For quite a while Lindenwood College (now University) was producing sportscasters who rose to prominence in St. Louis, even some nationally.
Bob Ramsey. Randy Karraker. Earl Austin Jr. Dan McLaughlin. Greg Amsinger. Alex Ferrario. Scott Warmann. Brendan Wiese.
But the pipeline hasn't been as plentiful in recent years.
"A little bit of the legacy ... had declined," Ramsey said. "It's not quite the reputation it had for decades."
In an effort to try to rekindle some of that magic, several of those notable sportscasters are coming back to campus Saturday to take turns broadcasting the Lions' football game against St. Thomas. They'll be on the streaming production of the game at 1 p.m. on ESPN+.
Amsinger, the lead studio host for MLB Network, will call the first quarter. Ferrario, co-host with Brandon Kiley of the 11 a.m.-2 p.m. weekday show on sports-talk station WXOS (101.1 FM) as well as studio host of Blues broadcasts on that outlet, has the second period. Karraker, who is on 101.1 with McLaughlin and Brooke Grimsley from 7-10 a.m. weekdays, is up next. The final quarter is to be called by Glen Cerny, who Ramsey calls "the godfather" of Lindenwood sportscasting, "the guy who started it."
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Cerny, Lindenwood class of 1974, was the general manager of the campus radio station (KCLC, 89.1 FM) and was an associate professor in the school's mass communications department from 1988-2001.Â
"He had broadcasters coming out of there and ready to go," Ramsey said, adding that the broadcast Saturday will commemorate "50 years of sportscasting excellence."
Ramsey usually does the ESPN+ play-by-play of Lions home football games but instead will be the analyst alongside the guests and also serve as on-air host. He was asked by Lindenwood vice president of intercollegiate athletics Jason Coomer to put the lineup together, and Ramsey said those who can't make it because of work or family commitments expressed disappointment.
But those who will be on hand are set to tout their experiences at Lindenwood.
"We'll be talking about how much we believe in the broadcast discipline in addition to calling the game," Ramsey said. "It should be a lot of fun.