during a Kansas basketball game is a little tougher than most people imagine.

“It’s an entirely different experience, because you have to follow the ball, because if that person puts up a shot, you need to know who shot it right away,” Danielson said. “It’s an entirely different way to watch a game, because you’re not really watching the flow of the game, as much you’re just watching the details.”

Jim Marchiony, associate athletics director for KU, said the Athletics Department has received positive feedback about Danielson’s work.

“He’s done a terrific job, and he deserved the number one quarterback job, so to speak,” Marchiony said.

For now, Danielson is working at both men’s and women’s games.

“I’m pulling double-duty. Thankfully, I’ve got a really great wife at home, she helps take care of our son, and she knows this is something I’ve always wanted to do, so she’s cool with it,” Danielson said. “She likes having the tickets to the games, too.”

But tickets are actually the only compensation Danielson receives for his public address work. The job is unpaid. That’s not problem for Danielson, who works during the day for Treanor Architects.

“The way the team’s been playing, I don’t know who’s not having a fun time in the Fieldhouse,” Danielson said.

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