Connor closes in on 35 years
John Connor talks into the mic during an Owatonna boys’ basketball home game earlier this season. Connor is closing in on 35 years as the Huskies’ public address announcer. Staff photo by Roy Koenig
“And now it’s time to play basketball!”
New gym. Familiar voice. Same proclamation.
For nearly 35 years it’s been John Connor as the public address announcer for Owatonna High School boys’ basketball. In 1990, former activities director Jim Herzog asked him to fill the role.
“I had done the welcome home when boys’ basketball came back from state as champions in 1989 and then they needed a person,” said Connor.
He started announcing girls’ games the next season.
The first player Connor introduced back then was No. 20, Mark Randall, a member of the two-time state champion Indians’ basketball squad and the shot clock operator this past Friday night at the new Federated Court at OHS.
“I think it’s very nice,” said Connor about the new school. “They did a great job on it and I think the court seems to be much closer than the other. I don’t know why. The illusion is there.”
He isn’t sure when he started making his grand announcement just before tip-off.
“That’s a long time ago. The kids I announced then have kids, and they’ve gone through the program already.”
He’s had a front-row seat to watch the evolution of play.
“They’ve gotten so much better, competition-wise in the last 30-plus years. From where they were until now, it’s amazing. I look at these kids and go, ‘Wow.’ We had nobody that could dunk and now these kids, they’re dunking and shooting the ball all over the place.”
Soccer and softball
Connor added soccer and softball announcing about five years ago. He’s filled in on football, handled some big gymnastics meets, the occasional track and field event, and even one hockey game. Last spring, he made his Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) debut at the state softball tournament in North Mankato.
He laughs now about experiencing monsoon-like conditions for a boys’ soccer playoff match at the Lincoln Complex this fall.
“I have never been so cold in my entire life. If that was in the winter it would have been a blizzard. That was unreal… But I felt bad for the players. They had shorts and shirts on. They had to be freezing.”
Varsity softball shifts to the new high school in the spring.
“Morehouse was a beautiful place, too, but I think this will be fun out here. Artificial turf. It should be a good surface for everybody to play on.”
He still plans to bring his own lawn chair to sit outside the press box, which is where he’ll make his announcement of, “Let’s play ball!”