Butler graduate, former Golden Tornado p.a. announcer earns broadcast award in Nebraska
AXTELL, Neb. — Hard to be humble? Not in Chris Wagner’s book.
The 2002 Butler graduate, who turns 39 in a few days, was the public address announcer at Golden Tornado basketball games for five years. He did some Butler football games as well.
He now serves as assistant news director for KFXL-TV in Axtell, Neb., a small village in Kearney County.
“Talk about country life ... Our building sits in a cornfield,” Wagner said. “It’s pretty laid back out here. (University of) Nebraska football is a big deal, of course, but our main focus in sports is high schools and small colleges.
“I love it.”
He loves his job — and excels at it — as well.
Wagner recently won the bronze award for best sportscast by the Nebraska Broadcasting Association. In addition to his news director duties — Wagner produces from behind the camera for the 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts on the station’s ABC affiliate — he does the sportscast in front of the camera for the station’s FOX affiliate as part of the 9 p.m. news.
“I work nights and the opening was there,” Wagner said of doing the sportscast. “I’d done sports before. It’s fun and I was going to be there anyway, so why not? I just never figured I’d get an award for it.”
The sportscast award is based on a random sportscast from a particular week.
“They wanted the tape from the Tuesday sportscast of that week, so I got it ready for our station to submit, if they wanted to submit it,” Wagner said. “There was nothing memorable about that particular production. I can’t even say for sure why it received the bronze award.
“The Nebraska broadcast awards aren’t divided into big town, small town, market size or whatever. There’s just one overall division for the entire state. The Omaha and Lincoln markets usually dominate these awards, as they should. I’m thrilled to sneak in there and win one.”
Wagner’s thinking provided another one.
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Nebraska vs. Oklahoma football game in 1971, a contest referred to as ‘The Game of the Century’, he came up with the idea of dispatching a news team to Oklahoma to do a feature from the Sooners’ perspective. The station was able to get Oklahoma coaching great Barry Switzer and legendary linebacker Brian Bosworth for on-camera interviews as part of the package.
The coverage received a first-place award in Nebraska.
“It was my idea, but my involvement ended there,” Wagner said. “Other people did all of the work on that one. It was nice to be a small part of that ... a very small part.”
A longtime professional wrestling fan, Wagner once envisioned himself being “the next Jim Ross (WWE broadcaster), but that changed once he got some experience with Tornado TV in high school.
“I got to be sports director in high school and enjoyed it a lot,” he said.
He went on to earn a broadasting degree from Point Park University. In October of 2007, it was off to Nebraska, where he’s been ever since.
“Growing up in Butler, I’m partial to the smaller town stuff,” Wagner said. “I’m comfortable here. You can get out on the road and travel 65 miles in 60 minutes. There’s no traffic. It’s terrific.
“My main job is directing the news. Taking on that sportscast, it got to be fun. I get to scratch my itch for sports once a night. Getting an award for it? That’s a bonus.”
