Schneider Stories

Anyone who has lived in Boise for any length of time either knows or has heard of Paul J Schneider, long time voice of the Boise State Broncos. The media press box at Albertson's stadium bears his name and he just recently accomplished something most people in broadcasting can't come close to saying... he has spent 50 years with the same station, KBOI.

That's a lot of three year contracts! Tonight friends, family and colleagues will get together to reminisce about his career and it's great he's still alive to hear all the tales so he can separate fact from fiction. PJ has never been one to exaggerate, he's told me that a billion times but it seems the PJ stories just get better with time.

Mr. Schneider and I first met in 1982 when I joined KIVI Channel 6. He moon lighted as the horse track announcer at Les Bois Park and he'd call me with results. Yes, we once actually put Les Bois horse racing results on the air!

Eventually PJ and I worked together on Boise State football and basketball radio broadcasts and PJ would always tell me..."Remember Wayne, less is more!"

I spent more time with PJ than my wife in over a decade of broadcasting BSU games on KBOI, traveling the country stadium to stadium. Quite frankly there are too many stories to tell and some that probably shouldn't be told.

Paul and I loved when BSU was in the Big West, especially the basketball trip to Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo. We drove the coast highway and always stopped at Pismo Beach for seafood. It was our man thing!

On one trip to San Luis Obispo basketball coach Rod Jensen asked PJ and me to pick up assistant coach Ed Boyce at the SLO airport. The airport was more a hut and a runway than a real airport. A big plane was a 6 seater!

Coach Boyce was the only passenger on his flight and there was no one in the terminal (hut) and all of a sudden there is Schneider holding a cardboard sign reading "Ed Boyce".

He was standing there with a straight face as Boyce walked in and saw only PJ and me. I still laugh today when I think of Boyce's reaction. he would have been embarrassed had anyone else been in the building!

When on the road Schneider would always do his morning radio show from his hotel room, at 4am mind you. Usually I was in the room next door and started knocking on the wall or him to pipe down.

Conversely, when I tried to get into his room one night using my key card, spending several minutes complaining before realizing I was at the wrong room PJ never said a word. Next morning at breakfast he said, Did you ever find your room?

He had been watching me out the peep hole laughing but never thought to open the door and tell me I was the next room over. I had become his entertainment! That's how it was on the road.

Like the time in San Francisco and PJ insisted we walk up and stand outside the door of a fortune teller store. The sign on the door read "knock" but PJ insisted if they were a good fortune teller they'd already know we were there. We stayed 5 minutes, best 5 minutes of  my life!

In Phoenix I turned down the wrong street and it became clear we were not in an area recommended by the Chamber of Commerce. Paul's response...."and they were never seen again!"

On basketball flights Paul and I would get there real early and get exit rows, you know with plenty of leg room. Knowing the players always had great treats, we'd haggle seats for brownies, cinnamon rolls, snickers etc. Those 6-11 frames would do anything for an exit row.

Yes sir fun times and great memories and looking forward to visiting to celebrating 50 years behind the mike with PJ. By the way, I always over looked he was a Vandal and he kept a promise to never wake up in Pocatello, a poke at me for being a Bengal. Maybe that's why calling Bronco games worked so well for so many years.