Voice of the Hoosiers

One day in 1965, Don Fischer was sitting in the railroad depot he had worked at for over a year and a half, unhappy with what he was doing for a living.\nThe 19-year-old high school graduate, who had bounced around from one odd job to the next, selling everything from insurance to magazine subscriptions, opened up a sports magazine seeking a moment of comfort and diversion during the work day.\nWhat he found inside that magazine, however, changed his life forever.\n"I found this coupon in this sports magazine asking 'Do you want to be a sportscaster?,'" Fischer said. "I had always been interested in doing that, and I knew that (working in a railroad depot) was not what I wanted to do for a career, so I took the coupon and sent it in."\nSoon enough, Fischer was taking home classes from the school advertised in the coupon, the Career Academy based in Milwaukee, Wis.\nAfter completing his work there, Fischer began a six-year journey broadcasting at radio stations from Ottawa, Ill., to Beaute, Mont., improving his ability as an announcer at each job he took. He was then told in the spring of 1973 that the Indiana University Radio Network was looking for a play-by-play announcer for its football and men's basketball teams. \n"The IU job popped up, and I applied late. But I was still hired," Fischer said. \nNearly 30 years later, Fischer still holds that job. Many know him as the "Voice of the Hoosiers."\nNow 56-years-old, Fischer said he looks back on his time with the University as nothing short of spectacular. \n"It's something that a farm boy from Illinois could only dream for," Fischer, who has been honored as Indiana Sportscaster of the Year 19 times in his career, said. "It's allowed me to see almost the entire country. I've probably traveled as much as anybody legally could."\nWith his family too poor to send him to college, Fischer said he knew that his chances to follow in the footsteps of the famed Chicago sports announcers he always listened to as a kid were slim.\n"I always would listen to Harry Carey and Dan Kelly and Jack Quenlan on KMOX when I was young," Fischer said. "They were all play-by-play announcers, so when it said 'sportscaster' on the coupon, I just thought of play-by-play. That's what I got into this business to do."\nA self-described decent athlete in high school, Fisher said he thought it would be great if he could work in sports for a career, but the lack of a college degree would keep him from being a coach.\n"I knew that I was never going to be a coach, but in the back of my mind I always thought about (broadcasting)," Fischer said.\nAnd after calling, literally, thousands of games for Hoosiers fans across the state, Fischer is not bored, nor even close to being ready to retire from announcing, he said.\n"I look forward to each and every game. It doesn't bore you because you have to be on your toes at all times," Fischer said. "You always have to concentrate. Especially in a game like the football game two Saturday's ago (IU trailed to Illinois at one point, 45-0)." \n"I don't know anybody who (calls games) as good as him," said Max Skervin, Fischer's color analyst for his first 24 years with IU. "He's really developed into a first-class announcer." \nFischer, who covered all but two years in the Bob Knight era and began his IU football career with the colorful Lee Corso as coach, said he never aspired to go above the college level in terms of what sports to call.\n"I've been offered professional jobs and asked to apply for others, but I just never felt like there was a right time," Fischer said. "There's something about the college level. There's so much enthusiasm. It's a special year almost every year. No matter what you did the year before, there's always that optimism. You don't see that in the pros."\nFischer has tried his voice in the pros to some extent, broadcasting preseason Indianapolis Colts games for the last eight years for WISH-TV, and his approach to every game he covers is the same.\n"I've never tried to be cliché guy. I try to paint a picture for people," Fischer said. "I think you can effectively paint a picture with just the inflection of your voice."\nAnd some of the pictures he paints are, to at least IU fans, masterpieces. \n"My first memory would have to be the 1976 national championship basketball team," Fischer said. "Watching those kids for three years. For all their hard work and effort, dealing with all that adversity. For them to go undefeated at 32-0, it was a special, special moment."\nFischer also called last year's run to the national championship game a remarkable experience.\n"It was just absolutely unbelievable. In my mind, I think that brought IU back together. After the whole Knight thing, it seemed like it was such a divided house," Fischer said. "That was one of the most welding moments in college basketball history."\nAnd Fischer would know. He's been there and will continue to be there for all the moments that make up IU's athletic history.\n"I think it's immeasurable how much excitement he's brought to IU," co-worker Joe Smith said. "I personally feel that he's the best collegiate play-by-play man in the country. It's been a privilege for me to work with him in the capacity I have."\nSmith has been a part of the broadcast team with Fischer for the length of their entire Hoosier careers. \n"I've not made a lot of money in this business, but I love it," Fischer said. "As long as my eyes hold out, and voice holds out, I'll do it"