Q&A With Mark Beier

Mark Beier's call of Julius Brown's buzzer-beater vs. Buffalo in 2014

Longtime Rockets' play-by-play man Mark Beier announced his retirement from broadcasting last month after 21 years calling Toledo football and men's basketball games. Rocket fans will actually get one last chance to hear Beier on the air when he calls the Toledo Spring Football Game this Saturday. Beier took a minute to reflect on his years with the Rockets in this conversation with UT associate athletic director Paul Helgren.

Q: It's been about a month since you announced your retirement as the Rockets' football and men's basketball play-by-play announcer. What has been the reaction from fans and friends to your decision?

Beier: People have been very kind. Lots of people have said it will be hard not to hear my voice when listening to the games. That's typical when someone has been broadcasting for a long time. Anyone who is 40 or younger probably has only heard me do the UT games. It's humbling. I've heard more compliments in the last month than I heard in the last 10 years.

Q: Has anyone tried to talk you out of retiring?

Beier: Yes, but maybe it's been tongue-in-cheek. Mostly I've been hearing, "Congratulations on your retirement."

Q: So no regrets?

Beier: Well, we'll see come next fall and winter. There will be times when I will get that little ping when I'm at the games. And I do plan on going to a lot of games. My wife Debbi and I are looking forward to tailgating and sitting in the stands at the games.

Q: And listening on the radio.

Beier: And listening on the radio. I plan on being at most of the home games, so mostly I'll listen to the road games like any other fan. So we'll see how that feels. It's going to be a new experience. There's always an adjustment when you stop doing something you've been doing for a long time, especially something you truly love. And I still love it. There were legitimate reasons for me to stop doing it. It's not that I was tired of doing it. It was just the right time.

Q: Most people don't know about everything that goes into doing radio play-by-play, the travel, the preparation. You hear this from some athletes who retire: "If I only had to play the games, I wouldn't retire."

Beier: I've said that numerous times. I'm fine once the ball goes up in the air or is kicked off. It's all the other things. It's time-consuming. The main reason is being away from home so much. My wife was home alone a lot from September to March. She never complained but she certainly was all-in when I made the decision.

Q: I guess you're fortunate she still feels that way. Maybe some wives would say they don't mind that their husbands are out of the house.

Beier: She has sacrificed so much over the last 21 seasons. Our boys were just entering their teenage years when I started doing this. She had them by herself quite often when I was on the road but never complained about it. And the boys were great about it too. I tried to make every possible event and game that I could over the years. They're out of the house now so I just felt this was the right thing to do. I was a little surprised by her reaction when I first brought it up last December. She said, "That would be nice." Prior to that I had never heard a word from her about it. That was an eye-opener for me.

Q: So the time was right for both of you.

Beier: I just felt like it was better to leave the party too soon than stay too long. I've seen some guys stay too long. But I can understand it. It can be like a drug. It's escapism. When I'm doing a game, I'm not thinking about anything else except what's going on at that moment. For example, if you'll recall, two years ago my mom passed away and we had a basketball game vs. Buffalo the very next day. So during that two-hour period it was kind of nice to get-away for a little bit. Juice Brown made it a little extra special that night (he hit a buzzer-beater to win the game).

Q: When you started doing the games 21 years ago, was there ever any thought to how long you wanted to do this?

Beier: In the beginning I didn't. We're all day-to-day and year-to-year in this business. But around the 10-year mark I started thinking, you know, I could do this a long time. I felt like I was established. Frankly, the first few years were pretty shaky. There were some people who wanted to make a change. But Mike Karabin, who was the associate athletic director at the time, was steadfast in his support of me during those early years. It's always a challenge following someone in this business. Listeners get comfortable with the voice they know. All of a sudden, it's a new voice, a new style. Some of the old-timers were complaining a little bit. Also, it was a challenge to find the right partner in the booth. When Jay Lehman joined me in basketball in 1999 and A.J. Sager in football in 2000, that's when things really started to click. Prior to that we had different color commentators who were good but it just wasn't the right fit. But I felt like I could do this for a long time, even as recently as a year ago. But following the basketball road trip to Alaska (last November) where I was away for 10 days spending a lot of time in a hotel room, I really started thinking about making a change. I've always felt like I never wanted to overstay my welcome. Based on the reaction from people, I don't think I did.

Q: You mentioned your on-air partners, particularly Jay Lehman and A.J. Sager. Talk about those two guys and maybe some of the other guys you've worked with over the years.

Beier: It started in 1995 with Jim Yockey, who was terrific. Unfortunately, I only got to work one year with Jim. I thought it was appropriate that Jim got to do the Boca Raton Bowl game with me last December. I knew in the back of my mind that that might be my last Rocket football game, so it kind of went full circle doing that last game with Jim. But I felt like things really started going to another level when Jay Lehman joined me in basketball in 1999 and A.J. Sager in football the following year. I just think the world of both of those guys. Jay is a close friend of mine. We hit it off right away. Same with A.J. They both brought the knowledge that had been missing from the broadcast. Unfortunately, A.J. had to give it up due to his duties with the Tigers, but we were fortunate to add Andy Boyd in 2011. Andy brings a tremendous amount of insight and enthusiasm to the game; he gets me pumped up. What's neat for me, too, is that Andy was a player when I first started calling the games and now he's in the booth. I've worked with so many guys over the year. I worked with Coach Amstutz for a year (2010). That was fun. Jim Heller is another one I want to mention. He's been with me on the football broadcasts for over a decade now, either on the scoreboard show or on the sidelines. He is a unique and special individual; I think the world of Jim. I should also mention what a committed crew we always had behind the scenes. One of the reasons the broadcasts sounded so good is not because of me but because of all the technical stuff that help make it sound so clean and professional. When Rocket fans listen to the game, it sounds like a professional broadcast.

Q: Talk about some of the coaches you got to know over the year.

Beier: The closest I've been with any coach was Tom Amstutz. He's a unique individual, someone I greatly admire. We spent a lot of time together away from the field, going fishing and hunting, those types of things. He was one of the rare coaches who would chat with you during practice. He never took his eyes off the field. He would be talking to me but he was always paying close attention to what was happening on the field. It was a lot of fun. We won a championship in 2001 and again in 2004. I also enjoyed Matt Campbell. We had some very nice talks in his office over the years, talking about life in general. Coach Beckman was great. I got along great with him. He was strict in practice, though. I made the mistake of answering my cell phone during practice once, and he yelled across the field, "Beier! Phone!" Obviously, my first coach was Gary Pinkel. I have the utmost respect for Gary. I was able to spend some time with him off the field, as well, usually on the golf course. And I think very highly of Jason Candle. I think he will do a great job.

On the basketball side, we've only had three coaches in 20 seasons. Stan Joplin was the coach for 12 of those. We weren't close off the field but we got along very well. I could call him anytime and he would always be helpful. The last six years with Coach K have been great. He's been a very special person in my life. He made feel like a part of the program from day one. The other part of it is assistant coaches. There are so many assistant coaches in football and basketball that I developed close friendships with and still consider good friends.

Q: You spent more time with coaches than players, but you must have many great memories of your times with them.

Beier: Yeah, definitely. It starts with Ryan Huzjak. We bonded right away. He was thrilled that somebody actually pronounced his name properly. I'll let out a little secret to the fans out there, coaches are not the best when it comes to pronouncing names. I'm not mentioning names, but let's just say several coaches had a tough time pronouncing their own players' names, let alone opponents' names. Jay and I used to get a chuckle about that during pre-game interviews. But anyway, my all-time favorite Rocket football player was Wasean Tait. No disrespect to any other player but Wasean ran for 2,000 yards my first year, then went through two years of rehab after tearing up his knee in 1996 just to get back on the field and finish up his career. I've been close to a lot of guys. Colin Westrich has become a good friend of mine. Bruce Gradkowski and I have been pretty close over the years. I could go on and on. What I get a thrill out of is when they come back and stop by the booth to say hi. And a lot of guys reached out to me when they found out I was retiring. I got a text from Treyvon Hester wishing me well. That meant a lot to me.

Q: What were your greatest moments, your most memorable calls?

Beier: Number one is the touchdown pass from Bruce Gradkowski to Lance Moore to beat Pitt in 2003. Of all the calls I've ever done, that's my favorite one. Certainly the 2001 MAC Championship Game vs. Marshall was memorable. Toledo was down 23-0 and came back and won. The Bowling Green game in 2004 was another one. Toledo trailed 27-7 at halftime and came back and won. That catapulted them to the MAC Championship Game, which was also a great win. Certainly the Las Vegas Bowl in 1995 sticks out because that was the first overtime game in Division I history. And I loved the games down at Marshall. I had a lot of fun there. I know some Toledo fans had a bad experience there but I really enjoyed it.

Q: You've had some great moments in basketball, too.

Beier: The highlight for me was in 1998 when Toledo beat Ohio State, Xavier and Dayton within a one-week span. Think about that. Ohio State went to the Final Four that year. And more recently under Coach K, we've had some great buzzer-beaters. Nathan Boothe in his freshman year vs. Miami. Of course, the full-court play vs. Buffalo from Matt Smith to Boothe to Julius Brown for the game-winner. That was incredible. Some of the best games overall were the 2006 MAC Tournament semifinals when Toledo beat Akron to advance to the championship game. Wins at Michigan State in 2002 and Cincinnati at the Rock-n-Roll Shootout in Cleveland in 2000 were also very memorable.

Q: On the flipside, are there any blooper moments you can share?

Beier: Yes, I can share one with you. This was at Ball State a number of years back. Jerrah Young got injured that game. Haris Charalambous, God rest his soul, checked in for him. And let's just say Haris was struggling a little bit at the time. When Haris checked into the game, I had one of those Homer Simpson moments: did I think that or did I just say that out loud? As Haris got up to come into the game, I went, "Ohhhh no!" Jay kind of punched me so I quickly regrouped and said, "Oh no, it looks like Jerrah Young is hurt and has to come out of the game." But that's not what I meant. Jay and I had a good laugh. He must have said "Ohhhh no" about 20 times on the drive home.

Q: You still have one more chance for a blooper this Saturday at the Spring Football Game. Does it feel a little anti-climactic to end your career at a spring football game?

Beier: Not at all. I'm really looking forward to doing one last game with Andy and Jim. The way I look at this spring game is the way I look at my future at UT. I'm not going anywhere. I've already been invited to emcee the Reverse Raffle in May. I've been invited to host a fundraiser for the football team. I'm going to be a part of the University for a long time to come.

Players Mentioned

Treyvon Hester

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