Legendary WSU announcer Bob Robertson announces retirement
Oct 15, 2018, 1:22 PM | Updated: 1:28 pm
WSU broadcaster Bob Robertson is calling it a career after over 50 years. (AP)
(AP)
Bob Robertson, the legendary voice of Washington State Cougars football radio broadcasts, has announced his retirement, effective immediately.
The university announced his decision in a statement Monday afternoon.
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“I’ve been with the Cougars a lot of years, more than half a century, calling basketball, football for the fans around the Northwest and elsewhere around the country and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it,” said Robertson. “It’s been great to be with you Cougars at your meetings and get-togethers, and I hope we can do it again and I’m sure we will.
“But as of this moment, I’ve now asked the athletic department at Washington State University to list me as a retired, former sportscaster for the Cougars,” Robertson continued. “It is a matter of getting old is what it is. Everything seems to move a lot faster around me, I move more slowly. I hope to see you soon, I’m not going to go away. I like Washington State people and the school itself too much to do that. But I am going to be on the retired list, starting immediately.”
A TRUE Cougar Legend! Thank you for half a century of memories!
Story: https://t.co/7hxHznZe5B#GoCougs pic.twitter.com/FUwpY1NXJi
— WSU Cougars (@WSUCougars) October 15, 2018
Robertson has called WSU games for the past 52 years, first as play-by-play announcer from 1964 to 2011, then as an analyst since 2012.
“When you think of the icons of Washington State Athletics, Bob Robertson certainly comes to mind,” said WSU Director of Athletics Pat Chun. “Bob has painted the picture for many generations of Cougar fans and we thank him for what he has meant to Washington State Athletics. We will also recognize his many achievements at a Cougar Football game next month in Martin Stadium.”
Among his list of accomplishments, Robertson is a member of the WSU Athletic Hall of Fame and the Inland Empire Hall of Fame, a 12-time Washington Sportscaster of the Year winner, and the 2004 recipient of the Chris Schenkel Award presented at the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind. Additionally, in 2009 the Cougars’ radio booth in Martin Stadium was renamed the Bob Robertson Broadcast Suite.
Robertson also called WSU basketball games for 23 years, Pacific Coast League baseball for three decades, had a three-year stint with the University of Washington, and spent time broadcasting Notre Dame football and basketball, Pacific Lutheran University basketball, professional soccer in Seattle, Spokane Indians baseball, and some Seattle Mariners games in the late 1990s.
To WSU fans, however, he will be known best for his signature sign-off from Cougar football games: “Always be a good sport, be a good sport all ways.”
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