Fischer Enters 45th Year as Voice of #IUFB

By Andy Graham
IUHoosiers.com

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Don Fischer is rightly renowned for many things, not the least of which is his legendary status as the radio Voice of the Hoosiers for 45 memorable years.

Fischer, already enshrined at the Indiana Sportswriters and Sportscasters Hall of Fame, has earned selection as that organization's Sportscaster of the Year 26 times. They might as well just name the award after him.

Then there is the sartorial splendor.

Fischer, always nattily attired, sported a pair of salmon-hued shorts as he observed Indiana's first football practice for the 2017 fall camp Wednesday.

The shorts would not have seemed at all out of place on a golf course – a favorite Fischer locale.

Not that Fischer is ready for a retiring life on the links just yet.

Fischer, who has now called upwards of 2,000 Indiana contests, is very much looking forward to calling play-by-play for IU heading into the 2017-18 athletics calendar and beyond.

Both football and men's basketball headed by new coaches and Fischer feels more fun is in the offing.

He's had plenty of fun in the past, too.

Asked Wednesday about any particular IU football memories he relishes from past decades, two immediately sprang to Fischer's mind:

"The Darkest Day" and "Play 13."

"There are two that probably stand out," Fischer said. "The first time we beat Ohio State in 34 years back when Bill Mallory was the coach in 1987.

"And beating them in Columbus, too, where they couldn't ring that bell rung for every point they put up (as often as usual) in that particular ballgame.

And they carried Bill Mallory off the field, the football team did, and that was a special moment. I'll never forget that."

Buckeye coach Earle Bruce called that 31-10 Hoosier romp at the Horseshoe "The Darkest Day in Ohio State football history." (Bruce was gone at the end of that season, so he didn't have to endure the 41-7 win the Hoosiers laid on OSU at Bloomington in 1988.)

Fischer's other favorite IU football memory was a closer game, but with a result every bit as meaningful for the Hoosiers.

Coach Terry Hoeppner had galvanized the program and its fans for a couple of years before a particularly virulent form of brain cancer intervened and Bill Lynch stepped up to coach the 2007 season.

The motto that campaign was "Play 13," Hoeppner's phrase pertaining to gaining bowl eligibility. The Hoosiers secured an Insight Bowl bid via a 27-24 thriller at home against arch-rival Purdue.

"Terry had passed the year before and Indiana, the football team, responded that year," Fischer recalled. "They wanted to win if for Terry Hoeppner. Bill Lynch took over and did a phenomenal coaching job with that group of kids.

"And then Indiana won it against Purdue in the last 30 seconds on an Austin Starr field goal. That was probably as emotional as I've ever been at a football game.

"So those are two (memories) that really stand out at this point – and I hope there are a few more left."

Part of Fischer's present optimism regarding IU football arises from how new coach Tom Allen reminds him of Mallory, Hoeppner and Lynch.

"I don't think there is any question Tom Allen is the right guy," Fischer said. "Everything that I've seen, every conversation that I've had with the man, he reminds me so much of Coach Mallory, Coach Hoeppner, Coach Lynch – those are three people I revere as great coaches here in terms of what kind of people they were.

"He's just one of those special people. You can tell. Every place he's been, he's been able to change the culture and the defense immediately. And he did that at Indiana last year. It was a no-brainer to hire Tom Allen – it's just that simple."

Allen's elevation to head coach from defensive coordinator involved some continuity, with the entire defensive coaching staff returning intact. That's one reason Fischer doesn't foresee the sort of retrenchment often seen after a coaching change.

"In my mind, this program is exactly where it ought to be," Fischer said. "I don't think we took a step back.

"Every time you make a coaching change, generally, you take steps backwards and it takes you a while to build back up. That's not the case with Tom Allen. And I think this program is going to be tremendously successful under his tutelage."

Tremendous success is something Fischer knows all about. And he's had a lot of fun amidst that success during a radio career that began with a 1968 high school basketball broadcast for WOLI-FM in Ottawa, Ill.

"It's gone faster than anybody would think, I can tell you that," Fischer said of his tenure with the IU radio network, during which he's seen 10 bowl games and four NCAA basketball title games. "It's hard to believe I've been around here this long.

"But it's been an honor. I'm humbled to have been able to have held onto this spot for as long as I have. Obviously, I've enjoyed it immensely. We've had a lot of success in a lot of different areas."

And it's not yet time for permanent adjournment to the golf course.

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