DES MOINES, Iowa — Mark Amadeo has been calling football games over the radio for 42 years now — 40 of those years have been spent calling games for Dowling Catholic High School.
Amadeo has also called basketball, baseball and softball games for Dowling.
It all began during his freshman year of college when he got the call from the Dowling athletic director to see if he'd be interested in doing the radio broadcasts for games.
"I would've never guessed that back in 1981 when I started," said Amadeo.
He accepted, and the rest, as they say, is history. Since then, Amadeo has been recognized as one of the best at what he does and has been inducted into multiple halls of fame including the Dowling Catholic High School Athletic Hall of Fame and the IHSAA Media Hall of Fame.
When asked what has kept him coming back all these years, Amadeo said it was his love for the school.
"When a school like Dowling calls, it's just a tremendous place to be," said Amadeo. "Unless you actually attended class there, been a part of that school, taught, been a staff member there, you'll know what I'm talking about. That's what it was for me."
In addition to being a hall of fame broadcaster, Amadeo is also a hall of fame umpire. He was inducted into the Iowa Girls Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2016.