Dave Hansen, long-time Linfield football broadcaster retiring from microphone, to be succeeded by Gary McGarvie, award winning Linfield running back (1989, 1990, 1991 and 1992) who became a successful high school football coach
Both are members of the Linfield Athletics Hall of Fame: Hansen 2005 (meritorious service) and McGarvie 1993 (football and track & field)
News
release headline: ‘Hansen hands off the broadcast microphone to McGarvie’
8/5/2022
news release and photo from Kelly Bird of Linfield Sports Info
Wrapping up nearly a half-century of broadcasting Wildcat
sports on the radio and internet, Dave Hansen has announced he is hanging up
his microphone. Hansen, a longtime Linfield economics professor and Dean of
Students, is retiring from his role as football color analyst on the Linfield
Sports Network.
Sliding into Hansen's seat as new football analyst is Gary
McGarvie, a former NAIA All-America running back and Linfield Athletics Hall of
Fame inductee. McGarvie will team with fellow Linfield alumnus Joe Stuart, who
returns as the football play-by-play voice for a second season.
"It has been my great honor and privilege to have
broadcast Linfield athletic events, across multiple sports, for almost 50
years," said Hansen. "This seems to be a good time to move on, for
both LSN and me. I have cherished being involved in these programs and wish to
thank the coaches, teams, support personnel, and the athletics media teams with
whom I have been associated. I will remain an avid fan and I expect to attend
most events as I have done for years, but now as a spectator."
Stuart, a recent Linfield graduate who paired with Hansen to
call Wildcat football games last fall said his broadcast partner "brought
a sense of gravitas to the airwaves that only comes with decades of experience,
yet he always worked with the enthusiasm of a broadcaster just starting out.
He's an encyclopedia of Linfield knowledge. I know that along with our viewers,
I will miss hearing his stories of moments big and small throughout Wildcat
history.
What always stood out about Hansen, Stuart said, was "his
ability to connect with people, on and off the air. Seemingly every week, even
on the road, somebody always stopped by the broadcast booth to say hello to
Dave and to tell them how much it meant to them to still hear his voice when
they tuned into a Linfield game."
With less than a month remaining before the start of the
2022 season, Stuart said "We're going to miss Dave in the press box. Gary
and I will work hard to make him proud every Saturday as we carry on his legacy
of covering this program. A man who has been witness to hundreds of historic
moments and has spent the last half-century narrating the accomplishments of
one of the greatest dynasties in college sports, it is my opinion that the name
'Dave Hansen' will be one that is forever synonymous with Linfield
Football."
In Hansen's place, McGarvie brings 21 years of football
coaching experience to his new role, including stints as head coach at Fort
Vancouver, Evergreen and Union high schools. Most recently, he has served as
athletic director and assistant principal at Washougal High School. For the
past three years, McGarvie was the Class 2A Greater St. Helens League president
and in 2020 was named the GSHL Athletic Director of the Year.
"Being a part of the Linfield family is truly special,"
said McGarvie, who grew up on the Olympic Peninsula and played 8-man football
in the mid-1980s at Crescent High School. "If Linfield had not taken a
chance on a kid from a tiny town in Washington, I would not be where I am today
professionally. I am very excited to once again be a part of the Linfield
football community."
Stuart said he's excited to begin working side-by-side with
another Linfield Athletics Hall of Famer.
"Gary's resume as one of the program's all-time greats
speaks for itself," Stuart said. "I have no doubt he will seamlessly
fit right back into the 'culture of excellence' that surrounds every aspect of
Linfield Football. I look forward to hitting the air with him to bring Wildcat
Nation another great season this fall."
McGarvie will don the headset for the first time in
Montgomery, Alabama, on Sept. 3 when the Wildcats football team takes on
Huntingdon College at 6 p.m. Central (4 p.m. Pacific). Linfield enters the 2022
season ranked No. 7 in the D3football.com preseason Top 25 poll.
Source:
Linfield Athletics Hall of Fame bios:
Gary McGarvie: https://golinfieldwildcats.com/honors/linfield-athletics-hall-of-fame?hof=142
Dave Hansen: https://golinfieldwildcats.com/honors/linfield-athletics-hall-of-fame/dave-hansen/73
