VOICE OF THE DANA VIKINGS

Dustin Abrahams ’04 has built a future for himself with his take-charge attitude and his experiences at Dana College. Some may recognize this young blond radio personality from the local sporting events. For the past four years, DA (as he’s know in the Viking athletic department) has served the Blair community and Dana College by broadcasting nearly 200 baseball, softball, basketball, football and volleyball games.

Born into a family of sports fans in West Point, Neb., Dustin attributes his love for sports and knowledge of the game to his mom, Karen, dad, Glen, and brother, Brian ’05. In school Abrahams played baseball, football, basketball and golf. He came to Dana because it offered him the opportunity to continue playing baseball while pursuing his interest in radio broadcasting.

During his first years at Dana, Abrahams worked for BlaiRadio as a board operator and color commentator during sportscasts. After the close of the station early in 2003, Abrahams sought out an internship with ESPN radio, while continuing to work closely with Dana’s radio station, KDCV 91.1. This year, Dana, Blair High School and HunTel combined efforts to expand the broadcast area. KDCV now operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including audio streaming on the Internet and simulcast on HunTel Cablevision channel 97. Abrahams serves as operations manager for this collaboration. He is responsible for calling the Sport Information Directors at opponents’ schools, coordinating games and scheduling.

Professor Vern Wirka, instructor of communication, said Abrahams has been vital to KDCV’s sucess.

“As the operations manager for the current academic year, Dustin has been key to supervising the programming of KDCV,” Wirka said. “He is a very dedicated broadcaster who has learned the art of sports play-by-play and developed his talent to a professional level.”

It’s a lot of hard work, but for Abrahams it’s more than a labor of love. He feels confident in his pursuit of a radio career because of the hands-on experience he’s had at Dana.

“When I put ‘operations manager’ on my resume, it really means something,” he said.

Abrahams’s efforts have meant a lot to Viking athletics, as well. The student athletes feel more confident knowing the college supports them at such a high level. Working together with community members to cover Blair games has added to Dana’s already strong relationship with its home community.

“After BlaiRadio closed, I didn’t know if any games would be broadcast,” said Jim Krueger ’85, athletic director. “But Dustin was always there, making it happen.”

Listen to KDCV-Dana College Radio from anywhere in the world on your computer! Just go to www.huntel.net/kdcv and catch all your favorite Dana games, music and programming.