Bob Blackburn (announcer)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other people with the same name, see Robert Blackburn (disambiguation).

Bob Blackburn (October 14, 1924 – January 8, 2010) was the original

Washington Bullets
four games to one in a best-of-seven series.

Early years

Blackburn grew up in the Los Angeles area. As a child, he was bedridden with tuberculosis.[1] While listening to college sports broadcasts, he dreamed of being behind the microphone. Blackburn's uncle had told him his strength was in his "loud voice," so a career in broadcasting seemed like a good idea.[2]

Blackburn managed to land a job at a radio station in Santa Ana, California in 1942, and worked his way up. He also attended college at

Tidewater Oil Company's sports radio network. In 1953, he became the sports director of KEX, a station where he also had his own afternoon disc jockey show. In 1957 he moved to KPOJ also doing the afternoon shift. In 1958 he moved to KXL
, and then back to KPOJ in 1959.

When OSU created its own sports radio network in the late 1950s, Blackburn became the radio voice of Oregon State football and basketball. He was employed by the network flagship station, KEX of Portland. In 2002, Blackburn was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame for his Special Contribution to Sports in Oregon.

Seattle SuperSonics

When the SuperSonics joined the NBA in 1967-68, the team needed a play-by-play voice. Blackburn applied, along with 110 other applicants, and got the job. Blackburn called most SuperSonics games solo during his first 20 years behind the microphone. During the 1987-88 season, KJR added Kevin Calabro to the broadcast team and the duo shared play-by-play responsibilities. In 1992, Blackburn left in what he described as a "forced retirement."[1] At that time, Calabro became the sole play-by-play voice and the team's second solo play-by-play broadcaster.

Legacy

During his nearly 60 years on the air, Blackburn called over 7,000 sports events and 2,359 NBA games; the vast majority with the Seattle SuperSonics. As a broadcaster, Blackburn received comparable honors for his contributions to the SuperSonics over 25 years and, since he didn't actually have a "number" to be retired, the SuperSonics retired his microphone.[3]

He resided in Issaquah, Washington[4] until his death on January 8, 2010.[5]

References

  1. ^
    The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
  2. ^ Hammil, Bruce, "Famed Sports Announcer Blackburn Remembers His FUHS Roots", Fullerton News Tribune, archived from the original on 2011-01-30
  3. ^ "Hanging From the Rafters". Archived from the original on 2012-11-02. Retrieved 2008-04-25.
  4. ^ Evans, Jayda (January 10, 2010), "Longtime Sonics broadcaster Bob Blackburn dies", The Seattle Times, archived from the original on 2010-01-12
  5. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer

External links

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