Before There Was Radio
In 1931 the Red Devils were headed to State. The Galesburg HS basketball team went by the nickname of the Red Devils, they didn’t become the Silver Streaks until 1935. The ‘31 Devils were not just good, they were great. According to newspaper reports, the Red Devils were regularly having 3,000 people jam the Galesburg Armory to support the Devils.
Galesburg advanced to Champaign for the State Tourney with a 22-3 record. In the Elite 8 game, Galesburg upset the defending State Champs, Manual 30-22. In the Semi-Finals, the Devils beat the ‘29 State Champs, Decatur.
Galesburg was in the State Championship Game. Being the Depression Era, and being early in the development of cars and highways, not many fans could go to Huff Gym and the State Tourney.
Galesburg HS set up to have someone “call the game.” This meant that they would have someone calling back regularly during the championship game with updates. Over 2,000 Galesburg fans packed the Galesburg Armory to get the updates. After leading at half-time, the Devils fell to Decatur in the championship game.
The 2,000 fans listening in the Galesburg Armory was evidence Galesburg fans wanted to be able to follow their basketball team on the road.
June 12, 1938- WGIL Goes on the Air
WGIL took to the air in 1938. WGIL started broadcasting Galesburg HS football games in the fall of 1938, and boys basketball games during the winter of the 1938-9 season.
WGIL has broadcast every Streaks football and boys basketball season since then- this is WGIL’s 89th consecutive year broadcasting.
Since 1938, WGIL has broadcast over 3,150 Streaks boys basketball and football games. With the addition of Streaks girls basketball games to the schedule, WGIL had broadcast over 3,650 games.
WGIL has been there for Dale Kelley’s scoring record, Joey Range’s scoring record, and Sarah Larson’s rebound basket vs Loyola.
WGIL was there for the Kimbrough’s undefeated football season, Dean McKillip’s dominant career, and every pass from Grady Hickey to Antwon Walker.
After a tough overtime loss in the Sectional to the eventual State Champs- Peoria Central, Coach Mike Owens announced his retirement as basketball coach with Jimmie Carr on the post-game show.
WGIL was there when Gary Bruington and the Streaks captured the 1988 State Baseball Championship.
While very few local radio stations still cover high school sports, WGIL keeps going. It is a tribute to local ownership and local businesses making a commitment to the community and to Galesburg HS.
When WGIL Could Not Broadcast?
Has Galesburg broadcast all of the Streaks boys basketball games since 1938? No, they have not.
Pekin High School in the 1950’s did not allow live radio broadcasts of their home basketball games. Whether the decision was part of the heated rivalry with Galesburg or it was thought it would effect attendance, WGIL was not allowed to broadcast live at Pekin.
In 1959, Galesburg had the #1 team in the State of Illinois. They had Bumpy Nixon, Jimmie Carr, and Otis Cowan leading the undefeated Streaks, with Ralph Cannon coming off the bench.
When Galesburg traveled to Pekin, people in Galesburg were beside themselves not being able to listen to the games live. WGIL provided game updates but not play by play.
While car radios were not standard in cars until the ‘60’s, many cars did have radios by 1959. As was typical on a weekend night, many hung out on Main St listening to the updates. As word filtered down the street that the Streaks were no longer undefeated, the downtown was described as being like a funeral. One man described the reaction, “This is the worst news that I have heard since Pearl Harbor.”
Roger Coleman- Man with a Vision
Roger Coleman graduated from Galesburg HS in 1948. He attended Knox College and then graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in broadcasting. At the age of 29 he became the General Manager of WGIL in 1960.
Roger is responsible for taking WGIL sports coverage to another level. He hired Coach John Thiel to a WGIL contract to lock him up for an exclusive Pre-Game Show, exclusive Post-Game Show, and an exclusive Weeknight Show. If the audience wanted to hear John Thiel, you had to listen to WGIL.
Coleman was responsible for hiring two of the greatest broadcasters in Galesburg radio history- Bill Pearson and Jimmie Carr. To get Pearson, Coleman had to go thru U.S. Senator Everett Dirkson to get Pearson released from a military commitment.
Roger even took WGIL on the road to broadcast some Dale Kelley games in Evanston with Northwestern, and then later Ruben Triplett and Zach Thiel games at SMU. There was no ESPN in those days, so it was a big deal for local fans.
Who Was Listening to Radio Broadcasts
Bert and Margaret Evans- 1959
Bert Evans had driven Street Car and later was a Knox custodian. He was retired by 1959. Margaret Evans was a stay at home mom. Their daughter, Marjorie had graduated from GHS in 1929.
The Evans rented a second floor apartment on East North St. They had no car and they had no TV. A big old radio in the den was their source of entertainment. It took the radio a bit to “warmup”, so they made sure before Streaks games to turn it on early because they didn’t want to miss the interview with Coach Thiel.
Although Bert never saw a live Streaks game in his life and Margaret went to one game later in the ‘70’s, they knew the Streaks. They sat in the den and listened to “their Silver Streaks.”
When their grandsons came to visit, they could tell them about how Bumpy Nixon, Jimmie Carr, and Otis Cowans had done in the last game. And of course, they quoted what Coach Thiel had to say after the last game.
Don Wright and Evan Massey- 1976
In 1976, Don Wright was the Streaks Varsity Assistant and I was the Streaks Soph Assistant. During the State Tourney run, Don and I were sent to scout the next opponents.
On the night Galesburg hosted Richwoods for the Regional Championship. Don and I were at Peoria Manual watching Manual play Central for a Regional Championship. Early in the third quarter of the game in Peoria, they announced Galesburg was leading Richwoods.
Manual won our game 54-46, but we got no more updates from Galesburg. We hustled out to Don’s car- he always drove because he was a Driver’s Ed teacher. We took off and he was flying. My job was to keep adjusting the radio dial to try to catch the Streaks. We could catch bits and pieces of Jim Wyman and Jimmie Carr coming thru- enough to know the game was still going but not enough to be sure of the score.
We went up the overpass slope by Brimfield and we could got a good signal from WGIL. Don pulled off on the limited shoulder of the bridge. We sat and listened to the entire overtime of the Galesburg win over Richwoods, then raced back to Galesburg to celebrate.
Jason Wessels- 1998
Jason was a player on Galesburg’s great team in ‘98. He became severely ill in the middle of the season. Jason describes some of that season…
During the 1997-98 season my season and life changed in an instant. Brad and Jim Lee and WGIL made sure I was able to still follow the games every game night. They “wired” the live stream of the games to my hospital room phone so I could listen to the games while in the hospital. That act of kindness meant so much to me. I was 17 and had the game and friends that I loved playing with taken from me. Brad made sure I was still apart of the ride that cumulated in a second place finish at state! Little did I know some 25 years later I would become his partner for those same Streaks games! It absolutely meant the world to me and to this day still does. I can’t say enough good about Brad Bennewitz! He is a special person and one of a kind! As I said before Galesburg and myself are lucky to have him in our lives!
THE Voice of the Streaks- Brad Bennewitz
Coverage of local sports on radio would not exist without local ownership of the station and local businesses buying ad space. In order to produce local sports, it must be a quality product that businesses will support and that fans want to listen to.
For parts of the last three decades, Brad Bennewitz has provided the quality as an announcer that has kept the broadcasts going. Brad is not just good at his job, he is the best. The combination of the quality of his work and the length of his service have made him THE All-Time Voice of the Silver Streaks. Personally, I am hoping he will be around to do the 100th season on WGIL in 2037-8!!
I asked people who have worked with Brad to share their thoughts on why he is so effective..
Jay Redfern- WGIL
As far as I'm concerned, Brad is the gold standard for high school sports announcers. Of course, the same thing could be said for his attributes as an educator, family man and friend.
First of all, nobody, and I mean no announcer, is better prepared than Brad. Decades of experience enable him to know the venues and the sports he's calling, but you'd be surprised at the amount of prep time Brad dedicates to every game he calls. By the time he goes on air, he knows the coaches, the players, the stats and the series history. We're talking hours for a single game.
If I had to describe Brad, the words that come to mind are: engaged, curious, passionate, compassionate, consistent, measured, dedicated and professional.
I once asked Brad if he ever got nervous before calling a big game. Matter-of-factly, he told me, "No, not really." He's prepared, and he's been there, done that. Why would he be? But he sure delivers. Football and basketball, big game or more routine, big crowd or small crowd, winning season or losing season, you get the same Brad.
He always knows the situation and is rarely caught off guard. And importantly, he knows when it's time to show his enthusiasm, or to pause and let the moment do the talking.
Brad's voice will forever be on the soundtrack of Galesburg sports.
Jake Miller- Football Color Announcer
First and foremost, Brad is a wordsmith. This talent allows him to tell the story in such an efficient and effective manner. All parts of the broadcast really come down to that skill--and he is so very good at it. That component is what the listeners hear, and what everyone already knows he is so good at. Sometimes, in our broadcast, I have to remember that I am a part of telling the story. I get caught up listening to Brad weave his tale so much that I forget to interject my 2 cents. For over 2 decades, Streaks fans have tuned in expecting to hear the story told in a way that gives them the ability to connect to their team or favorite player(s) when they aren't physically there. However, this is only part of the story.
What they don't see is the preparation. By the time people tune into the broadcast, he has memorized the visiting roster of players, created a sheet of statistical data to reference, interviewed both of the head coaches, recorded brief "intros" for the station to play leading up to the game, set up equipment, and a myriad of other things that I probably haven't seen yet. He does this for 9 football games a year...gets maybe a week off, and then does this again for 30+ basketball games. He is always prepared...maybe...overprepared. But, I have never seen, or heard Brad rattled on the air. Brad does the job with a level of integrity that all of us should strive for, no matter our profession. And remember, he does this all while teaching a full load of students at GHS.
Brad asked me to join him, (along with Shawn Hickey) after my football coaching days were over. Initially, I saw this as a cool way to watch the Streaks without having to pay to get into the games. Very quickly, Brad demonstrated by his approach, that there was a responsibility that came with the job of covering the Streaks on our local radio station. I now view it as a way to talk about many of our very best Silver Streaks and to tell their stories. It is also really cool to work with a friend of mine and to watch him perform this task at such a high level. He is the voice of the Silver Streaks, and I am happy to be along for the ride.
Jason Wessels- Boys Basketball Color Announcer
Brad is as good as it gets as a play by play announcer. He has the ability to make you see what’s happening on the court or field while announcing, which all the greats have the ability to do.
He covered our team when we went on our state run in 1998 and I knew he was good, but since becoming his color commentator 5 years ago, I was just blown away by his level of preparedness. Every game he has stat sheets with season stats broken down by conference and out of conference play, season highs for every player, school records,head to head records with that night’s opponent, coaches records and much more.
He also truly cares about the kids and the Streaks. The number of students that I see him interact with on a regular basis, you can see how much of an impact he makes on the students lives. Not just current students or athletes either, kids he’s taught or covered from years ago come up on a regular basis and talk or just catch up with him!
Galesburg is so lucky to have someone of his caliber. I’m blessed to have him not only as a mentor, but as a friend and my broadcast partner!
Something New- Streaks Volleyball on Monday, October 12
For the first time ever, WGIL and Brad Bennewitz will do a live volleyball game. Brad along with former coach, Marla Clay will cover the Streaks vs. Dunlap on Monday, October 12 from GHS’s Thiel Gym.
The game has been designated “Gray Out Night.” The night is promoted by the Streaks Volleyball team and the GHS Gray Matter Collective. They are hoping to shine light on and promote student mental health issues.
Coach Nicole Kisler expressed the joy the program is feeling about having their game cover…
“So what does this mean for our program, especially in Galesburg, IL, PROGRESS!! So exciting for these student athletes! I want to give a big THANK YOU to WGIL and Brad Bennewitz for doing this for our program!!!”
Jim Wyman’s HOF Induction Speech for Roger Coleman
Jay Redfern’s Podcast with Bill Pearson
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