John Saucier '08 sits behind the press box microphone at Boston's Fenway Park, his low voice reverberating through the baseball cathedral. As the batters step up to the plate, the vendors hawk overpriced food and the fans take in the American pastime, a six-foot-eleven basketball giant is the voice of it all.The Red Sox posters and memorabilia that clutter his apartment indicate that this gig as the Public Address announcer for the New England College All-Star Baseball Game is the realization of a long-held dream. But for Saucier, simply known as "Sauce" or even the "Sauce Man," his career aspirations in broadcasting are as high as his lanky frame.

"Just another day at the office," Saucier says with a modest smile. Though Saucier normally announces at Brandeis athletics events, today he's making a splash outside the college scene.

The Sauce Man is in his element once again. With a crowd before him and a microphone in hand at Waltham's Mad Raven restaurant and bar last Wednesday night, he leads a game of sports trivia with a unique humor that wins over the crowd.

In one round of questions, Saucier proudly announces that he used a big word on a final exam earlier that day: knowledgeable. The crowd roars with laughter. It's a humor so simple it works.

"Sometimes I'll get tons of laughs for these stupid things," Saucier says. "I just like to have a good time up there."

With a natural talent behind the microphone and a catalogue of big-time experiences, his appetite for this trade is growing. Though he came to Brandeis to play basketball and remains a member of the varsity team, Saucier also arrived with a casual interest in public announcing. He started announcing at sporting events and deejaying a WBRS radio show, finding his quick-witted humor a perfect fit for the job. His casual interest soon blossomed into a passion, and he set his professional sights on announcing at major athletic events or deejaying a popular radio show.

His voice can only be described as made for announcing: Low and mellow, but also authoritative, it imparts a distinctive, but not overpowering, New-England accent. It makes people want to listen.

Prof. Jacob Cohen (AMST), a longtime Brandeis athletics supporter, describes Saucier's announcing style as the best he's ever heard at the school.

"With his beautiful voice, his subtle wit, and his absolute command of the job, he is the best PA guy I have ever encountered at Brandeis," Cohen wrote in an e-mail to the Justice.

Saucier is the voice of Brandeis athletics. He announces for the baseball and volleyball teams, as well as intramural sports championship games. While recovering from knee surgery last year, he even announced several of his own team's basketball games. His housemates admit that many people come to games just to listen to him announce.

His prowess behind the microphone soon gave him a name beyond the Brandeis campus. When a local organizer for the New England College All Star Game at Fenway Park heard about Saucier's talent, he asked him to announce the annual event. While Saucier was already interested in broadcasting as a career, that experience cemented his dream.

"That day is when I knew this is what I wanted to do with my life," he says.

Several months later, thanks to connections he made during his summer internship at WZLX 100.7 FM Boston, he fulfilled another fantasy by emceeing a New England bikini contest in downtown Boston sponsored by Hooter's. A picture of Saucier standing between two bikini clad models is proudly displayed on the wall of his room.

"Believe me, that was a great gig," Saucier recalls with a big grin. "The girls were really nice to me."

After many different types of announcing gigs over the past three years, Saucier has fine-tuned his announcing style to great effect. While he maintains that he still has room for improvement, it's clear to audiences that he's no rookie.

This is no more evident than at the Mad Raven, where his charisma and humor excite the growing list of patrons. After months of what Saucier calls 'harassing' the restaurant's manager for the job, the manager finally gave him a chance last year. Judging from the electricity and business Saucier now generates, it seems they should have been the ones begging him.

"Wednesday night used to be very slow," bartender and server Maggie Tarrio says. "Now it's exciting and [it] keeps me busy."

Torrio remembers one couple that came every week for the trivia but stopped attending for a month. When they came back one Wednesday night and saw Saucier in his usual post, they were more than relieved.

"[The couple's] faces lit up, they were so excited to see him again," she said.

Ultimately, Saucier's confluence of talents allows him to connect to individuals in huge crowds. It is this talent that has already propelled him towards his future.

"A positive personal connection is definitely necessary when announcing," Saucier says. "And my goal when I'm behind the microphone is to make sure that everyone leaves with a smile on their face.