Bob Rondeau is a retired American sports announcer. He is known for a 37-year career associated with
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...
athletics.
Early life
Rondeau grew up in Colorado. He majored in journalism at
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
, graduating in 1972.
Career
Rondeau began his career as a news reporter and anchor in Cortez, Denver, and then Phoenix.
Those experiences left him disillusioned with the news business.
His first experience as a sports broadcaster was in the summer of 1977 when he called several races at
Turf Paradise
Turf Paradise is a thoroughbred and quarter horse racetrack located at 19th Avenue and Bell Road, in the Deer Valley section of Phoenix, Arizona. It opened in 1956.
Turf Paradise is typically open for racing from early November through April. It ...
, a horse racing track in Phoenix.
Rondeau joined
KOMO radio in Seattle as sports director in 1977, after passing on an offer from local competitor
KIRO which was looking for a news reporter.
The next year, KOMO acquired the broadcast rights for both Washington football and basketball games. Rondeau became an analyst for the
Washington Huskies football
The Washington Huskies football team represents the University of Washington in college football. Washington competed in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) as a member of the Big Ten Conference, after having been a charter membe ...
broadcast in 1978, then play-by-play announcer in 1981.
He later became announcer for the
men's 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 ...
team, holding that role for over 30 years.
For four decades, he was known for bellowing "Touchdown Washington!" after every Husky touchdown. Earlier, he served as the play-by-play announcer for the original
Seattle Sounders for two years beginning in 1979, despite having no familiarity with the sport of soccer.
In April 2017, Rondeau announced his retirement effective at the end of the football season.
Tony Castricone was named his successor.
Awards
Rondeau was named Washington State Sportscaster of the Year eleven times. In 2016 Rondeau was the recipient of the National Football Foundation's annual
Chris Schenkel Award, in recognition of distinguished broadcasting careers in college football.
He was inducted into the Husky Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016. King County proclaimed Roundeau's last home broadcast of the
Apple Cup
The Apple Cup is an American college football rivalry game between the University of Washington Huskies and Washington State University Cougars, the two largest universities in the state of Washington. Both were members of the Pac-12 Conferen ...
on November 25, 2017, as "Bob Rondeau Day."
Family
Rondeau and wife Molly married on the 50-yard line of Husky Stadium on July 26, 1997.
They have two daughters, Lorrin and Jessie, a son Jordan and three grandsons, Joseph, Dominic and Zachary,
See also
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rondeau, Bob
1940s births
Living people
Sportspeople from Colorado
American radio sports announcers
Washington Huskies men's basketball announcers
Washington Huskies football announcers
College basketball announcers in the United States
College football announcers
North American Soccer League (1968–1984) commentators