Last week Wednesday, I met with Dennis Krause, a five-time Wisconsin Sportscaster of the Year who serves as on-air talent and Managing Editor for Time Warner Cable Sportschannel based in Milwaukee. Krause is host of “The Roundtable” and “The Dennis Krause Show,” serves as the color analyst for home games on the Milwaukee Bucks Radio Network, and is the host of the pre-game show “Packers Game Day” on the Green Bay Packers Radio Network. Krause graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and is a native of Hartford, Wisconsin. Krause has been working in TV and radio since college, which he majored in at Oshkosh. He has been in the Milwaukee area since 1987, after working in Peoria, IL among other places. We talked about how the industry has changed, his unique roles with Time Warner Cable Sportschannel, the Bucks, and the Packers, and current news in Wisconsin sports.
Below are the highlights from the podcast.
In terms of what has changed over the years in sports media, Krause talked about the importance of bing your own storyteller, working hard, and being versatile. He noted that it’s important to make yourself attractive to an employer to be able to do more than one thing. (3:20)
You can be your own voice through podcasts, advertising, and bypass stations altogether. He said he would’ve been very much excited about that since you can create your own idea than utilizing somebody’s else’s ideal path. (5:00)
Since his “Packers Game Day” show is listened to all over the world, Krause described how that show requires knowing more details and a bit more pressure. Krause put it well: “Packers fans know who the team’s 3rd string running back is, so don’t even try to pretend that you don’t know.” With the Bucks, since it’s the actual game he calls with Ted Davis, he tries to find anecdotes about the visiting team and mixing in his own viewpoints. The audiences are very different due to the team’s histories, but he has a great deal of affection toward the Bucks with his history there calling the actual games. (6:30)
I asked Krause about the Bucks resurgence, and he referenced how remarkable the tournaround has been. Among other things, Krause pointed out how we weren’t sure who the team would be sold to, the team went from 15 to 41 wins, Greg Monroe chose Milwaukee over big markets, and big crowd showed up at Schlitz Park in June just to see the unveiling of new jerseys. There’s new energy and there’s a new vibe surrounding the team that has not been felt in a long time. (8:00)
Krause mentioned how he cannot overstate how good and important Kidd has been for the Bucks. “You have to look back and say that was a masterstroke; a genius move by the owners,” Krause assured. Kidd is so respected in the league and he can bring free agents by himself, which has made his impact unparalleled to any other coaches that have come to Milwaukee. Krause admitted he was skeptical of being the lottery team because you can fall into the hole of being a lottery team for a long time; but, admitted he was wrong. We both agreed that Coach Kidd makes up a lot for the lack of veterans that the Bucks will have in the locker room next season. (9:30)
“I likened him [Kidd] last year as their superstar acquisition.” (12:20)
In terms of the Packers, Krause has questions about the defensive side of the ball, especially without Letroy Guion and Datone Jones in Week 1. He’s worried the Bears could beat the Packers if they are thinking too much ahead to Week 2 in Seattle, with Matt Forte running over the short-handed defensive line and iffy inside linebacker play. He believes a realistic expectation is the Super Bowl, and the team’s regular season goal has to be to getting #1 seed. (13:30)
When we talked Badgers football, Krause thinks Paul Chryst will get the most out of Joel Stave, who he called a winner. He’s worried about offensive line (for once) against arguably the best front 7 in football Week 1 against Alabama. (16:00)
In terms of the Brewers front office search, Krause affirmed that it will be a young guy in his 30s with analytics, but questions how candidates will react to Attanasio sticking with Counsell at manager. He thinks Attanasio is lining up a GM-manager combination to be together for decades. Krause said he’ll be surprised if it’s an in-house prospect because they want new prospective.
Next week, Drew Olson from ESPN Milwaukee will be our guest. After serving as the Milwaukee Brewers beat writer for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and as a senior editor and sportswriter for OnMilwaukee.com, Olson has been with Good Karma Broadcasting (ESPN Milwaukee) since 2010. He hosts “The D-List” with Dan Needles from 10:00 AM-1:00 PM every weekday on ESPN’s radio station WAUK AM 540 in Milwaukee. He was also President of the Baseball Writers Association of America in 2004, and currently holds a Baseball Hall of Fame vote.