Erik O, Legend on the Microphone
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
March 21, 2013
One of Erik O. Furseth’s favorite moments every March – perhaps the one he looks forward to most – comes during the hour before each MHSAA Basketball Semifinal.
From his familiar seat on press row, Furseth has called hundreds of Michigan State University and MHSAA Finals basketball games.
But the opportunity for high school teams to play at Breslin Center is not lost on him, especially as he watches players and fans enter the arena for the first time.
“(It’s) the kind of awe that overtakes people when they come there,” Furseth explained earlier this month. “The enthusiasm reflected on the kids there and so on.
“What a thrill for those kids to come and play a ballgame there.”
Now imagine Furseth saying this with the voice that’s become legendary to generations of basketball fans across this state.
Furseth, 82, has been a member of the MSU basketball family for more than 60 years. A player first, he since served as the homecourt voice of MSU basketball from 1968-02 and MSU football from 1971-98, and this weekend is continuing a run of calling MHSAA Boys Basketball Finals that began more than four decades ago while those games still were played at Jenison Field House.
Some of his phrases are on ready recall for those who have sat in his audience.
“The clock is correct and official.”
“Yesssss … on the basket!”
“Heeeee gets the bonus.”
Last weekend, Furseth also called his sixth MHSAA Girls Basketball Finals, and he’s announced MHSAA football championship games since their days at the Pontiac Silverdome and Baseball Finals for a decade. Furseth also just finished his third season as voice of Traverse City St. Francis football and girls and boys basketball.
“Erik is able to make that job not just a game, but an event,” St. Francis athletic director Tom Hardy said. “To have somebody of his caliber, with his recognition, in a small gym in Traverse City … whether there are 100 people or it's standing room only, it’s so great to know the professionalism of that is taken care of. He just understands kids.”
Furseth moved from East Lansing to Traverse City 18 years ago. That he would find his way to the microphone in his new hometown makes sense. But that it became the tool of his trade the last half-century certainly would be considered a detour from his original plan when Furseth turned down a chance to play football for Woody Hayes so he could study forestry in East Lansing.
Life-changing moments
“Erik O. on the radio” was the voice of Lansing rock-n-roll radio during the 1950s and 60s.
“He was the number one disc jockey in this area before they were called disc jockeys,” said Lansing WILX sports director Tim Staudt, who grew up in East Lansing and has worked in mid-Michigan television for four decades and as a daily radio host for 20 years.
“He has the all-time greatest voice, and obviously it's held up to this day.”
Furseth grew up in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and got to know Hayes while the soon-to-be-legendary coach was finishing his tenure at Denison University. Hayes hoped Furseth, a high school football standout, would become part of the coach’s first recruiting class after taking the job at Miami (Ohio) before the 1949 season.
But Furseth, who had vacationed in Michigan growing up, was drawn to MSU’s forestry program. So he made a trip to campus – picked up by then-assistant Duffy Daugherty for a visit with head coach Biggie Munn – and was sold on coming to East Lansing instead.
It didn’t take long for his future to turn in an unplanned direction.
Furseth was injured his first fall with the Spartans, and he never played a down of college football. But at that time, MSU sent all freshmen who had played high school basketball a card encouraging them to try out for the Spartans’ freshman hoops team. Furseth, also a 6-foot-3 post player in high school, not only made that MSU team but played three seasons on the varsity under another future coaching legend – Pete Newell, who would go on to lead teams to NCAA and Olympic championships. Furseth played in MSU’s first Big Ten game, against Northwestern in 1951.
It was during sophomore year that Furseth’s academic future also changed lanes. Forestry students were required to take a soil science class offered only during the winter and from 3-5 p.m. – a conflict with Furseth’s basketball commitments. He dropped the class, dropped the major, and as a junior switched course of study to communications.
MSU basketball’s announcer at that time, Larry Friedmeyer, was among a few who took note of Furseth’s deep and authoritative tone, and suggested he audition for the campus’ WKAR radio station. Furseth was hired at 75 cents an hour to host a few nights each week of “The Concert Call,” a classical music program, and later that year joined local station WILS to read the evening news. After serving in the Air Force, Furseth returned to WILS – and a star was born.
Furseth was a DJ for WILS for 14 years. On Saturdays for a decade, he hosted dances at the Lansing Civic Center that drew 1,000 teenagers a night – and one evening, included a surprise drum performance by a famous student at the local Michigan School for the Blind, known then as Little Stevie Wonder.
Furseth later managed WILS from 1956-68. “Being the manager made it no fun anymore,” Furseth noted.
He left for a job outside of radio. But the fun returned when his announcing career began.
Erik O on the microphone
The “O,” by the way, stands for Olaf. Furseth’s parents are from Norway. “Erik O” was a smooth radio name early in his career when he was filling in for mentor Dave Froh – “Erik O for Dave Froh” – so it stuck.
In his role at a basketball game, Erik O admittedly doesn’t see much of it – at least, as a fan might. He can say his top three MSU players during his time as announcer were Scott Skiles, Magic Johnson and Johnny Green. But for the most part, Furseth focuses on the factual information he must supply with every substitution, foul and break.
He found that winning formula long ago.
“He’s just a nice guy – and nice guys don’t usually last on the air as long,” said Lansing sports radio personality Earle Robinson, who recently retired after 39 years at WKAR. “He’s always had good relationships and such a pleasant personality.”
“You’d never know he was a basketball player or anything. He’s very free of any ego, very helpful to people and generous of his time,” said longtime MSU men’s basketball broadcaster Gus Ganakas, who formerly coached the Spartans from 1969-76 and was an assistant on Furseth’s freshman team.
“And particularly in basketball, he knew what he was doing. He’s a former player and has a background as an athlete, and he has a pleasing voice. I’ve always admired him because of his devotion to what he’s doing.”
High school sports are high on that list.
Furseth enjoys announcing the seventh and eighth grade football teams that play at Traverse City’s Thurlby Field – “They think they’re big time,” he said – and finds it incredible how much the high school teams can improve over the course of a season.
He relishes the camaraderie he sees at Class C St. Francis, and wishes he’d attended a similarly-small school himself. To a player who was wearing his former number, he said, “You’re wearing my number. Do it right.” And the St. Francis boys basketball team felt at home at Breslin Center in 2012, when it finished runner-up to Flint Beecher while a familiar voice called the action.
Furseth recalled earlier this month. “Really, for me, high school (sports) exemplifies the development of our kids athletically and in many other ways. You learn a lot of things in athletics.”
“When I think about my life, to think something I started led to doing this; I’m thrilled that it happened,” Furseth said of returning to another Finals. “It’s always been a great thrill for me to do it.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Erik O. Furseth calls the Saginaw/Rockford Class A Boys Basketball Final last season at Breslin Center. (Middle) Furseth prepares to call another game during the 1999 Boys Finals weekend at Breslin.
2018-19 Stacking Up With Best on Records
March 29, 2019
By Ron Pesch
Special for Second Half
What a sports year.
There certainly have been some amazing athletic feats over the 2018-19 high school season in Michigan, and it’s just two-thirds of the way complete.
This past fall, Kobe Clark of Schoolcraft scored nine touchdowns in a single game. Stunning!
The winter sports season saw Dylan Jergens of Marcellus Howardsville Christian top the MHSAA single season scoring record in boys basketball, finishing with 971 points. Incredible!
Then a freshman, Emoni Bates, hits for 31 points in an MHSAA Semifinal for Ypsilanti Lincoln. Wow!
So, how does that compare to years past?
First, let’s hit the pool!
SWIMMING
Across the world, as well as in Michigan, record performances seem to fall regularly in swimming. I’m certainly no expert on the sport, but research seems to indicate that optimization of stroke count, kicks and other body positioning (and not a change in the density of H2O) impact the lowering of recorded times in the water. The continued synchronization and optimization of movement may mean we’ll see regular improvement for years to come.
It’s telling that MHSAA all class/division records in eight of the 12 events that make up a girls meet have been set this decade. The remaining four marks date to 2002 or 2007, and are held by Kara Lynn Joyce of Ann Arbor Pioneer or Allison Schmitt of Canton. Joyce, of course, went on to post 18 NCAA championships and four silver medals won during three Olympic competitions. A freestyle specialist, Schmitt won eight Olympic medals across the 2008, 2012 and 2016 games.
This past fall, the triumphs of three athletes, in particular, stand out. Kathryn Ackerman set a new state mark in the 200 individual medley with a time of 1:57:25. A junior, Ackerman’s time should place nationally in the top 15 all-time. With the 2018 season complete, she now holds the top four times in the event according to the MHSAA record book.
Senior Ashley Turak sprinted to a new Division I record of 22.10 in the 50 freestyle for Harrison/Farmington on the first leg of the 200 freestyle relay, as well as a time of 22.20 in the 50 freestyle. Both those times also rank in the national record books within the top 15. The MHSAA All-Class/Division Final Meet mark still belongs to Joyce, who posted a time of 22.04, set while leading off the 200 freestyle relay team in the Class A 2002 preliminaries.
Turak again mesmerized the crowd, this time in the 100-yard freestyle, posting a time of 48.72 seconds to win the event. Again, Joyce holds the Michigan All-Class/Division mark with a then-national record time of 48:59 set in 2002.
This November, Grand Ledge junior Lola Mull fell less than a half-second short of her own state mark in the 500-yard freestyle, set in the 2017 preliminaries. Mull owns the state’s top three times in the event, while Schmitt ranks fourth on the list.
Sub 20
A winter sport in Michigan, boys swimming is no different, with records in 10 of the 12 events set in the 2010s. Cam Peel of Spring Lake became the first in state history to break 20 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle, accomplishing the milestone twice this March, first in the prelim race with a record time of 19.86 and again in the finals at 19.91. The marks surpassed the previous best, set by Henry Schutte of Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central one year ago, and also rank among the “Best of the Best” in the National Federation record book.
FOOTBALL
Clark’s nine touchdowns came in Schoolcraft’s 63-27 victory over previously undefeated Constantine in a Southwestern Athletic Conference contest. Thanks to steady rain in the first half, Schoolcraft stuck to the ground game, opening a 21-0 first quarter lead on three Clark touchdowns, one of eight yards, the second of 24, and the third of 10 yards. Constantine battled back to within eight points, 21-13 late in the second quarter, but Clark would score for Schoolcraft twice more during the final three minutes before halftime.
Following a 24-yard scamper, a partially blocked punt would set up Clark’s fifth rushing TD from two yards out with under a minute remaining before the break. (This appears to be a great moment to note that five players have scored five touchdowns in a single quarter). Clark added two TDs in the third quarter and two in the fourth.
Amazingly, Clark’s nine touchdowns and 54 points scored are not state records. In fact, two others have matched the touchdown and point count, while three others have exceeded the accomplishment in each category. Of course, each of those events occurred at least 90 years ago, decades before the introduction of the mercy rule in high school football.
For many years, Herb Dunphy was listed as the state’s record holder for a pair of seemingly untouchable records: touchdowns in a single game and points scored in a game. In 1917 he scored 10 TDs for Lansing Central and stood alone at the top.
But as time has proven again and again, the work of historians and researchers can alter what we believe. In 1986, research by Tom Pellow of Gwinn uncovered that Marmaduke “Duke” Christie of Escanaba had also scored 10 touchdowns, matching Dunphy’s output. In addition, Christie added six point-after-touchdowns that day, totaling 66 points, as Escanaba defeated Ishpeming 102-0 in November 1920.
“In my humble opinion, Escanaba high school in 1920 had one of the greatest football teams that ever misunderstood a signal in any language,” wrote Cy DeLynes, recalling the exploits of Christie and his teammates in the Escanaba Daily Press in 1929. “Christie was its captain. The Duke had a pair of collapsible ankles and he was able to play in only a part of four games. That, however, was just enough time to permit him to score 21 touchdowns and 38 out of a possible 50 points after touchdown – a total of 164 points. He led a backfield that made Knute Rockne’s Four Horsemen look like a quartet of super-annuated milk wagon drivers turning off the alarm clocks at 4 o’clock in the morning.”
A few years later, additional study of yearbooks and newspapers revealed the exploits of Cecil Hardy of Flint Central, again reshaping the scoring entries in the MHSAA record book.
In the 1914 season opener – a 106-0 blasting of Lapeer – Hardy carried for more than 300 yards. Within the first two minutes of play, the captain of the Flint squad had scored the first of 11 touchdowns – a “new” state mark.
“His end running was the feature of the game, his longest run being one for 50 yards and a touchdown on the first play after the kickoff. Time after time as he was making his long runs he appeared to be tackled and would wriggle out of the grasp of his opponent and run 15 or 20 yards further,” was the report of the day.
“How Is This For Football?”
Muskegon 216, Hastings 0
The Boston Globe paired the question with the football score from a Michigan high school game to readers in their Sunday edition back on September 29, 1912.
“Most of Muskegon’s touchdowns were scored on the kick-off,” stated the Globe, “and few required more than one down.”
The score was believed to be a “world’s record” for points scored in a game, at the time. Indeed, the total ranks as the tops in Michigan. Indeed, it was a record nationally, but would be surpassed on three occasions in the coming years, first in 1923, again in 1924 and finally in 1927. With today’s employment of the running clock, the scoring totals will never again be approached.
The score was 40-0 at the end of the first quarter, 102-0 following the second, and 150-0 after three quarters. Touchdowns were scored by nine different players, with six scoring multiple times. As byproducts, captain Fred Jacks finished with nine touchdowns, while Muskegon’s Nelson Stuit booted 24 of 30 extra points in the contest (another state mark that also will never be equaled).
“Although world’s records fell in the game it is not anything to be particularly proud of …” stated the Muskegon Chronicle in the prose of the time. “The visitors had about three men that knew a football from an eff, and those three could not make the Muskegon second team.”
One of the best, as it turned out, was Fred Rehor, Hastings’ “big 220 pound fullback” who would later play for Michigan, then professional ball in Ohio for the 1917 Massillon Tigers, coached by Knute Rockne.
As a result of the Muskegon-Hastings game, “at least three of the football elevens which contracted this year to meet Muskegon high school have begun to make excuses in line with those usually offered before a team quits such an engagement,” wrote the Lansing State Journal. Muskegon rolled up 499 points on the year, but ended a flawless season in defeat, 13-12 against rival Grand Rapids Central in the finale. The loss was blamed on overconfidence.
The aptly named Francis Tallent of Menominee, became the next player to score nine TDs in a game.
Tallent’s skills on the gridiron had been spotted in 1928.
“Standing out like a missing tooth in a front row of the chorus … (Tallent) revealed as speedy a pair of heels as one could ever hope to cast his optics on in a high school game,” wrote one reporter after witnessing the left halfback’s performance in the annual twin cities battle between Menominee and Marinette, Wis., then played on Armistice day. Tallent scored twice in that “M & M” game, a 26-0 win by Menominee.
After thumping Green Bay in its 1929 season opener and a “helpless” Oshkosh Normal (now known as the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh) freshmen team, 46-6, Menominee squared off for its game against “a light and green squad” from Kingsford.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Tallent scored nine touchdowns that day on runs of 46, 72, 90, 64, 50, 37, 90, 85 and 63 yards. In total, the paper noted that Tallent gained 597 yards rushing in the 150-0 thrashing of Kingsford. Other sources noted that it was likely more, as the sum of only the TD runs equaled the 597 yard total. Kingsford would finish its seven-game season without scoring a point. According to the Kingsfordian, the school’s high school annual, the Kingsford players “were no match for the heavier and more experienced teams on the range” that school year.
Menominee’s success and Tallent’s football exploits prompted the Journal-Sentinel to send a reporter to the U.P. to cover the 1929 M & M game between the border schools later that fall. “Mr. Tallent, who runs like the well-known hare and who slips out of tacklers’ arms and hands like a piece of wet soap, scored four touchdowns in the course of the afternoon,” wrote the staffer. “All told, this Mr. Tallent rolled up 284 yards,” as the “pride of the peninsula walloped Marinette,” 49-0, before a crowd of 10,000. The score was “the highest ever piled up in 45 years of bitter rivalry between the two cities.”
Menominee ended the 1929 season undefeated and untied in eight games, scoring over a point-a-minute while claiming the Upper Peninsula championship and demanding statewide consideration for Michigan’s mythical crown. Tallent finished the season with 27 touchdowns.
BASKETBALL
After 35 years, one began to wonder if Mark Brown’s single-season scoring mark, set in 1984-85 during his days at Hastings, would ever be surpassed. Brad Redford, named Michigan’s Mr. Basketball, came close as a senior in 2007-08, falling 17 points shy of exceeding Brown’s total of 969. Prior to that, only Drew Neitzel of Wyoming Park had come within reasonable striking distance, but that happened a decade and a half ago.
This year, Jergens of Howardsville Christian finally topped the total, finishing with 971 points. Jergens accomplished the task in 24 games, two games fewer than Brown, but with the advantage of the 3-point shot. The three was implemented after Brown had headed to college. According to press reports, Jergens had four games of at least 50 points during the season.
Still standing, 40 years later, is Jay Smith’s high school career scoring mark of 2,841 points, set at Mio between 1976 and 1979. Jergens finished third on the list with 2,782 career points, including 320 career 3-pointers – second most in state history. Brown ranks second with 2,789 points scored between 1982 and 1985.
Freshmen
Few followers of prep basketball in Michigan could avoid coming across the name Emoni Bates, especially after the freshman phenom from Ypsilanti Lincoln knocked down 17 points in the Quarterfinals, 31 points in the Semifinal round of the Division 1 tournament, then 23 in the championship game. The immediate question on press row was, “Had another ninth grader ever exceeded his totals in a MHSAA final-rounds contests?” There was nothing to exceed it that I could recall.
While we’ve kept final round records, including single-game scoring marks, the website minimum is 40 points, and we’ve never captured a list that’s broken down by year in school.
So, I decided to dig.
Quarterfinals
The state has certainly seen some talented freshmen pass through the last rounds of the tournament. Monte Morris scored 20 points in the Quarterfinals for Flint Beecher during its Class C run in 2010. Saginaw Buena Vista played two freshmen, Mark Macon and Shawn Randolph, along its route to the Finals in 1984. Macon, at the age of 14, scored 22 points in a Quarterfinal win over Menominee that season. Two players scored 24 points in the quarters as freshmen: Flint Beecher’s Roy Marble, Jr. in 1982 in a loss to Okemos and Manton’s Matt Stuck, who scored 24 in defeat against Mio in 1989. But, according to Detroit Free Press accounts, it appears Michael Payton from Detroit St. Leo is the leading freshman point-getter in the Quarterfinal round. Payton netted 26 in a 74-62 loss to Flint St. Redeemer in the 1970 tournament.
Semifinals
Macon in 1984 and perhaps the most famous of freshmen in MHSAA Tournament history, Willie Betts of River Rouge in 1961, both scored 14 in Semifinal victories. Clyde Corley from Pontiac Central tossed in 16 points during a heartbreaking Semifinal defeat, 53-52, to Saginaw in 1976. Kelvin Torbert posted 17 points (and 10 rebounds) in a 65-62 Semifinal loss to Belleville in 1998. Morris tallied 18 in a loss to Melvindale Academy for Business & Technology in the Class C semis in 2010. So, Bates’ total of 31 certainly appears to top the list.
Finals
Only one freshman prior to Bates has hit for double digits in a state final. In 1992, Saginaw Buena Vista’s Terrance Roberson went 3 for 7 from the field and 4 for 7 from the free throw line to finish with 10 points as the Knights grabbed a 54-44 win over Grandville Calvin Christian.
Please, let me know if I missed a top performer.
Ron Pesch has taken an active role in researching the history of MHSAA events since 1985 and began writing for MHSAA Finals programs in 1986, adding additional features and "flashbacks" in 1992. He inherited the title of MHSAA historian from the late Dick Kishpaugh following the 1993-94 school year, and resides in Muskegon. Contact him at [email protected] with ideas for historical articles.
PHOTOS: (Top) Grand Haven’s Kathryn Ackerman swims the breaststroke portion of her record-setting 200-yard individual medley this past fall. (Top middle) Harrison-Farmington’s Ashley Turak looks to the clock after her 100 freestyle at the Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals. (Middle) Schoolcraft’s Kobe Clark. (Middle below) Muskegon's Fred Jacks. (Below) Ypsilanti Lincoln’s Emoni Bates fires a jumper during his team’s Division 1 Semifinal win over Howell