By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
SALEM, Ore. -- Mike Allegre, who has served as the Willamette University Athletics radio and webcast announcer for football and basketball during the last 29 years, will be retiring from the Bearcats after the 2021-22 men's and women's basketball seasons end. Allegre broadcast Willamette football games for 29 years and announced 23 years of men's and women's basketball for the Bearcats.
His last games as the "Voice of the Bearcats" will be tonight, Feb. 18, when Willamette closes out its home basketball schedule with a doubleheader against Pacific University. The women's game is set for 6 p.m. (PST) with the men's game to follow at 8 p.m.
"I'm not leaving broadcasting. I'll still be announcing high school games (on KYKN radio in Salem). It's fewer games in high school, and I'm only going to do football. And I'm going to continue to do OSAA postseason tournaments," Allegre said.
Although he will be doing some announcing, Allegre said that he would "be able to give up the game preparations ... all of the behind-the-scenes work."
While considering when to retire from broadcasting on a regular basis, Allegre received advice from other announcers. According to Allegre, they said "You'll know" when it's time.
"I knew last summer," Allegre commented. "And I knew when football was over (this past fall) that I would be retiring when basketball was completed."
Still, it seems like the end of the season and his Willamette broadcasting career have arrived very quickly. Suddenly, he's about to leave what has been a fun and rewarding career with Willamette football and basketball.
"In the early 1990s, I saw that the Bearcat games weren't being covered and thought they should be, so over time we worked it out and every year it's gotten a little better. Remembering it all can choke me up if I talk about it long enough," Allegre said. "I'm also at peace with the decision," he added.
He was 25 years old and a freshman at Central Washington University in October of 1980 when he was asked to fill in for a radio announcer who was sick and unable to work at a football game. Allegre took the chance and has been announcing games ever since. He broadcast high school games in Central Washington from 1980-83 and did games at the girls' state tournament.
Allegre worked as a television and radio news/sports reporter/anchor at stations in Bend, Oregon from 1983-86. He helped renew local radio coverage of high school and college sports in Salem and Keizer, Oregon from 1986-88. He finished his full-time broadcast career in 1989 at KGW radio in Portland but continued as a seasonal sportscaster.
In 1989 he became the first announcer to broadcast sports for Salem's new Capital Community Television (CCTV, now Capital Community Media). Allegre has been recognized for his work by the Associated Press, OSAA, Salem Sports & Breakfast Club, and Willamette University Athletics.
During his career, Allegre has broadcast nearly 1,300 high school and college games, many high school state championship tournaments, and hundreds of WU contests, including the historic 1997 NAIA Division II Football Championship game where the Bearcats finished as the national runners-up. He also was behind the microphone when three WU female kickers scored during games in 1997 (the first in college football history) and 2017-19. He's also announced games at the NAIA national men's and women's basketball tournaments, as well as games for Western Baptist College, the Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA), and contests at the Little League Softball World Series.
Allegre served in the United States Air Force in law enforcement from 1976-80, and later worked in public affairs for Oregon Air National Guard's 142nd Fighter Wing. He served with the Air Guard for 21 years, including five years full-time. Before retiring as a major in 2007, he began working as a public affairs specialist at the Oregon Department of Veteran's Affairs in 2005. In 2016 he left ODVA and then worked nearly five years for the Oregon Veterans' Homes until retiring in 2021.
Now, Allegre hopes to have more free time for his wife Suzanne, five children, and seven grandchildren. Mike and Suzanne hope to do some traveling, although Suzanne plans to work for another five or six years. He expects that the couple will travel around the United States. They also anticipate "many family weekends close by."
There are a couple of future overseas trips on Allegre's agenda, including travel to Normandy, France, for the D-Day observance on June 6. He will be there in part to support Marianne McNally, mother of former Willamette men's basketball player Kyle McNally ('16). Marianne's father, Don Malarkey, a paratrooper, jumped into France and fought on D-Day. Malarkey passed away in 2017. Allegre also plans to go to Belgium to visit locations associated with the Battle of the Bulge. He hopes to travel to England, on a separate trip to visit historic WWII bomber bases, including his former base at RAF Greenham Common.
During his broadcasting career at Willamette, Allegre announced the action at several key events for the Bearcats. Those games are important memories for him. In particular, he recalled the day in 1997 when Liz Heaston (Thompson) ('99) kicked two extra points against what was then Linfield College to become the first woman to play and score in a college football game. He also mentioned broadcasting the accomplishments of the other two women who have scored points as Willamette football kickers, KayLyn Stirton ('19) in 2017 and 2018, and Kyla Gordon in 2019.
Announcing the NAIA Championship football game that Willamette lost to Findlay College (Ohio) in 1997 was another big moment for Allegre. He recalled many exciting touchdown runs and scoring passes during his broadcasting career, but "Dylan Jones' 98-yard run when we beat Linfield in 2014 is a great memory."
He also recalled a last-second, 33-foot, 3-point basket by Sophie Wilson ('13) to win a women's basketball game over Pacific University in 2010-11, and two late 3-pointers by Taylor Mounts ('12) to win men's basketball games against Linfield and Concordia University (Ore.) that same year.
The 3-pointer by Wilson caused Allegre to "lose it" on the air while he described the reactions of Wilson and the rest of the Bearcat women's basketball team. "I hadn't had a more emotional response that was that crazy until then," he recalled.
Another great moment for Allegre occurred at the end of the final game coached by former Willamette men's basketball Head Coach Gordie James. Allegre remembers that right after the game, James walked up to him, grabbed his arm, and said "I've just coached my last college basketball game and he gave me a big hug and thanked me."
Allegre also recalled one Saturday when Willamette honored the three surviving members of the "Pearl Harbor football team" at a home football game on Nov. 12, 2011. The Willamette football team played at the University of Hawaii the day before Pearl Harbor was attached in 1941. When Willamette honored the "Pearl Harbor football team" in 2011, Allegre sang the national anthem prior to the game, which was held one day after Veteran's Day. He will sing the national anthem tonight before Willamette takes on Pacific in basketball.
Many people have given Allegre significant encouragement and guidance during his career announcing for Willamette. Some of the key people were James, former WU Head Football Coach Dan Hawkins, and the late Pacific Lutheran University Head Football Coach Frosty Westering. All three had enormous impacts on Allegre's career and life.
Allegre is a native of Hood River, Oregon. Which is something he reminded listeners of whenever there was a potential tie-in to his alma mater. "I loved mentioning Hood River, or my real hometown of Odell. My previous broadcast partner and former WU quarterback Todde Greenough is from Hood River. In the booth, Craig (Spivey) would just laugh."
While sports broadcasting requires a lot of preparation and work, it also was exceptionally rewarding for Allegre.
"It was a challenge traveling to serve in the Guard and then do ballgames on the same day. I loved working with my friend Craig Spivey for over 20 years broadcasting college and high school sports. I'll miss the games, the travel, and the fun we had. We got to be around the teams and wonderful student-athletes and learn about them," Allegre recalled. "Parents would come up to us, tell their stories about listening at home, and thank us. I'll also really miss being around our coaches and players. I'm very grateful for my time at Willamette and blessed to do what I do."
After several decades as the voice of the Bearcats, Mike Allegre will call his last pair of basketball games on February 18, 2022
