"How. Much. Time. Is. Left," implored a crowded Goggin Ice Arena while directing their attention to the snowy-haired, Santa Claus-esque figure located high above the action in the public service announcer's box.

"One minute remaining in the period, one minute!" proclaimed the announcer as if he drew strength from every syllable as they rolled off his tongue.

Throughout the pantheon of Miami University sports lore, notable characters have come and gone. This elite group includes Ben Roethlisberger, Wally Szczerbiak and the many legendary men that make up the cradle of coaches. However, one figure has remained constant for the past 20 years. He is the man behind the mic: Scott Shriver.

The Miami ice hockey team reels in droves of fans due to its recent years of success. However, another lesser known factor for the consistent packing of Goggin is Shriver and his inspiring announcing.

"What sets Shriver apart from other announcers is the intimate relationship he has with the fans," Miami Athletic Director Brad Bates said. "It's like the two groups have an insider's joke."

Junior Dave D'Amore agreed with Bates. As a member of the Red Alert executive board, D'Amore attends as many athletic events as he can. During his three years as a Miami fan, he has never seen anything like the unique relationship Shriver has with the crowd.

"(Shriver) adds to the uniqueness of the hockey game," D'Amore said. "Very rarely do you see the PA announcer interact with the fans like that. It adds to the atmosphere of the hockey games and provides a legitimate home field advantage."

While his own passion for Miami sports remains unwavering, Shriver acknowledged a noticeable change over the many years behind the mic.

"In the 60s, it seemed like all sporting events were packed with students," Shriver said.

He recalled dorm decoration competitions, fraternity and sorority involvement and general loyalty towards the school. Seeing this fade over the years has been tough for him to watch.

"I am saddened by the loss of involvement by everyday students in today's athletic endeavors," Shriver said.

Shriver attributes a majority of the change to the advancement of technology. He notes that television now allows easier access to any major sports team in the nation. Shriver said he believes it is through this access that students are developing different sports loyalties.

"When we were young, if you wanted to watch football, you went to the local stadium," Shriver said. "Today, television (is) making it harder on some of the smaller schools. There is a lot less of the feeling from students today that this is my school and I want to support them."

Shriver said the solution to bridging that fan base is building a stronger relationship between athletes and students.

"There are very few sports where we're not in the top half of our league," Shriver said of Miami's athletic program. "We have great athletes who are real, genuine people and they love meeting their supporters."

Talking to Shriver is like taking a stroll through a Miami athletics museum.

Frequently donning a Miami polo or attire containing some other combination of red and white, Shriver is both a fan and the foremost expert on all things RedHawk and Redskin related. This is only to be expected of the son of former Miami President Phillip S. Shriver who grew up in Oxford.

"Dad was always a big fan of going to the games," Scott said. "He didn't want to just sit up high with other administrators. He wanted to be as close to the action as possible, and he would always bring us with him."

Shriver does indeed seem to be leading the charge in moving Miami athletics back to true love and honor. He sets an example for other Miami fans to follow when it comes to showing support for the university's teams.

"He doesn't just pick up his stuff and leave after the game is over," former volleyball coach Carolyn Condit said. "He is a sincere fan of the game. He's always there afterwards to lend some encouraging words or talk about what happened. He's just a real genuine person and a true professional."

Watson believes that Shriver's passion for the game has distinguished him in the industry.

"What sets him apart from other announcers is that he knows the game and loves the game so much," Watson said.

Shriver's love for his work alludes to the fact that there is much more to his job as the Miami public service announcer than merely reading words from a script.

"It was Scott's idea to come in during the week to rehearse scripts days before the game," former Associate Athletic Director Mike Watson said. "He goes above and beyond to make sure what the public hears is perfect."

Shriver currently serves as the announcer for Miami football, men's and women's basketball and hockey, while occasionally filling in for baseball, softball, soccer and field hockey. The sport he holds closest to his heart, however, will always be women's volleyball. That is where he got his start.

During the 1985 season, Condit approached Shriver before one of the volleyball games and asked him to read the starting lineups.

"At the time his older sister Darcy was working with us playing the music and so I knew he had this great voice," Condit said. "We really just wanted to make it more professional and it turned out that we discovered his hidden talent."

Shriver recalls what it was like for him as he first started out on the unique job.

"At first I just thought, 'I don't think I can do that,'" Shriver said. "And hearing my voice fill all of Millet was really strange."

What Condit did not realize was that the brother-sister duo she was utilizing actually stretched back to their childhood.

"When I was in the fourth grade, Darcy and I had adjoining rooms and we would always play this game where she got to choose all of the music for our rooms, and I got to announce the song before it came on," Shriver said.

This may have been Shriver's first independent foray into the world of broadcast, but after graduating from Miami, he began teaching broadcast, radio and TV at Richmond Senior High. Believing that he needed more experience in the actual field of broadcast, Shriver then became a fill-in DJ at WOXY in Cincinnati.

"At first it was just reading a few introductions between songs, but it was the first time I got a chance to hear what my own voice sounded like on the air," Shriver said. "That's one thing that can really throw people off at the beginning, not being used to how they actually sound."

Shriver lives a modest life outside the arena, serving as a father of two sons and a seventh grade language arts teacher at Talawanda High School. He also dabbles in local theater productions but uses his theater experience in his announcing.

Fortunately for all fans of the creative public service announcer at Miami, Shriver is the ultimate fan of his occupation.

"I get paid to go to ball games," Shriver said. "I just hope they don't go find someone else in the stands at a Miami volleyball game someday and think, 'This guy could do a better job, let's give him a shot at reading the starting lineup.'"