With football season in full swing and basketball just around the corner, thousands of University of Iowa fans turn to the television or radio for game-time action from Larry Morgan, the voice of the Hawkeyes. A Kansas City native, he grew up a baseball fan following the Kansas City Athletics. He fostered a love for play-by-play sportscasting while attending the University of Kansas with the help of his mentor, renowned sportscaster Tom Hedrick. After graduation, Morgan moved to several cities for broadcasting jobs before landing with Drake University in 1978. He spent 18 years on KGGO’s “Lou and Larry in the Morning,” but left in 1999 to pursue other career interests. He dabbled in advertising and public relations but eventually landed at Kabel Business Services, where he helps companies install cafeteria-style flexible benefits plans. But with any full-time job he’s held, he’s always made room for the Hawkeyes, a program he’s been a part of since 1987. He spends his free time reading and playing golf, and he and his wife, Judy, occasionally travel to visit their two grown daughters, Allison and Lisa. Of course, there’s usually time to catch a game on television.

What about sportscasting appealed to you?

I loved sports and was a lousy athlete. I loved to play, but wasn’t as good as the other boys in the neighborhood. So I thought, “How else am I going to get into the games for free?” I’d always been somewhat captivated by broadcasters anyway. It’s fun, and it’s in my blood to do play-by-play sports.

What’s the experience of being on the air like for you?

I think there’s always a little nervousness, even now. You just want to do the greatest job you can do, and you spend a lot of time preparing to do it, and sure there are always a few butterflies. And maybe it’s like any performer; there should be some butterflies. It’s really like preparing for a test in college. You think you’ve studied all the right things, and I guess the only difference is there are things that can happen that are totally unexpected. And after the game, you know if you’ve passed or not.

How would you describe your 18 years on “Lou and Larry in the Morning”?

We did crazy stuff. I did news and sports and was the straight man of the group, but I also participated in crazy stuff. Rock ’n’ roll shows are kind of edgy, so I would say things I wouldn’t want my, at the time, teenage daughters to hear, but it’s always kind of expected of you. We did a show from bed one morning at 22nd and University. We had a big bed and we were in our pajamas. And there were shows from billboards, crazy stuff that, at the time, I probably said, “Am I actually doing this?”

Why did you leave in 1999, after 18 years with the station?

A job like that should be lots and lots of fun, and it was becoming more like a job.

What do you enjoy about your full-time job at Kabel Business Services?

The people here are great, number one. I really feel good about what we do because it’s really a win-win for both employers and employees. It’s a way for them to add a benefit that doesn’t cost the employer the out-of-pocket expense. It’s fun to be in a business where you really feel like you’re helping people.

What does it take to prepare for a football or basketball game?

It’s learning as much as you can about the team, about what they like to do on the field, what their strategies are, looking for stories about the players and the coaches that you can tell during the course of the telecast. I like to know a little something about everybody because you never know who’s going to become the focus of the game. There’s memorization of the number of players so you can call them quickly, and I study the statistics. It must take 15 to 20 hours of preparation for one football game.

After broadcasting for teams in several states, did you ever feel you had divided loyalties?

Not usually. Interestingly enough, the second Iowa basketball game I ever did for television, first of all it was in Maui, but it was against my alma mater, the University of Kansas. And I had zero divided loyalties. One was a check and a career and an opportunity, and the other was a place I’d been before. I was already a Hawkeye by then.

What are some great games you’ve been a part of?

One of my favorite (basketball) games – and this goes back to the ’80s – was when Iowa upset an Indiana team that was ranked in the top five in the country. That was kind of like the perfect storm. The game was on the road at Indiana. Nobody expected Iowa to win. Indiana was highly ranked. And Iowa did win on some late free throws. And they cut into the game on ESPN. For some reason I keep going back to that one, but there have been some great games over the years.

Why do you devote even more of your free time to broadcasting Friday night high school football games?

It’s play-by-play sports. The audience is obviously not as large as the Hawkeye games. But you put the same effort into that because for the people who are involved, it is every bit as important as if Iowa plays Michigan. This may be somebody’s only chance to be on television in their whole high school career and they save the tape of it forever and some day they can whip it out and show their kids. So I just want to make sure I’ve given it my best effort.