Editor’s Note: Daily staff writer Jeff Raasch recently sat down for an interview with Pete Taylor and Eric Heft, the duo tabbed as “the Voice of the Cyclones” for their coverage of ISU football and men’s basketball. Taylor has spent 33 years behind the mic, while Heft has provided color commentary at basketball games for 24 years and has worked with Taylor on football for 19 years. The following is part of the conversation behind Raasch and Taylor.

JR: What route did you take getting into sportscasting?

PT: I worked for KCCI-TV, it was then KRNT-TV and radio combination, and part of the deal when I got into the sports end of it was that they carried Iowa State football. So, doing the TV portion of it got me to do the TV show — the highlight show with Johnny Majors — and the other part of it was doing play by play. Actually, when I started in 1970, we didn’t even have a color guy, but what happened was that Vince Lombardi died and one of his players who lived in Des Moines and went to high school in Des Moines. His name Dan Grimm. So we got him down to the studio and did an interview with him regarding Vince Lombardi’s death and after we got all done with that I said “Hey, what are you doing this weekend?” He said “nothing, why?” and I said “why don’t you help me out on these broadcasts?” So that’s how he got going as the color guy, so to speak, and he did it for seven or eight years. [Mike] Schwartz was the second to do it. Mike actually lived in Detroit for a time period with his job and flew back to do these games on the weekend, and it got to be too much for him. Eric had been doing basketball with me and so we just added (ISU football broadcasts) to his duties and that’s how he got started.

JR: How did you and Eric get associated?

PT: Eric was playing basketball when I first started doing games here, so that’s how we got to know each other. He was a player and we kind of always wound up in the same car on road trips with a couple other guys because we used to drive at that time. I did the basketball by myself for awhile and it became apparent it was a lot easier to have someone help you out on that too and that’s when Eric got involved. He was the first and only color guy we had for basketball.

JR: What did you think of Eric as a person and a player?

PT: We had a great relationship because actually, even though I’m older, I wasn¡t all that much older at the time than the players. Eric was a good player, started. He was on what I thought was a really good team. What happened was Maury John got sick. I think the program would have really taken off with Maury as the coach had he had the opportunity. It really took its toll on everybody. It could have been a real good opportunity to kick start the program, and it did to some extent.

JR: Did you ever play any sports in high school or college?

PT: I played mostly baseball in high school. I played some in college, and then quit to do broadcasting. I played basketball in high school as well, but never football.

JR: You got your undergraduate degree at the University of Iowa . Do you ever feel any of the Hawkeye ties when you¡re doing the radio broadcasts and basically cheering for their rival?

PT: No, not really. I went to school there for four years and it was terrific four years and I enjoyed every moment that I was there. It was a great school, but that was four years and I’ve been associated with Iowa State for 33. So, it’s not really a problem. Whoever you’re with makes a difference. Whoever is writing your paycheck makes a difference too.

JR: Who’s made the greatest influence on you as a sportscaster?

PT: Bits and pieces of people. When I was a kid, I used to go up and down the dial all the time listening to different broadcasters. I listened to Jack Buck, for example and Herb Carneal. They were so technically correct, which I appreciated. They didn’t try to be the story, they tried to present the story. Yet, their personalities came through and they had their own style. I guess that’s what I tried to emulate. Most of all, I tried to just be myself and let that side of me just show through. Sometimes when things aren’t going right, people say they can turn on the radio and they know right away who’s winning. That happens when you follow a team. After all, it is the Iowa State network.

JR: You guys broadcast ISU football and men’s basketball only, right?

PT: Yeah. If we could find something else to do, we’d probably do that too. But we need the summers off. Need those weekends for a while. I think that’s what people don’t understand — because we both have other jobs. Every weekend is taken from September through March, basically. And people will say “well, in basketball, at least you get Sunday off.” Well, that’s not really true either because a lot of times we’re traveling back on Sunday. Or, anymore, going someplace if you have a Big Monday game or something like that. That part of it is probably the thing that bothers me the most because it puts you behind the eight ball with the rest of the week on getting stuff done at home.

JR: What are some of your most memorable moments behind the mic?

PT: Well one of them was last weekend [Iowa State-Florida State]. It very well may have been the most exciting game I’ve ever seen Iowa State play. There were some big wins in those last 33 years. I think if I had to pick the biggest victory it might be the second win over Nebraska over in Lincoln [in 1977]. It was unbelievable because everybody thought it was a chance for them to really wallop Iowa State after the upset over here. And they scored on the first play from scrimmage and it looked like the rout was going to be on and— it wasn’t. That was a big win. When they beat (Nebraska) in ’92 it was a big win here. That was surprising not only from a victory standpoint. They handled them. They just stuffed them defensively. But this one the other night, was as exciting as anything I’ve ever been around for. Just the way it happened against a good team and being that far behind.

So many Iowa games certainly stand out too. In basketball, there’s a flock of those too. The Michigan State game not that long ago was an incredible game. Just from the emotion and tension involved and the abilities of both teams.

Tim Floyd’s team that beat Kansas for the last Big 8 Championship was really a phenomenal story too.

JR: You’ve seen your share of coaches come through Iowa State. Which ones stick out in your mind as having the most flamboyant personalities?

PT: In football would probably be Johnny Majors. He had a lot of the southern charm and style and I think the current coach certainly fits that category for enthusiasm, work ethic and the job that he’s doing. Those two guys really stand out as far as personalities go.

In basketball, there’s probably no bigger character that ever walked into Hilton than Johnny Orr. Yet, Tim Floyd and Larry Eustachy are similar in a lot of respects. I don’t think people got to know their sense of humor as much as Johnny because he wore it on his sleeve. These guys both have got great personalities. And Larry, honestly, is one of the funniest people I’ve ever been around in my life. I feel lucky that I’ve gotten to see that side of him because I don’t think a lot of people do. He’s goofy. That’s what I like about him.

JR: With all the success the basketball teams have had and the football team continuing to improve, do you think Iowa State will have a hard time keeping them around here?

PT: It’s always a problem. In a sense it’s always a good problem to have because that means there’s people coming after successful coaches. I think they’re doing the right things here and I think they need to continue to do them in order to keep their coaches. I think the program takes a big setback when you lose top-flight people in that profession and those two guys certainly qualify for that. Throw Bill Fennelly and Bobby Douglas in there, guys that are at the top of their profession. You might wind up getting someone else that doesn’t have the charisma, experience or abilities that the current coaches do and still have to pay them more in this market, which makes no sense to me. You’ve got to hang on to the people that you’ve got and once they establish something and a base that they can build on, it’s awfully hard to duplicate that.

JR: What do you think about the football team’s chances this season?

PT: I think they’re pretty good after the other day. It made me feel a lot better about everything. Both of us thought the chances would be good for us to have a good football team, but this schedule makes you wonder how successful they can be with wins and losses because all of the big games, basically, are away from home. The big ones — the big teams.

I think the job that [McCarney] has done in the past three years has been pretty amazing, really. He’s gotten everybody to buy into the way he is, which is very determined, very organized, very enthusiastic and if you can’t get them to buy into that, sometimes that’s a hard thing to sell. They’re in with him. He’s got them. He’s got everybody with him. For him to turn it around in these last couple years like he has I think is really a tribute. I think he’s grown a lot in the last three years, too.

JR: Do you think Seneca Wallace is a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate?

PT: I think he’s a legitimate candidate, but I don’t know if he’s going to get the acclaim that you need to actually reach that goal. It has been done here before with Troy Davis finishing second on a losing team. That’s pretty amazing. He was fifth the year before that. I think he certainly didn’t hurt his chances against Florida State. Everybody saw that and knows what he’s capable of. We see him on a game by game basis and it just floors me the people that don’t know about him. I watch all these other quarterbacks — that kid from Louisville, Ragone — and some of the other ones that they pump from this. The kid from Washington State, [Texas Tech¡s Kliff] Kingsbury — none of them throw like Seneca does. I’d say he’s a viable candidate certainly by anyone’s estimation, but whether or not people actually give him the credit that’s due remains to be seen. If he continues to play well and Iowa State wins its share of games, it’ll take care of itself. I would expect him to run into some difficulty with some of the teams they are playing, but he’s shown the bounce-back abilities.

JR: What do you think about the basketball team’s chances this season with one of the best recruiting classes coming in?

PT: I have not seen any of them play yet, so I have no idea. I’m going by what everybody else is says about them. I think with Larry as the coach and these guys with the ability their said to have, I think that will be a nice combination.

He’s a guy that can get the most out of players. The ones I know about for sure are [Adam] Huluska, who’s been her this summer and Tim Barnes showed up late and [Jackson] Vroman. Those guys, I think, are really going to be big time additions. I think the kid from Indian Hills that came in — [Chris] Alexander — is going to be a lot better than people think.

I don’t know that they can bounce back and challenge for the championship this year, but I bet they’ll be in the thick of things with the guys they have returning and the addition of these new people.

JR: How much longer would you and Eric like to be involved in radio broadcasting?

PT: As long as we’re both healthy and enjoy it. Because that’s the thing I enjoy most by far of any portion of the job that I’m involved with. This is the carrot in front of me to keep me going. First of all, the relationship with Eric — not only is it a professional relationship — we started out as friends and built on that. That makes it all the more enjoyable.

JR: Have you ever said anything on the air that you’ve regretted during a broadcast?

PT: Probably, but I can’t think of it right off the bat. Maybe I’ve felt after a game that I’d been too critical on a kid for making a mistake or something like that. I think I’m pretty good about that now. As I’ve grown older I think I’ve realized how much pressure is on these kids that are playing. The Florida State-Iowa State game is a perfect example. I’m sitting there in the booth and Florida State comes running out on the field and then you see Iowa State come out and they’re all jacked up ready to play. It sounds corny, but it really made the hair on the back of my neck stand up with excitement. Then I try to put myself in their position. Here they are on national TV, a huge underdog. We’ve got 40,000 Iowa State fans down there at the game expecting them to be in a game that maybe they had no right to be in. What must be going through their minds? When you look at it from that aspect, it colors the whole thing a little differently. I think sometimes we all put too much pressure on 18 and 19-year-old kids to perform. They did beautifully, which makes me even more proud of their performance. There’s a lot of times in those big games, whether it be football or basketball, where I can get emotional before it even starts just because I look down there and see what they¡re going through and what’s ticking through there minds. And then to perform at such a high level is a remarkable achievement.

JR: Do you think you’ll ever not feel that excitement before the big game?

PT: No, I get excited just about every week. During the course of a game, Eric and I will just look at each other and you can tell that your hearts thumping a little bit more than normal. That’s the fan that comes out in us. You want people to do well that you work with. I’ve worked with Dan and I’ve worked with Larry so much that you just want them to succeed.