The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1468055
10 THE WOLVERINE JUNE / JULY 2022 INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS Doug Karsch, now the voice of Michigan foot- ball, got his start in U-M athletics at WTKA 1050 radio in Ann Arbor. He's continued to advance in his career, hosting a midday sports radio show on 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit in addition to doing sideline reporting for Michigan football. He talked about his new venture with for- mer All-American Jon Jansen as his color com- mentator in a recent sit down. The Wolverine: What was your own first mem- ory of hearing Michigan football broadcast on the radio, and what you r e m e m b e r a b o u t i t ? Was it [legendary U-M broadcaster] Bob Ufer? Doug Karsch: "A loss to Purdue in 1976. I think Jim Smith — go- ing off a Bob Ufer de- scription — dropped t h e p a s s t h at wo u l d have given Michigan the lead, and Bobby Wood missed a field goal that w o u l d h a v e w o n i t . Michigan was undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the country. That's the first time I can remember listening to Michigan football, when back then nine of 11 games were broadcast on the radio only. "If you wanted to see them you had to go. Thankfully, my dad and mom had season tickets, and they didn't get to go to all the games, so I got to go on occasion." The Wolverine: What are your memories of Ufer and the way he called games? Karsch: "A personality like none other. As entertaining as someone could be — wildly entertaining. Just an incred- ible character. You couldn't provide much more color than Bob Ufer did. "It's funny … I listen to those old games, and broadcasts were really different. But he was like a poet. He was singing a song. From beginning to end it was just pure art form, him doing play-by-play." The Wolverine: When you first started in radio, how much was play-by-play — or an opportunity like calling Michigan football — in your sights? Karsch: "It wasn't even on my mind. It's one of those deals that was almost too much to ask. I couldn't set the bar there. One person gets that job. "But when I first got hired at 1050, I was 22 years old. You realize 22-year-olds don't get that job, and you're not going to be 52 until for- ever … that's a million years off. I didn't set that bar that high because it's just a completely un- attainable thing, to be honest with you, to get a job like that. There's one person, and a mil- lion people want the job. "You can't get that job. You can't get that job." The Wolverine: Has it sunk in yet that you're the new voice of Michi- g a n fo o t b a l l ? I f n o t, when do you think it will? Karsch: "Not at all. That's the weird thing. People ask that, but I'm completely numb to it. It probably won't sink in. " I ' v e d o n e s p r i n g games before … proba- bly 10 in my life, at least, because they weren't carried on the network. So, I did the spring game this year, and this year it was, 'Here's your new play- by-play team.' But working with Jansen didn't seem unusual. Doing a spring game didn't seem unusual. "When Colorado State is on the field [for the Sept. 3 opener] and we're still in the booth, I'm going to keep wait- ing for security to show up and escort me out." The Wolverine: What are your goals for your broadcast with Jon Jansen on Saturday afternoons in the fall? Karsch: "The team is the star. Jansen is the co-star, and I'm the narrator. My goal is to let people know where the ball is, what the score is, what the down is, what the dis- tance is and what's happening on the field. "I want to be as descriptive of the narration as possible and when it's over … it's kind of like the officiating. If people start looking up officials' names … "I want to be the long snapper of the broadcast. Get the job done, let the team be the star … let Jansen be the star. It's not like I want to be boring, but I want to make sure I do the basics — block, tackle, and tell the story of the game as accurately as possible." — Chris Balas Karsch (left) served as the sideline reporter and pregame host for the last 16 seasons before being named the new voice of Michigan football along with former Wolverine Jon Jansen. PHOTO COURTESY DOUG KARSCH Sitting Down With New Michigan Football Play-By-Play Man Doug Karsch