One of the “most important figures in Galesburg sports over the past two decades” has never made a basket, passed for a touchdown, hit a home run or won a race for the Silver Streaks. They have not logged a single minute of game time, let alone won a varsity letter, or made an all-conference or all-state team. Nor have they have they won or lost a game as a coach.
But that person will deservedly, albeit a little reluctantly, be enshrined in the Galesburg Athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday.
Brad Bennewitz, the voice of Silver Streaks athletics on WGIL Radio for nearly 30 years, is one of six members of the Galesburg Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2022.
Former WGIL color commentator Jim Lee paid the ultimate compliment to his longtime broadcast partner, saying, “Brad is probably as important a figure in Galesburg athletics as there is the past couple of decades.”
In addition to Bennewitz, who will enter the Hall of Fame under the “Friends of Athletics” category, the class includes:
- Swimmer Kenton Cooper (Class of 2009);
- Track and football standout Albert Greene (Class of 2002);
- Girls golf star Taylor Nesselroad (Class of 2017);
- Baseball pitcher Steve Schwab (Class of 1980);
The induction ceremony will be held at 5 p.m. Saturday in the Hegg Performing Arts Center. The new hall of famers will also be introduced later that night between games at the Galesburg Thanksgiving Tournament.
‘To think my name is going to be part of that list is overwhelming’
The always-modest Bennewitz admits he enters the Hall of Fame with mixed emotions.
“I’m a little embarrassed actually, and feeling a little unworthy,” he said. “But I’m definitely grateful, and I don’t want in anyway to communicate that I don’t appreciate it or that I’m not flattered by it, because I definitely am.”
“I don’t like when the spotlight is on me, is the best way I can put it.”
He paused, and added with a laugh, “I guess I just have to get over it.”
Bennewitz began his radio career in 1991 at Galesburg Broadcasting Company and started handling play-by-play duties for football and boys basketball on WGIL in 1992. He has been named the best play-by-play announcer for small market radio by the Illinois Broadcasters Association.
He has been teaching in the GHS English Department since 2006.
“I’ve definitely thought about what it means to be included among all of those names in the Hall of Fame,” Bennewitz said. “When I look at all the names in the program, sometimes I just sit there and stare at the list, and I’m amazed at what I know about them and why they are in there.
“To think my name is going to be part of that is overwhelming, quite honestly.”
LISTEN: Members of the 1980 Silver Streaks football team join “Galesburg’s Morning News”
Bennewitz said he’s been thinking about what he will say in his acceptance speech, and will draw inspiration from a lesson he used in a public speaking class he taught during the pandemic.
“One of the assignments was to have the kids present an award, and accept an award,” he said. “Now, I think to myself, maybe I should go back and look at some of that stuff, and figure out what I have to do when I get up to accept my award.”
Bennewitz started his broadcast career as a news reporter at WGIL Radio in 1991. He jumped right into sports broadcasting, joining Tom Meredith, Tom Wilson and Claude “Big Daddy” Piggee on calls of Streaks football and basketball.
He became Meredith’s color man in 1992, and took over as play-by-by man for football and boys basketball in 1993.
Bennewitz teamed with Lee from 1996-2006, and again from 2010-17.
“Whether it’s his personal life or his on-air persona, when I think of Brad, I think of integrity,” Lee said. “He’s always thorough and honest, and gives you his best.”
Lee added, “But on top of his great preparation and his knowledge is his friendliness to everyone.
“He’s about as close a friend as I have in the world.”
A master of multitasking
Lee said Bennewitz is a master at juggling several tasks at the same time.
“I’ve never seen anyone who could multitask as well as Brad,” Lee said. “I would tell other announcers what all he did, and they couldn’t believe it. He not only calls the game, and calls it well, but he keeps an accurate scorebook, a running score and all the stats. I think there were times he had the Kansas basketball games on his phone at the same time, and he’d be keeping tabs on that.
“I would just sit there and marvel at how he can juggle all that information.”
Lee is convinced Bennewitz could have risen above calling high school sports. “I really think he could have gone a long ways outside of Galesburg, if he had wanted to.”
A University of Kansas graduate, Bennewitz admits his early career aspirations were to be a play-by-play voice for a professional baseball team. But he settled into and has mastered the art of calling high school football and basketball.
And he says his style and philosophy of broadcasting high school sports has not changed from Day 1.
“Have I gotten better at what I do? I sure hope so,” Bennewitz said.
“My style is to focus on the kids, and make sure the kids are recognized for what they’re doing. And to always remember that these are high school kids playing a kids game. From that respect, no, my style or philosophy has ever changed.”
He’s quick to give credit to his many broadcast partners over the years, noting his longtime tenure with his friend Lee, and most recently Steve Cheesman, and his football color partners Jake Miller and Shawn Hickey.
“Working with guys like Shawn (Hickey) and Jake (Miller), and the football knowledge they bring to the broadcasts, I know I understand better for just having worked with them,” Bennewitz said. “They’ve made me a deeper thinker about the game as it’s happening.
“Working with Steve Cheesman really helped me vocalizing the history of Galesburg High School boys basketball. He’s taught me how important it is to pass on the tradition of the program.”
Cheesman said, “Brad is the consummate professional. His preparation for a broadcast was as thorough as it gets. He is top-notch in all ways. As a person, Brad is a marvelous human being. I feel fortunate to call him a friend.”
Becoming a teacher makes broadcasting more fun
Bennewitz, who left a full-time career in radio to become an English teacher at GHS in 2006, said the transition has made him a better sports broadcaster.
“Being a teacher in a lot of ways has made the job even more fun,” he said. “Before, it was my job. Now, I’m doing it because I want to do it. And because I know the kids now in ways I didn’t know them before, I get an appreciation for the big moments, and hurt for the moments that don’t go well. I know what it means to the kids because we talk about it in class and in the halls at school.
“It’s definitely made it more emotional on the highs and lows.”
Bennewitz is often asked which sport is more difficult to call.
“Football is definitely the most difficult,” he said. “It takes so much more planning and preparation. The games last longer and there’s just more happening on the field in a bigger space that’s not always easy to see.
“Basketball, you can see everybody’s faces, numbers never get muddy, there’s only 10 guys to focus on as opposed to 22, and it’s just so much faster.”
Bennewitz didn’t have to think long when asked about his favorite sports moment or season. That honor goes to the Silver Streaks boys basketball team’s run to a second place finish in the state in 1997-98.
“I definitely go back to the title game in ’98,” he said. “I don’t want to come across like we all just knew we’d be in the championship game, because that season was outstanding for Illinois high school basketball.
“We knew it was a special season in the moment, but to look back and think, ‘wow, Galesburg was in the state championship game – I just don’t think you can top that.’ Calling a title game will always be special for me.”
Bennewitz paid special thanks to his longtime broadcast partner Lee.
