Robert Charles Gamere (born November 1, 1939) is an American former sportscaster. He primarily worked in the

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

area and hosted a local

candlepin bowling Candlepin bowling is a variation of bowling that is played primarily in the Canadian Maritimes, Canadian Maritime provinces and the New England region of the United States. It is played with a handheld-sized bowling ball, ball and tall, narrow bo ...

show during the 1970s named '' Candlepins for Cash''.

Career

A graduate of the

College of the Holy Cross The College of the Holy Cross is a private Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by educators Benedict Joseph Fenwick and Thomas F. Mulledy in 1843 under the auspices of the Society of Jesus. ...

, Gamere started his broadcasting career calling Holy Cross football and basketball games for WTAG. In 1970 he was hired to succeed

Jerry Coleman Gerald Francis Coleman (September 14, 1924 – January 5, 2014) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) second baseman for the New York Yankees and manager of the San Diego Padres for one year. Coleman was named the rookie of the year in 19 ...

on the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

broadcast team. He was chosen out of over 500 applicants for the job. His audition tape was of a

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

game, as he had never called a baseball game before. He was criticized for his overuse of the

catch phrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

"Here it comes, there it goes" to describe a pitch thrown to

home plate A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refers ...

and batted anywhere. He was replaced after one season by Bill White. Gamere's career then moved to Boston. From 1973 to 1980 he hosted '' Candlepins for Cash'' on WNAC, as well as calling

ECAC Hockey ECAC Hockey is one of the six conferences that compete in NCAA Division I college ice hockey, ice hockey. The conference used to be affiliated with the Eastern College Athletic Conference, a consortium of over 300 colleges in the eastern United ...

with John Carlson. Carlson called the first and third period with Gamere on color. During the second period, Gamere would be on play by play with Carlson on color. After his dismissal, he moved to

WMRE WMRE (1550 kHz) is a commercial AM sports radio formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Charles Town, West Virginia, serving Charles Town and Jefferson County, West Virginia. WMRE is owned and operated by iHeartMedia. While the station i ...

as host of their nightly sports call-in show. In 1984, Gamere began a five-year stint as a sports anchor at

WLVI-TV WLVI (channel 56) is a television station licensed to Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, serving the Boston area as an affiliate of The CW. It is owned by Sunbeam Television alongside WHDH (channel 7), an independent station. WLVI and W ...

. He was fired in 1989 after charges of

assault In the terminology of law, an assault is the act of causing physical harm or consent, unwanted physical contact to another person, or, in some legal definitions, the threat or attempt to do so. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may ...

and

sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment based on the sex or gender of a victim. It can involve offensive sexist or sexual behavior, verbal or physical actions, up to bribery, coercion, and assault. Harassment may be explicit or implicit, wit ...

were brought against him by a Malden man. The charges were eventually dropped, but he was not rehired by Channel 56. That year, he began hosting a weekend midnight to 5:00 a.m. sports talk show on

WRCA WRCA (1330 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Watertown, Massachusetts, and serving the Greater Boston area. The license is held by the Beasley Media Group, LLC, part of the Beasley Broadcast Group, Inc. WRCA airs the classic r ...

and a nightly sports show on Channel 25. In 1990, he began a career in

sports betting Sports betting is the activity of predicting sports results and placing a wager on the outcome. Sports bettors place their wagers either legally, through a sportsbook or bookmaker (colloquially known as "bookies"), or illegally through priva ...

calling himself "The Great Gamere", hosting an

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program ...

betting show,

handicapping Handicapping, in sport and games, is the practice of assigning advantage through scoring compensation or other advantage given to different contestants to equalize the chances of winning. The word also applies to the various methods by which t ...

, and running a

sports book A sportsbook is a venue where a gambler can wager on various sports competitions, such as golf, football, basketball, baseball, ice hockey, soccer, horse racing, greyhound racing, boxing, and mixed martial arts. The method of betting varies wit ...

. From 1994 to 1996, he worked for WNDS, calling

UMass Lowell The University of Massachusetts Lowell (UMass Lowell and UML) is a Public university, public research university in Lowell, Massachusetts, with a satellite campus in Haverhill, Massachusetts. It is the northernmost member of the University of M ...

hockey games and horse races from

Rockingham Park Rockingham Park was a horse racing establishment in Salem, New Hampshire, in the United States. Notable horses to run at Rockingham Park included Seabiscuit, who raced there in 1935 and 1936,''Daily Racing Form'' staff (2005). ''Champions: The ...

. From 1982 to 1989, he was the play by play man for

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

football on WMRE,

WDLW WDLW (1380 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Lorain, Ohio, United States, and features a classic rock format known as the "Kool Kat". Owned by WDLW Radio, Inc., the station serves Lorain County and western parts of Greater Clevela ...

, and WTAG. Gamere had been sports director at WTAG in the late 1960s and hosted an issue-oriented talk show called "Talk of Town" from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. on weeknights.

Legal issues

Fenway attack

On June 15, 1988, Gamere was stabbed four times while walking in the

Fenway Fenway Park is a ballpark located in Boston, Massachusetts, less than one mile from Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home field of Major League Baseball's (MLB) Boston Red Sox. While the stadium was built in 1912, it was substantia ...

section of

Sexual harassment allegation

Gamere was fired by television station WLVI-TV in 1989 after charges of

and

were brought against him by a man from

Malden, Massachusetts Malden is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 66,263 people. History Malden is a hilly woodland area no ...

. The charges were later dropped.

Child pornography conviction

On October 23, 2008, Gamere was arrested and arraigned on charges of transporting and possessing

child pornography Child pornography (also abbreviated as CP, also called child porn or kiddie porn, and child sexual abuse material, known by the acronym CSAM (underscoring that children can not be deemed willing participants under law)), is Eroticism, erotic ma ...

. According to court documents, the FBI had been investigating Gamere as far back as 2005 when they alleged he e-mailed videos of children having sex with each other and adults. Gamere pleaded not guilty in

US District Court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

in Boston. The ''

Boston Herald The ''Boston Herald'' is an American conservative daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarde ...

'' reported on September 5, 2009, that Gamere was expected to plead guilty to child pornography charges. The BostonChannel.com reported on January 19, 2010, that Gamere had been sentenced to five years in prison on child pornography charges. He was released on May 27, 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gamere, Bob 1939 births American horse racing announcers American people convicted of child pornography offenses American sports announcers American television reporters and correspondents Bowling broadcasters College basketball announcers in the United States College football announcers College hockey announcers in the United States College of the Holy Cross alumni Harvard Crimson football announcers Holy Cross Crusaders football announcers Living people Major League Baseball broadcasters New York Yankees announcers Mass media people from Worcester, Massachusetts Television anchors from Boston Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government