Fall weekends are prime time for play-by-play man Wayne Larrivee.
He's in his eighth season as the radio voice of the Packers and continues to call Big Ten football on ESPN Regional television. Winter just adds to Larrivee's busy schedule as he calls Chicago Bulls games on WGN-TV and does Big Ten basketball on ESPN Regional.
Did we mention that Larrivee also does morning drive-time sports on WTMJ Radio and hosts the nationally syndicated Pro Football Weekly radio show?
Larrivee, 51, grew up in Lee, Mass., and attended Emerson College in Boston. He broke into the NFL in 1978 with the Kansas City Chiefs before
becoming the radio voice of the Chicago Bears in 1985. He has been calling Packers games since taking over for Jim Irwin in 1999.
With the regular-season opener slated for Sunday afternoon against Chicago, Larrivee took a few moments to chat with OnMilwaukee.com about his varied and successful career.
OMC: Is this Packers team better than the 4-12 squad of a year ago? Why?
Wayne Larrivee: It will be a much younger team than a season ago. It has a little more talent but is, as Brett Favre said, one of the most inexperienced teams we have seen in quite some time in Green Bay. In pro sports, inexperience does not lead to many victories. I will say this. They will be better than 4-12, but how much better depends on a lot of young guys growing up quickly.
OMC: Before coming to Green Bay, you did play-by-play with the Kansas City Chiefs and the Chicago Bears. Can you compare those experiences to doing the Packers games?
WL: Soldier Field was and still is one of the worst stadiums for a play-by-play announcer to work (physically). But Chicago is far and away the best sports town in America. Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium to this day is still one of the best places to work or see an NFL game. When I was there the Chiefs were the bottom-feeders and the Royals were riding high. But that was my first NFL stop and Kansas City will always be special. No place comes close to Green Bay in terms of history, tradition, and passion. If you have to work an NFL game on a Sunday afternoon or Monday night, there is no place better than Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. It is absolutely the ultimate experience no matter how many games or years one has the opportunity to work at that fabled place. In short, nothing comes close to the Packers experience for me!
OMC: You've told me before that because of team and network contracts that you never called play-by-play of a Bulls playoff game during all of those
championship years. For that reason, is the Bears Super Bowl your most memorable game as a broadcaster?
WL: That is the biggest game I have ever broadcast, but the best broadcast and most exciting game I have ever done was Christmas Eve, 2004,
Packers-Vikings in the Metrodome. That was the one game regular season championship for the division and first round home playoff game won by the
Packers, 33-31. Of course, everyone here has forgotten about that game because two weeks later the Vikings came to Green Bay and won in the playoffs.
OMC: You have been around Walter Payton, Michael Jordan and Brett Favre on a regular basis. Can you talk about the three different personalities? Is there a common thread to their greatness?
WL: Great ability, love of the game, tremendous heart and the work ethic of a free agent just trying to make the team.
OMC: Looking at your schedule--Packers, Big Ten football and basketball, Bulls, morning drive sports on WTMJ Radio -- how in the world do you balance all of that?
WL: It is not easy because of the prep that goes into all of those games. Remember when you were in college and it was exams week? That is my fall -- every week!
OMC: I imagine the actual games are the best part of your job. The homework has to be difficult. What kind of preparation do you do, let's say for a
Packers game?
OMC: Is there anything you haven't had a chance to broadcast that you'd like to?
WL: Golf -- I'd like to be in the tower of the 16th hole at Augusta.
OMC: You've done both local teams and network assignments. Which do you prefer?
WL: It is much easier to do a local telecast or broadcast because you know your team and you are talking to your team's fans. A regional network or national telecast or broadcast is much more difficult because you are talking to fans on both sides.
OMC: How do you see the NFC North shaping up? Are the Bears the prohibitive favorites?
WL: No one is a prohibitive favorite in the NFC North, but the Bears have the top defense in a group without much defense so that should give them the edge.
OMC: With the addition of Ben Wallace, are the Bulls the favorites in the NBA Central Division? Are they a title contender?
WL: I'm not sure how the Bulls will come together. The addition of Wallace gives them a presence they have not had since the dynasty days. But Detroit is sill the favorite to win the Central.
OMC: Of all of the venues in the different sports that you've broadcast from, is Lambeau Field the best?
WL: Lambeau Field and Arrowhead Stadium in the pros. Michigan Stadium,Kinnick in Iowa and Camp Randall are the best college stadiums to call football. My personal favorite of all time is Lambeau --that is where I called my first NFL game, preseason 1978, Chiefs at Packers.
OMC: I've seen you include your family in your work. Has that been the key to keeping the family together despite your hectic schedule?
WL: The problem we had over the years was my absence on weekends. That's when families do things and adults get together to socialize. Every line of work exacts some type of price, and we in sports work weekends and holidays.
OMC: What play-by-play broadcasters do you enjoy listening to?
WL: I don't know if Wisconsin sports fans realize how lucky they are to have tremendous play by play talent like Bob Uecker and Jim Powell on the Brewers, Matt Lepay on Wisconsin, Ted Davis with the Bucks, as well as Steve True on Marquette and Bill Johnson at UWM all working in this state.
I listen to satellite radio all the time and hear many different announcers and to be honest with you--these guys stack up favorably with almost anyone
around the country, national or local. I enjoy listening to these guys do games.
I also like Pat Hughes in Chicago on Cubs, Marv Albert in New York, and Dick Enberg is still one of the very best, nationally. Of course, I never
tire of hearing John Sterling's "Yankees win! Yankees Win! The ... Yankees ... win!" I have not seen anyone go from studio to play
by play and do much of a job, in my opinion.
- Editor’s note: OMC contributor Dennis Krause is host of the pregame show on the Packers Radio Network.
He's in his eighth season as the radio voice of the Packers and continues to call Big Ten football on ESPN Regional television. Winter just adds to Larrivee's busy schedule as he calls Chicago Bulls games on WGN-TV and does Big Ten basketball on ESPN Regional.
Did we mention that Larrivee also does morning drive-time sports on WTMJ Radio and hosts the nationally syndicated Pro Football Weekly radio show?
Larrivee, 51, grew up in Lee, Mass., and attended Emerson College in Boston. He broke into the NFL in 1978 with the Kansas City Chiefs before
becoming the radio voice of the Chicago Bears in 1985. He has been calling Packers games since taking over for Jim Irwin in 1999.
With the regular-season opener slated for Sunday afternoon against Chicago, Larrivee took a few moments to chat with OnMilwaukee.com about his varied and successful career.
OMC: Is this Packers team better than the 4-12 squad of a year ago? Why?
Wayne Larrivee: It will be a much younger team than a season ago. It has a little more talent but is, as Brett Favre said, one of the most inexperienced teams we have seen in quite some time in Green Bay. In pro sports, inexperience does not lead to many victories. I will say this. They will be better than 4-12, but how much better depends on a lot of young guys growing up quickly.
OMC: Before coming to Green Bay, you did play-by-play with the Kansas City Chiefs and the Chicago Bears. Can you compare those experiences to doing the Packers games?
WL: Soldier Field was and still is one of the worst stadiums for a play-by-play announcer to work (physically). But Chicago is far and away the best sports town in America. Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium to this day is still one of the best places to work or see an NFL game. When I was there the Chiefs were the bottom-feeders and the Royals were riding high. But that was my first NFL stop and Kansas City will always be special. No place comes close to Green Bay in terms of history, tradition, and passion. If you have to work an NFL game on a Sunday afternoon or Monday night, there is no place better than Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. It is absolutely the ultimate experience no matter how many games or years one has the opportunity to work at that fabled place. In short, nothing comes close to the Packers experience for me!
OMC: You've told me before that because of team and network contracts that you never called play-by-play of a Bulls playoff game during all of those
championship years. For that reason, is the Bears Super Bowl your most memorable game as a broadcaster?
WL: That is the biggest game I have ever broadcast, but the best broadcast and most exciting game I have ever done was Christmas Eve, 2004,
Packers-Vikings in the Metrodome. That was the one game regular season championship for the division and first round home playoff game won by the
Packers, 33-31. Of course, everyone here has forgotten about that game because two weeks later the Vikings came to Green Bay and won in the playoffs.
OMC: You have been around Walter Payton, Michael Jordan and Brett Favre on a regular basis. Can you talk about the three different personalities? Is there a common thread to their greatness?
WL: Great ability, love of the game, tremendous heart and the work ethic of a free agent just trying to make the team.
OMC: Looking at your schedule--Packers, Big Ten football and basketball, Bulls, morning drive sports on WTMJ Radio -- how in the world do you balance all of that?
WL: It is not easy because of the prep that goes into all of those games. Remember when you were in college and it was exams week? That is my fall -- every week!
OMC: I imagine the actual games are the best part of your job. The homework has to be difficult. What kind of preparation do you do, let's say for a
Packers game?
OMC: Is there anything you haven't had a chance to broadcast that you'd like to?
WL: Golf -- I'd like to be in the tower of the 16th hole at Augusta.
OMC: You've done both local teams and network assignments. Which do you prefer?
WL: It is much easier to do a local telecast or broadcast because you know your team and you are talking to your team's fans. A regional network or national telecast or broadcast is much more difficult because you are talking to fans on both sides.
OMC: How do you see the NFC North shaping up? Are the Bears the prohibitive favorites?
WL: No one is a prohibitive favorite in the NFC North, but the Bears have the top defense in a group without much defense so that should give them the edge.
OMC: With the addition of Ben Wallace, are the Bulls the favorites in the NBA Central Division? Are they a title contender?
WL: I'm not sure how the Bulls will come together. The addition of Wallace gives them a presence they have not had since the dynasty days. But Detroit is sill the favorite to win the Central.
OMC: Of all of the venues in the different sports that you've broadcast from, is Lambeau Field the best?
WL: Lambeau Field and Arrowhead Stadium in the pros. Michigan Stadium,Kinnick in Iowa and Camp Randall are the best college stadiums to call football. My personal favorite of all time is Lambeau --that is where I called my first NFL game, preseason 1978, Chiefs at Packers.
OMC: I've seen you include your family in your work. Has that been the key to keeping the family together despite your hectic schedule?
WL: The problem we had over the years was my absence on weekends. That's when families do things and adults get together to socialize. Every line of work exacts some type of price, and we in sports work weekends and holidays.
OMC: What play-by-play broadcasters do you enjoy listening to?
WL: I don't know if Wisconsin sports fans realize how lucky they are to have tremendous play by play talent like Bob Uecker and Jim Powell on the Brewers, Matt Lepay on Wisconsin, Ted Davis with the Bucks, as well as Steve True on Marquette and Bill Johnson at UWM all working in this state.
I listen to satellite radio all the time and hear many different announcers and to be honest with you--these guys stack up favorably with almost anyone
around the country, national or local. I enjoy listening to these guys do games.
I also like Pat Hughes in Chicago on Cubs, Marv Albert in New York, and Dick Enberg is still one of the very best, nationally. Of course, I never
tire of hearing John Sterling's "Yankees win! Yankees Win! The ... Yankees ... win!" I have not seen anyone go from studio to play
by play and do much of a job, in my opinion.
- Editor’s note: OMC contributor Dennis Krause is host of the pregame show on the Packers Radio Network.
Dennis Krause joined OnMilwaukee.com as a contributor on June 16, 2006. He is a two-time Wisconsin Sportscaster of the Year and a regional Emmy-award winner. Dennis has been the color analyst on home games for the Milwaukee Bucks Radio Network for the last 10 years. He has also been involved with the Green Bay Packers Radio Network for 16 years and is currently the host of the "Packers Game Day" pre-game show.
Dennis started his broadcasting career as a radio air personality in the Fox Valley and Milwaukee.
He spent three years as a sportscaster at WMBD radio and television in Peoria, Illinois before joining WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee in 1987 as a weekend sports anchor. Dennis spent 16 years at Channel 4, serving as its Sports Director and 5 and 6 pm sports anchor from 1994-2003.
Dennis grew up in Hartford, Wisconsin and attended UW-Oshkosh. He lives in Thiensville with his wife and two children. He serves as the Community Resource Director for the Mequon-Thiensville School District.
