WHIO Radio Personality Larry Hansgen

Announcements

Nancy Lehren, chair of the Childhood Health and Wellness committee, announced that last Saturday there was a free drive through Build-a-Bear event for children with Sickle Cell and their siblings. To limit contact, we pre-dressed the bears and put them in plastic bags. We had 38 kids stop by to get a bear. Another 26 bears were left with Dayton Children’s Sickle Cell department to give to the children who were not able to attend. An additional 32 bears were given to the hematology and oncology department at Dayton Children’s for the nurses to give to patients when they receive their treatments.

Tom Novak, co-chair of the Avenue of Flags Committee, announced that they need several more volunteers before Labor Day. They especially need help loading flags into vehicles. The CHS wrestling team players are not available like they were in May since they will be back in school.

Larry Hansgen, The Voice of the UD Flyers

Ron Tinnerman introduced, Larry Hansgen, the WHIO Radio host of Miami Valley’s Morning News since 2003.  He joined the staff of WHIO Radio in 1981 as an overnight board operator and quickly rose through the ranks.  He became the Sports Director that year and in 1982 became the play-by-play voice of the University of Dayton Flyers basketball.  In 1988 he also added Flyers football announcing.

He started off saying to us, “This is how we are going to get through this (the pandemic). Clubs like CNO through cooperation are able to accomplish things.”

Pre-pandemic, he would be excited when his alarm goes off at 2:20 AM. His job has been more enjoyable in previous years. Now on the radio he often must announce unhappy news: a concert or festival has been cancelled. Still, he is an optimist. He may not start off each day as excited, but by the time his drive to the station is complete, he finds ways to believe everything will be OK. He thinks of something interesting or funny to say to his listeners instead of just the long list of woes everyone is experiencing.

In 2019, things were not going well for Dayton through August with the Memorial Day tornadoes and the Oregon mass shooting. Then the UD Flyer basketball season started, and the rest of the year was great. He remembers predicting very early in the season how fantastic this team was going to be.

He described the experience of the sudden end of post season play as being like you start falling, then realize you’re falling and you don’t have any control or choice but to fall. Once the COVID crisis hit, the sports world just halted.

He remembers it was a Wednesday and the team flew to New York to play in the Atlantic 10 championship. All the sudden at the stadium there was an announcement that the A10 tournament has been cancelled. The Flyers were on their way to a number one seed in the March Madness tournament. Event after event occurred in quick succession over 24 hours. First, they announced March Madness would play with no fans, and in the end the tournament was cancelled and the season ended abruptly.

Hansgen said that the reaction of head coach Anthony Grant was noteworthy. Grant gave a message of gratitude for the great season. This made sense because the team ends every practice with everyone gathering in a circle holding hands. Coach Grant then says, “Let us be grateful”. By everyone, Hansgen said it really is everyone around. The circle includes coaches, Hansgen and any others that are at a practice. Hangsen describes the after-practice ritual as being very similar to CNO Happy Bucks. It is a time players or coaches say something they are grateful about. Typically, what they say will be about something outside of the world of basketball.

A cancelled post season is particularly tough when your team has a great year. History associates the best memories of great teams with how they performed in the post season. Even with no post season, Hansgen said that UD fans have reason to be grateful for the 2019-2020 season. The team was the greatest ever and they have the potential to have another spectacular year for 2020-2021.

UD Flyers in 2019 – 2020

• Had their greatest season finishing 29-2.
• Had a 20-game winning streak
• Were ranked 3^rd in the nation
• They were 18-0 in the A10
• Had the national player of the year, Obi Toppin
• Had the national coach of the year, Anthony Grant

Hansgen was asked about recruiting this season for Flyer basketball. He said “Success begets success. They are getting high quality kids that want to be better people.” The coaching staff at UD want their players to be better people, not just better players. The word has gotten out that the coaching team will teach and treat the players well. Parents know their son will be a better person not just a better player.

Hansgen was asked if there will be a NCAA season this fall. He said, “The decision will be made in September. I know there will be some kind of basketball season.” NCAA basketball has a central leadership. The NCAA is building contingency plans to make sure the season happens somehow. There is no nationwide structure for college football, which is why some conferences have been cancelled and others have not been.

In closing, Hansgen said that history will be made this fall. Obi Toppin will be drafted into the NBA. The New Orleans Saints recently drafted UD football player Adam Trautman. This is the first time that UD players in the same year were drafted into both the NFL and NBA.

When the season was cut short and with his newly found free time, Hansgen decided to write a book detailing the fantastic 2019-2020 UD team and coach. The book will be released soon.

Who can Attend Zoom Meetings?

Any member of any type of Centerville Noon Optimist can attend Zoom meetings. CNO 2.0, St Leonard’s and CNO full members or CNO monthly members can ALL attend.

Guests are also welcome. Please invite guests and introduce them if you like. Just share the Zoom link with them for that week.