MIKE BURKE
Allegany Communications Sports
Denny Knippenberg was my first insurance agent. I was in my early 20s and was trying to buy my first car but in those times, a car and the necessary car insurance weren’t easy things to secure for a young man who had never owned anything of value in his life, other than, perhaps, Orioles season tickets.
Having the Orioles season tickets was of no help in my getting car insurance, but Denny Knippenberg surely was. He took a chance on me and told me he’d work something out, and he did, and I was able to buy the best car (used 1978 Mercury Monarch, baby) I have ever owned.
At the time, I had never met Denny, but I knew who he was because he had always been so active in the community, coaching youth sports and serving so many sports leagues and organizations in the community. Plus, his mother Mrs. Cleo Knippenberg (we called her Mrs. Knippenberg, and we loved her) had been my kindergarten teacher at Trinity Lutheran Church, so I made the connection at a pretty young age.
I was living in Prince George’s County at the time, so for the first three years I paid my car insurance by mail. Then when I got a job at the Cumberland Times-News and moved back to Cumberland, I would stop by The Knippenberg Agency on Centre Street to pay the bill on my way into work.
The first time I paid in person, Denny called me into his office, which made me wonder if I had been doing something wrong. I wasn’t. Denny just wanted to chat.
Mainly we talked about sports, particularly area sports and high school football more specifically. But really, we discussed just about anything that came to Denny’s mind, and those times were something I really enjoyed. Denny always made you feel right at home and was always interested in your well-being, and every time I saw him, I grew to like him more.
To me, he represented the Frank Capra-community insurance agent – the kind you would see in the black-and-white movies helping people. He knew everybody, and everyone knew him because, again, he was so active in our community and was always willing to lend a helping hand.
At that time, Denny was also the public-address announcer for Allegany High football home games at Greenway Avenue Stadium, and he was the very best one I had ever heard, because not only was his voice solid and strong, it was comforting, and he used it in a very understated way.
He wasn’t there for attention or to put on a show, he was there to tell the fans what was going on in the game.
He was a down-and-distance announcer — just the facts, ma’am. He told us who carried the ball, how much the ball carrier did or did not gain, who made the tackle, the down and distance and what yard-line the ball was on. He was prepared and had all of the players’ names and positions, and pronounced each player’s name correctly. He stated the score when a team scored as well as at the end of each period. And though he was doing the P.A. as a favor to his beloved alma mater of Allegany, he announced the games in the same professional manner regardless of whether Allegany had scored or the Campers’ opponents had scored (which they didn’t do too frequently in those days).
I could be wrong, but I believe Denny stopped doing the Alco games following the 1994 season when his lifelong pal Jack Gilmore decided to step down as the Allegany head coach the first time.
Selfishly, I was disappointed, because when Denny was behind the microphone, the job of the sportswriter covering the game was a lot easier to do, because all you had to do was write down what Denny said, because that is what had happened (And see? Jack always claimed to have written all of my stories).
I must say, though, while I was sad to see Denny give it up, Allegany fans, not to mention sportswriters with short attention spans, hit the motherlode when Wayne Robertson succeeded Denny as the P.A. announcer, because Wayne followed the same script that Denny had used, was never the show and, of course, has that deep, rich voice that commanded the air when he spoke.
Not only was it the Golden Age of Allegany football, it was the Golden Age of Allegany Public Address announcers.
It would be impossible to mention everything that Denny Knippenberg meant to the Cumberland community because he was such a good and devoted friend and advocate. He really loved and believed in our community.
In 2002, he was asked to help the struggling Tri-State Community Organization and helped transition it to being the Tri-State Community Concert Association, using his background in music (see Mrs. Knippenberg) to begin the Legends of Rock ‘n Roll Series, which through the years has brought hundreds of big-time acts to Cumberland.
As member Cindy Hook said in a 2017 Times-News story, “Denny brought everything to it. He made the series what it is. He has grown it with his expertise in music. He puts his heart and soul into it. If it wasn’t for him there would be no series.”
I hadn’t seen Denny in quite some time, so I was very saddened to learn of his passing last week. He didn’t know me from Adam way back when, but he gave me help when I needed it, and then he helped to welcome me back to our wonderful community that he wanted everyone to love as much as he did.
You never forget when you meet a man like Denny Knippenberg, because the moment you meet him you feel right at home.
Mike Burke writes about sports and other stuff for Allegany Communications. He began covering sports for the Prince George’s Sentinel in 1981 and joined the Cumberland Times-News sports staff in 1984, serving as sports editor for over 30 years. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X at @MikeBurkeMDT