Max Falkenstien

Max Falkenstien (born April 9, 1924) 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.

Contents 1 Early life and career 2 Final home broadcast 3 Final broadcast 4 Accolades 5 External links

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 Landon. 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 Fieldhouse 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.

Final broadcast

The last broadcast of Falkenstien's sixtieth season came on March 17, 2006, in the first round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament. 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.

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 Schenkel, is given annually to a college football broadcaster who has excelled in his field and contributed to his community.[1]
• 2001: Kansas Sports Hall of Fame; named "Best College Radio Personality" by The Sporting News.
• 2004: 15th Recipient of the Curt Gowdy Media Award, given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in recognition of excellence in electronic and print sports reporting.
• Member, Beta Theta Pi (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

Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball retired jerseys 0 Drew Gooden 4 Nick Collison 5 Fred Pralle 5 Howard Engleman 7 Tusten Ackerman 8 Charlie T. Black 10 Charles B. Black 10 Kirk Hinrich 11 Jacque Vaughn 12 Paul Endacott 13 Wilt Chamberlain 13 Walt Wesley 14 Darnell Valentine 15 Ray Evans 15 Jo Jo White 15 Isaac "Bud" Stallworth 16 Clyde Lovellette 23 B. H. Born 23 Wayne Simien 25 Danny Manning 26 Gale Gordon 32 Bill Bridges 34 Paul Pierce 36 Al Peterson 40 Dave Robisch 45 Raef LaFrentz 60 Max Falkenstien (Announcer, Honorary Retirement)

University of Kansas Academics Schools: School of Law • School of Business • School of Engineering • School of Medicine Locations: Lawrence, KS • KU Medical Center People: Notable alumni and faculty • Bernadette Gray-Little • Jeffrey Vitter Misc: Carrie • Center for International Political Analysis • Center for the Study of Science Fiction • Coal City Review • Kansas Geological Survey • Studio 804 Athletics Kansas Jayhawks Teams: Men's basketball • Football • Baseball • Women's basketball Mascots: Big Jay • Baby Jay Facilities: Allen Fieldhouse • University of Kansas Memorial Stadium • Hoglund Ballpark People: Bill Self • Turner Gill • Gary Bender • Sheahon Zenger • Max Falkenstien Misc: Rock Chalk, Jayhawk • Border War • Sunflower Showdown Campus Bailey Hall • Hoch Auditorium • Natural History Museum • Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics Student life Marching Jayhawks • University Daily Kansan Broadcasting Kansas Public Radio • KJHK • KUJH-LP History History of the University of Kansas

Curt Gowdy Media Award winners Electronic 1990: Gowdy 1991: Glickman 1992: Hearn 1993: Most 1994: Ledford 1995: Enberg 1996: Packer 1997: Albert 1998: Vitale 1999: Costas 2000: Brown 2001: Stockton 2002: Nantz 2003: Hundley 2004: Falkenstien 2005: Campbell 2006: Raftery 2007: McCoy 2008: Wolff 2009: Collins 2010: Tait Print 1990: Herbert 1991: Dorr 1992: Goldaper 1993: Lewin 1994: Koppett 1995: Hammel 1996: Hentzen 1997: Ryan 1998: Donald & Weiss 1999: Barrier 2000: Kindred 2001: Kirkpatrick 2002: O'Connell 2003: Hartman 2004: Jasner 2005: McCallum 2006: Heisler 2007: Moran 2008: DuPree 2009: Vecsey 2010: MacMullan

Persondata
Name	Falkenstien, Max
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	April 9, 1924
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death