Courtesy Parkersburg News

(September 14, 2009) The Parkersburg High School sports community said good-bye to its biggest fan on Sunday as several hundred people gathered in the school's auditorium to pay their final respects to the long-time radio voice of the Big Reds, Steve Daugherty, who died a week earlier at the age of 56.

Parkersburg High School Principal Ralph Board, one of three people who spoke about their memories of Daugherty, announced that the radio booth from which he had been broadcasting PHS games for approximately 15 seasons would be named the Steve Daugherty Booth.

"Parkersburg High School lost a great fan," Board said.

Board recalled his first football game as the PHS principal. Daugherty called him over and told him he was going to ask him some questions for that night's broadcast. When they completed the segment, Board said Daugherty leaned over to him and said, "You've got the best job in the world, don't you?"

Daugherty was a fixture at Parkersburg High School sports events.

"It's going to be difficult to be down on the track and look up at that booth and not see Steve," Board said. "Or to be at a basketball game and not see him perched on the top row of the bleachers right above where the Big Reds make their entrance."

Board said PHS was going to paint the seat at Memorial Fieldhouse from which Daugherty broadcasted Big Red basketball so that everyone would know that was a special seat.

Daugherty's long-time broadcast partner, John Chalfant, spent so much time traveling and broadcasting with Daugherty, he had numerous stories to tell.

Those include the 2000 regular season game at Riverside, the year after the Big Reds had beaten the Warriors in the state championship game. Things didn't go well for PHS that day and when it became obvious Riverside was going to win, one Warrior fan turned around and yelled loudly into the Big Red broadcast booth, "What do you think of those Big Reds now?" Daugherty ripped off his headset and pointed to his state championship ring and said, "But do you have one of these?"

That was Daugherty, always defending all things PHS.

Like the Stadium Field playing surface before artificial turf.

During a 1995 playoff game, a Hedgesville fan yelled to Daugherty, "You call that a AAA field?" Again, Daugherty threw down his headset and was ready to do whatever was necessary to defend Parkersburg's honor.

Instead, he turned his energy into being one of the leaders of the drive for artificial surface.

Chalfant joked that shortly after the incident with the Hedgesville fan, he and Daugherty were moved from the bottom to the top level of the press box.

The last to speak was one of one Daugherty's longest and dearest friends, former PHS Athletics Director Mike Hayden, who had shared a round of golf with Daugherty just days before a brain aneurysm took his friend from him.

"Steve and I reminisced about a lot of things that day," Hayden said wistfully.

Hayden said he once asked Daugherty why he didn't go into television. Daugherty told him there were three reasons.

"I have a face for radio. It wouldn't allow me the opportunity to devote time to the youngsters at Parkersburg High. And I don't know that many dogs."

The latter was a reference to long-time WTAP sports broadcaster Sam Slater who was legendary for reading lost dog reports on the air.

Hayden recalled the day Daugherty fulfilled his long-time dream of becoming the Big Reds' broadcaster.

"He took it, ran with it and the rest is history. We are all better off for knowing Steve Daugherty."

Members of the Big Red football and volleyball teams attended Sunday's service, presided over by Father Eric Hall of St. Francis Xavier Church, which Daugherty attended.

Hall managed to weave Daugherty's trademark word - "Unbelievable" - into his eulogy.

He said that when Daugherty found himself in God's presence, he looked around Heaven and proclaimed, "Unbelievable!"

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