AUSTIN -- Nineteen eighty-nine saw the debuts of the Nintendo Game Boy, a little thing called the World Wide Web, and a man who has become a sports institution in Central Texas.
KVUE's Mike Barnes started his career in Austin on December 11, 1989 and is celebrating his 26th anniversary with the station Friday. (Technically he started in 1987 when he interned, but his official first day on the job was in 1989). Since then, he's become the face of sports in Austin.
KVUE has been a huge part of Mike's personal life. His beloved wife, Kim Zook Barnes, is a former KVUE news anchor and their children, Brandon and Taylor, practically grew up in KVUE's sports office.
Barnes has been in Austin to see the Texas Longhorns go from the Southwest Conference to the Big 12 Conference and all the way to a national championship in 2005.
Just looking at the Longhorns football team, Barnes has covered more than 200 victories from four different head coaches (David McWilliams, John Mackovic, Mack Brown, and Charlie Strong) since he's been at KVUE. On the hardwood, Barnes has covered over 600 Longhorns victories through three head coaches (Tom Penders, Rick Barnes, and Shaka Smart).
All the while, he's also led the station's continuing coverage of high school football in Central Texas through multiple programs including Friday Night Fever.
So how long has Mike been with KVUE? Here are some of the things that happened in 1989: the Berlin Wall finally opened between East and West Berlin in November; George H.W. Bush was elected president, Microsoft Office debuted, the Simpsons debuted, Mikhail Gorbachev was Time's Man of the Year, the Best Picture was Driving Miss Daisy, the Miami Hurricanes were college football champions, and the average price for a gallon of gas was $0.97.
