PURPLE PRIDE DEEP INSIDE
Play-by-play man Eanet, an NU grad, has decades-long connection to Cats
As with many college alumni, Dave Eanet’s allegiance to his alma mater is strong. But Eanet’s might be stronger than others’. In 1996, he changed jobs because of it.
Eanet, who graduated from Northwestern in 1977, had been the school’s football playby-play voice since 1990 on WBBM-AM. The station’s rights deal had expired, and NU athletic director Rick Taylor was looking to capitalize on the Wildcats’ run to the Rose Bowl in the 1995 season.
Taylor reached an agreement with WGN-AM, which would carry NU football and basketball games. Eanet still was under contract with WBBM, and he was perfectly happy there. That didn’t stop WGN from asking whether he’d be interested in continuing to call Wildcats games.
‘‘I said, ‘I’d love to keep doing the games,’ ’’ Eanet said. ‘‘ ‘It won’t be a problem with me staying at ’BBM, will it?’’
‘‘They said: ‘No, no, no, you don’t understand. If you’re going to do the games on WGN, you have to work for us.’ ’’
As tough as it was to leave, Eanet followed his heart — and the Wildcats — to WGN.
Now Eanet will be on the call with longtime analyst Ted Albrecht and sideline reporter Adam Hoge for a potentially seminal game for the school. Undefeated Notre Dame will visit Ryan Field for the first time since 1976 on Saturday night.
Eanet was at the Wildcats’ 48-0 loss in ’76. His memory about the game is foggy, but he remembers well what else was happening at that time of his life: He was learning the ropes at WBBM.
A year earlier, the station hired NU students at minimum wage to work in the newsroom. Eanet was one of them. He eventually became a news writer, but he preferred to be in sports.
When WBBM began carrying the White Sox in 1980 (the station had been carrying the Bears since 1977), sports needed more help. Eanet got his wish.
He also got one of Chicago’s first sports-talk shows, which he co-hosted with Rich King. But their show had an element others couldn’t touch: White Sox voice Harry Caray.
‘‘Harry would come in, sit around and talk sports for 90 minutes,’’ Eanet said. ‘‘One night I remember he comes in with [former Orioles manager] Earl Weaver. Just brings him to sit in for 90 minutes. They’ve got their Budweiser going, they’re just having a great time.’’
In 1984, Eanet was hired at WGN after a weeklong on-air audition with renowned morning-show host Wally Phillips. The next year, WGN picked up the Bears, whose broadcasts became a big part of Eanet’s job as assistant program director. But in 1988, Eanet had his eye on another football team.
‘‘I still had a fondness for Northwestern, and Northwestern was on a small station at the time,’’ he said. ‘‘So I worked on setting up this deal to bring Northwestern football to WGN.’’
But then WBBM called, offering a promotion to sports director. It broke his heart to pass up calling the games, but with his wife, Karen, expecting their first child, Eanet had to go.
Two years later, Eanet and the Wildcats finally came together. WGN had dropped NU for Notre Dame, and Eanet took the idea of carrying the Cats to his bosses.
‘‘They agreed to take the games, which was kind of a leap of faith because Northwestern had gone 0-11 the previous year,’’ Eanet said. ‘‘So 1990, on ’BBM, Brian Davis and I did the games. That’s where it started.’’
Today, Eanet is synonymous with NU athletics. In 2014, the broadcast booth at Ryan Field was named the Dave Eanet Broadcast Booth.
With some college teams’ broadcasts bordering on obnoxious, Eanet keeps his call classy. His descriptions are keen and quick, and he maintains objectivity. But given the Wildcats’ history, Eanet can be forgiven for an exuberant call here and there.
‘‘Look, Notre Dame is a great team, and I will certainly emphasize that on Saturday night,’’ Eanet said. ‘‘But if Northwestern scores, I’m gonna get excited. And when they win, like they won against Nebraska three weeks ago, am I gonna just about jump out of the booth? Yeah.’’