PFEIFER SPORTS
CONNECT
Dan Pfeifer • Sports Media Professional
Milwaukee • Chicago • Green Bay • Madison
pfeifersports@gmail.com
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LEGENDARY CALLS
AP photo
Years later, they're still talking about it as Wisconsin's greatest-ever high school game.
A VOICE OF CHAMPIONS
Camp Randall Stadium looked like a snowglobe, as it had since the weather turned at halftime. Kimberly, seeking a third-straight title and in possession of the nation's longest winning streak at 41-straight games, had already erased a 42-21 deficit against Arrowhead, the winningest school in state history. Kimberly running back Blair Mulholland had already smashed the state finals record for rushing yards in a game. But with just 11 seconds and no timeouts left, would they risk running it on the slick, snow-covered turf?
After color commentators Al Minnaert, WFCA Hall of Famer and father of Milwaukee Brewers on-field reporter Sophia Minnaert, and Kent Sommerfeld, longtime Brewers and Marquette Basketball radio producer, debated the decision, it was Dan Pfeifer who had the call of the decisive Mullholland TD run for the Milwaukee and Madison markets. The 2015 WIAA Division 1 State Championship Game was named the greatest in the 15-year history of WisSports.net in 2017. The only game to maybe come close since was a one-point Brookfield East win over Waunakee in the 2019 Division 2 championship — also called by Pfeifer.
iHeartRadio trusted Dan Pfeifer to handle the biggest prep games in Wisconsin. So does one of the nation's finest academic institutions, the University of Chicago.
While the majority of Pfeifer's work has been in the PA realm, he also became known in Milwaukee as the voice of The Big 920 WOKY and 97.3 The Game's High School Game of the Week from 2013-19. The game of the week led into the renowned scoreboard show, Football Friday Night, which aired on 920 and nine other stations statewide. During the 2020 COVID-altered season, iHeart promoted Pfeifer from the Game of the Week into a role as co-host for FFN.
In the meantime, UChicago and Pfeifer saw an opportunity in 2022. A historic program, UChicago wanted a football play-by-play voice who could represent what U.S. News & World Report has called the nation's sixth-best college, while also bringing excitement, knowledge and respect for the program's tradition. Pfeifer fit the bill and has served as that voice ever since.
Pfeifer prides himself on making give his broadcasts the same level of professionalism and polish you see from NFL play-by-play voices. Football isn't Pfeifer's only realm, though. He's also done play-by-play for Lakeshore Chinooks baseball, Milwaukee Torrent and Alverno College soccer, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball and Milwaukee School of Engineering basketball and volleyball. A clear voice that can inject energy or respect a moment, Pfeifer's preparation is also second to none — called "some of the best he had ever seen" by former Major League Baseball broadcaster Daron Sutton.
If Pfeifer can be trusted in a major market by the nation's largest radio broadcasting network, you can trust him to make your team sound great, too. Consider Pfeifer to be the voice of your next broadcast.
CASE STUDY • ALVERNO INFERNO SOCCER
Some say calling great games is easy, but calling blowouts is the true play-by-play challenge. For better or worse, Alverno Soccer put Dan Pfeifer to the test in that regard. But he still consistently put forth a quality broadcast, even when the Inferno were overmatched.
Due to intertwined schedules, Alverno and Pfeifer only combined to have Dan provide the voice of their streaming video broadcasts for select weekend soccer matches from 2013-21. A small school, even by Division III standards, Alverno only features women's athletics. In Pfeifer's time there, its soccer team sometimes had to "borrow" athletes from other sports, some of whom never played soccer, to get 11 women on the pitch. Unsurprisingly, against better teams, it was common for the Inferno to be outscored by double-digits and outshot upward of 50-1.
Despite the lob-sided results, Pfeifer actually considered Alverno Soccer play-by-play some of his best work. "In many instances," Pfeifer says, "those were parents and even players who weren't familiar with the game. Knowing that, I liked to spend the broadcast explaining the sport." Going off knowledge from over two decades of soccer public address announcing with Marquette, UWM and the Milwaukee Torrent, Pfeifer " ... focused on skills players showed and how they related to what you see at higher levels, all the way up to the U.S. Women's National Team and the Premier League. I like to think we made soccer fans of people who weren't."
If even the worst 15-nil loss could still result in an entertaining broadcast for both the casual and serious soccer fan with Pfeifer on mic, imagine what he can do for your broadcasts.
