Above from July 2009 Seattle Times sportscaster series
--Rare meeting of five of the area's top sportscasters: Seated at bottom is Bob Robertson. In the second row, from left are, Kevin Calabro, Dave Niehaus and Bob Rondeau. At top is Steve Raible.
--Bob Rondeau, left, sportscaster for the University of Washington, and Bob Robertson, sportscaster for Washington State University. Photographed at Husky Stadium on Tuesday, July 14, 2009.
--1984: Bob Robertson, a Washington State University broadcaster.
Bob Robertson
Edited from WSU 2008 Football Media Guide
Hall of fame announcer Bob Robertson Sr. is in his 42nd season callingCougar football action. When Cougar fans gather and talk about Saturday
afternoons in the fall on the Palouse, football and Robertson just naturally
become part of the conversation.
The long-time Cougar broadcaster began his association with WSU
football in 1964 and with the exception of a three-year period in 1969-71,
he’s been calling the Cougar action ever since.
Robertson’s peers have selected him Washington Sportscaster of the Year
12 times, validating what Cougar fans have known for years - he is simply
the best. In 1995 he was named the State Broadcaster of the Year.
Robertson was inducted into both the WSU Athletic Hall of Fame and
the Inland Empire Hall of Fame in 2001-02, and in August 2004 received
the prestigious Chris Schenkel Award at ceremonies held at the College
Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind. At the same time he became the
first broadcaster west of the Mississippi to be inducted into the College
Football Hall of Fame - broadcaster division. He is also a member of the
Pierce County Hall of Fame.
Bob’s association with WSU runs deeper than just football broadcasts.
For 23 years he was the voice of Cougar Basketball, including several NCAA
tournament teams. In 1978-79, he was named WSU’s Dad of the Year and
he also worked with the WSU Cougar Club on the west side in the 1980’s.
Robertson was born in Fullerton, Calif., during spring training of the
Seattle Indians of the Pacific Coast League. At the time his father was a
player for the Seattle club.
After graduating from Blaine (Wash.) High School, he attended Western
Washington University in Bellingham, where he launched his broadcasting
career. His first broadcasting exposure came as a young actor for the
Canadian Broadcasting Company in Vancouver, B.C., then bloomed while
attending college.
In 1948 Robertson signed to play professional baseball, but a year later
gave up playing to become the voice of the Wenatchee Chiefs of the
Western International League, his first full-time broadcasting opportunity.
Among his many accomplishments, Robertson has:
• Spent 25 years calling Pacific Coast League baseball in Seattle and
Tacoma;
• Broadcast professional soccer in Seattle, Tacoma and Portland; he was
Washington’s Soccer Man of the Year in 1983;
• Broadcast hockey, boxing, wrestling and hydroplane races
• Had his “cup of coffee” in major league baseball, broadcasting some
Seattle Mariner games in the late 1990’s
• Served as television sports anchor in the Seattle market for 25 years,
including time with KSTW (called KTNT 1956-70, then KSTW 1976-83)
and KMO, which later became KTVW and is now KCPQ
• Currently voice of the Spokane Indians baseball team and Pacific
Lutheran University basketball;
• Served as the television voice of Notre Dame football and basketball for
two years in the 1950’s.
This fall Bob and wife Joanne celebrate their 57th anniversary. They have
four children, Hugh, Janna, John and Rebecca, and seven grandchildren.
The Robertson’s have resided in Tacoma since 1950, with the exception of
his stint with Notre Dame.
As much as Robertson is part of Cougar Football Saturday, so is his closing
broadcast signature, "Always be a good sport, be a good sport all ways,"
Links to stories/info from in Seattle Times July 2009 about sportscasters, including Bob Robertson :
Here ...and... here ...also here
