Oakland University PA announcer Kevin Beers has a voice nearly every student who’s attended an Oakland sports event can recognize on the spot.
However, while many would assume Beers’s preparation for a game day starts at one of Oakland’s different sports venues, such as the OU Credit Union O’Rena, the Oakland Soccer Field or even the Oakland Baseball Field — it doesn’t.
Typically, Beers’s game day starts at a Mobil gas station. Grabbing snacks, specifically strawberry Twizzlers and Munchos potato chips, are necessary for any game day.
“I think it’s critical, actually,” Beers said regarding getting snacks. “That might be overstating it just a little bit, but you do stuff like that because everybody tries to create a family atmosphere. That’s one way I can do it. It’s a very simple thing, and I’m older than everybody, so I can put on my dad hat and so forth. Munchos and Twizzlers it is.”
After getting some snacks, you would think Beers jumps into a warm-up routine to get his voice ready, but with so many years dedicated to the business, it’s no longer necessary.
“I used to, but I’m about to start year 20 as men’s basketball PA announcer, and so honest to God, my voice is — I don’t know if you can call it callused or whatever, but it’s just always ready, it seems like,” Beers said.
With a ton of experience under his belt, Beers also has no issue keeping the energy levels high on game day. Between his lifelong love for sports and the atmosphere of Oakland sports events, it all comes naturally to him.
“There’s no secret sauce; it’s just kinda me. It’s probably annoying for some people that I’m always up, but I think it plays well for the role of a PA announcer,” Beers said. “There’s something about this atmosphere, too. I was raised a sports kid, so there’s something about this atmosphere, no matter what the sport, that can kind of get your motor running.”
All of that doesn’t mean being a PA announcer doesn’t come without its challenges. On Friday, Sept. 27, when the Oakland volleyball team faced off against the Milwaukee Panthers, Beers found himself in a situation that tested his ability to be sharp behind the booth.
“There were some things that the officials were calling and doing, and I don’t have a clue what they’re doing and what they’re calling,” Beers said. “I can’t exactly help the audience understand it because I don’t know what the heck is going on.”
“There’s times like that in just about any sport. I’m a basketball guy, so basketball I can usually get, but there are lots of challenges. If I look down for two seconds to look ahead and see what I have to read in the next media timeout, there’s going to be something I missed on the court.”
On top of some of the challenges Beers faces during the game, he recognizes the responsibility of being Oakland’s PA announcer. It’s not just delivering the right calls — it’s about ensuring the attention stays where it belongs — on the athletes themselves.
“That’s one important thing for a PA announcer. I know I do the ‘you can’t do that!’ and ‘for the dunk!’ and ‘kill!’ in volleyball. That’s not to spotlight me, that’s to spotlight the stars, and that’s the student-athletes.”
After the final whistle blows and the game comes to a close, Beers’s work isn’t done quite yet. The built-up adrenaline that comes with high-stakes games can sometimes make it challenging to unwind.
“If Oakland wins in overtime and there’s 3,000 people here and it’s a night game, I’m up until after midnight,” Beers said. “If the game is recorded, then sometimes I’ll watch it, and then that will help me decompress and go to bed then, finally.”
Reflecting on his long tenure with Oakland, Beers can’t help but express the cemented connection he and his family have built with the university.
“It’s been gratifying for one thing. Mostly, there’s always something really cool about it, and one of the coolest things is how my family adapted. We adopted Oakland. It literally is part of our family.”
Even after two decades, Beers remains humble and positive, recognizing that mistakes are part of the job, no matter how seasoned he is.
“20 years in, I think I can say there probably has not been a mistake that a PA announcer could make that I have not made,” Beers said. “I’ve just about run through all of them. I’ve doubled up and tripled up and done a bunch of them many times over.”
“I’m blessed to be so positive. Mistakes don’t get me down.”