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pro football radio announcer history

Re: Chicago Bears & Arizona Cardinals broadcasters

> > Chicago Bears:
> > 1999-2000: Gary Bender, Hub Arkush, Tom Thayer - WGN 720
> > 2001-2004: Jeff Joniak, Hub Arkush, Tom Thayer - WBBM 780
>
> ...Joniak, Arkush and Thayer did the 1999 season games on
> WMAQ/670. When Infinity killed off WMAQ to put WSCR on 670
> before the start of the 2000 season, the Bears specifically
> had it in their contract that the games would move to WBBM
> because team officials refused to have the Bears associated
> with certain WSCR air people...

I could have sworn that WMAQ got the rights to the Bears a year or two before Larrivee became a traitor/traded up (depending on which side of the Bears-Packers rivalry one falls on)...I remember a TV jingle announcing the move and specifically mentioning "Hub & Wayne".
 
Re: Chicago Bears & Arizona Cardinals broadcasters

> > > Chicago Bears:
> > > 1999-2000: Gary Bender, Hub Arkush, Tom Thayer - WGN 720
>
> > > 2001-2004: Jeff Joniak, Hub Arkush, Tom Thayer - WBBM
> 780
> >
> > ...Joniak, Arkush and Thayer did the 1999 season games on
> > WMAQ/670. When Infinity killed off WMAQ to put WSCR on 670
>
> > before the start of the 2000 season, the Bears
> specifically
> > had it in their contract that the games would move to WBBM
>
> > because team officials refused to have the Bears
> associated
> > with certain WSCR air people...
>
> I could have sworn that WMAQ got the rights to the Bears a
> year or two before Larrivee became a traitor/traded up
> (depending on which side of the Bears-Packers rivalry one
> falls on)...I remember a TV jingle announcing the move and
> specifically mentioning "Hub & Wayne".

...that sounds about right. I wasn't in the Chicago metro at the time of the switch, but I recall WMAQ having the Bears for at least two years before the station was killed off by Infinity. Even recall Chet Coppock doing part of the pre-game show...<P ID="signature">______________
King Daevid MacKenzie
WLSU Wisconsin Public Radio, La Crosse
heard weekly on http://www.radio4all.net/
"Kill Ugly Radio." FRANK ZAPPA</P>
 
Re: Green Bay Packers (many dates approximate)

> > And, in regards to WTMJ, I've never
> > seen or heard of a station with such a stranglehold of
> > broadcast rights of every major sports team in its
> > state--University of Wisconsin (Madison), Bucks, Brewers,
> > and the Packers.
>

Actually, the Badger rights are held by Learfield Sports, although WTMJ probably gets credit as the flagship.

> ...the stranglehold hasn't always been that tight. The
> Brewers quit WTMJ for WISN in the early '80s, the Bucks quit
> WTMJ for WEMP in the mid-'70s, and I think WOLX Madison does
> its own Badgers football coverage. But WTMJ undoutedly knows
> how to construct and maintain a Statewide network better
> than any other outfit in Milwaukee...

Actually, the WTMJ coverage until fairly recently was small. A lot of stations in this area picked up Earl Gillespie (FIRST down for Bucky Badger!) which was originated by WFHR in Wis. Rapids.

>
> ...when I worked for WPKR in Oshkosh, the station owner
> actually put in a bid to take the Packers away from WTMJ. He
> then went around bragging about how he came in second in the
> bidding. (There were only two bids in total.) He was an
> embarrassment on other fronts, too ;-) ...
>
As I remember, he was heavily into the Packers (note the call letter), had a Packer show (is Wayne Mauser still down there?) so it doesnt' surprise me a bit. What surprises me is that Cumulus hasn't tried to buy the rights with WDUZ, an all-sports station, as originator. Cumulus actually bought a lot of the Packer rights but then gave them up, so the games went from WDUZ here to WNFL. (All three Green Bay AM stations have held the local rights from WTMJ at one time or another).
 
New York Giants!

Here are the New York Giant flagship stations and announcers going back to 1933!

1933: WINS-1180: Ford Frick, Benny Friedman
1934: WINS-1180: Earl Harper, Angelo Palange
1935: WINS-1180: Don Dunphy, Earl Harper
1936: WOR-710: Dave Driscoll, Bill Farren
1937: WOR-710: Stan Lomax
1938: (no radio coverage)
1939: WABC-860: Mel Allen, Dick Fishell
WOR-710: Red Barber, Earl Harper, Stan Lomax
WHN-1010: Mel Allen, Dick Fishell, Bert Lee
1940: WINS-1180: Dick Fishell, Bert Lee
1941: WHN-1010 (WHN moves to 1050 during season): Dick Fishell, Bert Lee
1942: WHN-1050: Red Barber, Allen Hale
1943-1947: WHN-1050: Red Barber, Connie Desmond
1948: WHN-1050 (WHN changes call letters to WMGM during season): Connie Desmond,
Bert Lee
1949: WMGM-1050: Marty Glickman, Harold Holtz
1950: WMGM-1050: Marty Glickman, Ted Husing
1951: WMGM-1050: Marty Glickman, Ernie Harwell
1952: WMGM-1050: Marty Glickman, Chris Schenkel
1953-1955: WMGM-1050: Marty Glickman, Johnny Most
1956: WINS-1010: Tommy Henrich, Les Keiter
1957: WINS-1010: John Condon, Les Keiter
1958: WCBS-880: Jack Drees, Les Keiter
1959: WCBS-880: Tom Dowd, Les Keiter
1960: WCBS-880: Mel Allen
1961-1963: WNEW-1130: Al DeRogatis, Marty Glickman, Joe Hasel
1964-1966: WNEW-1130: Al DeRogatis, Marty Glickman, Kyle Rote
1967: WNEW-1130: Chip Cipolla, Al DeRogatis, Marty Glickman
1968: WNEW-1130: Chip Cipolla, Charley Connerly, Marty Glickman
1969: WNEW-1130: Chip Cipolla, Marty Glickman
1970: WNEW-1130: Chip Cipolla, Marty Glickman, Sal Marchiano
1971: WNEW-1130: Chip Cipolla, Marty Glickman
1972: WNEW-1130: Chip Cipolla, Marty Glickman, Sam Huff
1973-1974: WNEW-1130: Marv Albert, Chip Cipolla, Sam Huff
1975: WNEW-1130: Marv Albert, Chip Cipolla, Dick Lynch
1976: WNEW-1130: Marv Albert, Dick Lynch
1977-1987: WNEW-1130: Jim Gordon, Dick Lynch
1988-1991: WNEW-1130: Jim Gordon, Dick Lynch, Karl Nelson
1992: WNEW-1130 (WNEW changes call letters to WBBR during season): Jim Gordon,
Dick Lynch
1993-1994: WOR-710: Jim Gordon, Dick Lynch
1995-1996: WOR-710: Dick Lynch, Bob Papa
1997: WNEW-102.7: Ottis Anderson, Dick Lynch, Bob Papa
1998: WNEW-102.7: Dick Lynch, Bob Papa, Billy Taylor
1999: WNEW-102.7: Dick Lynch, Bob Papa
2000-2001: WFAN-660: Dick Lynch, Bob Papa
2002-2005: WFAN-660: Dave Jennings, Dick Lynch, Bob Papa
 
Re: Chicago Bears & Arizona Cardinals broadcasters

> > > > Chicago Bears:
> > > > 1999-2000: Gary Bender, Hub Arkush, Tom Thayer - WGN
> 720
> >
> > > > 2001-2004: Jeff Joniak, Hub Arkush, Tom Thayer - WBBM
> > 780
> > >
> > > ...Joniak, Arkush and Thayer did the 1999 season games
> on
> > > WMAQ/670. When Infinity killed off WMAQ to put WSCR on
> 670
> >
> > > before the start of the 2000 season, the Bears
> > specifically
> > > had it in their contract that the games would move to
> WBBM
> >
> > > because team officials refused to have the Bears
> > associated
> > > with certain WSCR air people...
> >
> > I could have sworn that WMAQ got the rights to the Bears a
>
> > year or two before Larrivee became a traitor/traded up
> > (depending on which side of the Bears-Packers rivalry one
> > falls on)...I remember a TV jingle announcing the move and
>
> > specifically mentioning "Hub & Wayne".
>
> ...that sounds about right. I wasn't in the Chicago metro at
> the time of the switch, but I recall WMAQ having the Bears
> for at least two years before the station was killed off by
> Infinity. Even recall Chet Coppock doing part of the
> pre-game show...

First off, Larrivee became a traitor. :)
I want to say 1997 was the final year WGN had Bears games. I remember listening to the Bears-Oakland game early in 1998 and thinking how weird it was to hear the game on 670. And I'm pretty sure 1998 was Larrivee's final season with us.
 
Re: Chicago Bears & Arizona Cardinals broadcasters

> First off, Larrivee became a traitor. :)

We prefer to think of it as him finally coming to his senses :)


> I want to say 1997 was the final year WGN had Bears games. I
> remember listening to the Bears-Oakland game early in 1998
> and thinking how weird it was to hear the game on 670. And
> I'm pretty sure 1998 was Larrivee's final season with us.
>
It was. He started doing the Packers games in 1999.
 
1970 crews (25 of 26 teams)

courtesy of broadcasting magazine, i came up with this for 1970:

falcons: (wqxi) jack hurst, alex hawkins
colts: (wcbm) ted moore, neal eskridge, ordell braase
patriots: (wbz) bob starr, gil santos
bills: (wben) van miller, stan barron
bears: (wgn) jack brickhouse, irv kupcinet
bengals: (wlw) phil samp, jimmy crum
browns (whk) gib shanley, jim graner
cowboys: (kfjz) bill mercer, verne lundquist
broncos: (koa) joe mcconnell, bob martin
lions: (wxyz) van patrick, bob reynolds
packers: (wtmj) gary bender, jim irwin
oilers: (kilt) ron franklin, dan lovett
chiefs: (kcmo) tom hedrick, bill grigsby
rams: (kmpc) dick enberg, dave niehaus, steve bailey
dolphins: (wiod) joe croghan, larry king (yes, THAT larry king)
vikings: (kstp) jim morse, paul hornung
saints: (wwl) ??????
giants: (wnew) marty glickman, chip cippola, sal marciano
jets: (wabc) merle harmon, sam deluca
raiders: (knew) bill king, scotty sterling
eagles: (wip) charley swift, al pollard
steelers: (wtae) jack fleming, myron cope
cardinals: (kmox) ray geracy, jim butler
chargers: (kdeo) stu nahan, emil karras
49ers: (ksfo) lon simmons, hugh mcelhenny
redskins: (wmal) steve gilmartin, mal campbell

any info on the saints for this season would be wonderful. thanks so much for the info so far!!

tb
 
Re: Green Bay Packers (many dates approximate)

> And, in regards to WTMJ, I've never
> seen or heard of a station with such a stranglehold of
> broadcast rights of every major sports team in its
> state--University of Wisconsin (Madison), Bucks, Brewers,
> and the Packers.
>

Hello!

I wonder how many people might remember back in the 70s when there were actually *two* Wisconsin Badger football networks? One flagship was WTMJ, and the other was in Madison, although I can't recall any more if it was WIBA-AM or WTSO. (Does someone remember?)

The feuding between the two flagships was pretty bitter. I remember working in northern Wisconsin at the time, and we had the Madison Badger network. It seems to me that Ted Moore was one of the voices.

Eventually WTMJ won the exclusive rights to the Badgers, but there was bad blood between the Madison and Milwaukee stations for quite some time afterward.

Now, Learfield owns the Badger broadcasts, and WTMJ merely distributes them. How things change over the years!

Just throwing that in...

Regards,
Ken Clark
 
Seattle Seahawks

All of their broadcasts have been on KIRO 710 in Seattle since their inception year in 1976:

1976 - 82: Pete Gross and Don Heinrich
1983- 92: Pete Gross and Steve Raible (Gross passed away due to cancer in November, 1992 and was replaced by Steve Thomas)
1993 - 98: Steve Thomas and Steve Raible
1998 - 99: Lee "Hacksaw" Hamilton and Steve Raible
2000 - 03: Brian Davis and Steve Raible
2004 - present: Steve Raible and Warren Moon
 
> i am doing the best i can to research the full history of
> all 32 nfl team radio commentator crews.
>
> so far, i have a few teams crews. if any one can help on
> this it would be tremendous.
>
> i should be able to post some of what i have here soon.
>
> thanks in advance!
>
> timmyb
>

SF 49ers:

1946-1956: KGO 810 AM, Bob Fouts(and I think Bud Foster for a few years);no idea who did color commentary.
1957-1980: KSFO 560 AM,Lon Simmons, with color commentary by Gordie Solatu, then Hugh McElhenney, possibly others.
1981-1986: KCBS 740 AM: Don Klein and Don Heinrich(though the Seattle Seahawks post says Heinrich worked for them in '81-82)
1987-1989: KGO, Lon Simmons, Wayne Walker
1989-1997: KGO, Joe Starkey, Wayne Walker(Mike Shumann sidline reporter starting c. 1996;Simmons quit during '89 preseason in dispute with KGO management)
1998-2004: Starkey, Gary Plummer, Shumann
2005: KNBR 680/1050,'The Bone' 107.7(all Susquehanna stations): Starkey, Plummer, John Shrader on sidelines<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by ViewStu on 01/20/06 10:53 PM.</FONT></P>
 
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