Announcer shares memories of Cy-Fair football program

The view that Butch Milks sees from the announcer's box at the Berry Center is quite different from what he used to see at Pridgeon Stadium when he began announcing Cy-Fair ISD football games more than 30 years ago.

Milks began announcing for Cy-Fair High School around 1980, after his neighbor, former principal Carlos Watkins, asked him to consider it. Milks announced for Cy-Fair, Cy-Creek, Jersey Village and Langham Creek high schools for several years, until the district hired more announcers to split the responsibility.

"It's what I do for a living—I'm a salesman, so I talk a lot," Milks said. "I didn't have any announcing experience, so I went to several people who had been doing games and got their advice on what to do."

Most of Milks' life has been somehow revolved around education or CFISD. He has called on local high schools selling class rings and graduation products for Balfour since 1973; he is involved with the Cy-Fair Educational Foundation, and he served as president and board member for the Avondale House, a United Way agency that provides services for those with autism.

Within CFISD, the biggest change Milks has seen during the time he has spent announcing is growth within the district, whether it be an increase in the number of students and campuses to the actual stadium where football is played.

"We've gone from two high schools to 10, and we've gone from participating with other schools within our [athletic] district to having our own [athletic] district within our own school system," he said. "This year there are 10 schools in the football district that are all from CFISD."

Rivalries between CFISD schools have also changed, Milks said.

"I think the rivalries, although strong, are not as active as they used to be," he said. "For a few years, Jersey Village and Cy-Fair did not like each other. Then Cypress Creek got on the scene, and it was pretty vicious between Cy-Fair and Cy-Creek."

One of Milks' favorite parts of announcing is his involvement with the football program and having the opportunity to watch the athletes grow, he said.

"I've watched guys who played high school ball go on to play in college and go on to play professionally," Milks said. "It's been nice to watch them develop as football players and fine young people."

Milks also tries to recognize as many students as possible while announcing, since there can be almost 800 participants in one game, from the band to the drill team to the football players to the student trainers.

"We get so much publicity about the negative that we sometimes forget all the positive things going on in the world," Milks said. "It's exciting to see so many young people doing good things and getting some of the credit for it."