Ronald F. Weber (born September 10, 1933) is an American former radio play-by-play announcer for the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The Capitals compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NH ...

for 23 years. He is best known for his streak of calling the Capitals' first 1,936 games, starting in 1974 with their inaugural game and ending with his retirement after the 1996–97 season. He was the 2010 recipient of the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award, given for outstanding contributions to hockey broadcasting, which earned him a place on the wall at the

Hockey Hall of Fame The Hockey Hall of Fame () is a museum and hall of fame located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League (NHL) records, memorabilia and National Hockey Le ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Career

Ron Weber grew up in

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...

and attended Washington-Lee High School. Weber's first job in broadcasting was at WBOC-TV/Radio in Salisbury, Md., where he was Sports Director in addition to performing other on-air duties for over eight years starting in the late 1950s. Weber started his hockey broadcasting career with the Baltimore Clippers, and, in addition to his time with the Capitals, has done play-by-play for many other teams in various leagues, including the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers, the MLB's

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

, the now-defunct North American Soccer League's Washington Diplomats, and the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

's Penn Quakers football, as well as professional

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

and

weightlifting Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

matches. He broadcast the 1968 Olympic games. Weber still follows the Capitals very closely; he attends 35 home games per season. The Capitals brought him back to the booth for the first period of Game 4 of the 2018 Stanley Cup Finals.

Personal

He currently lives in

Needham, Massachusetts Needham ( ) is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. A suburb of Boston, its population was 32,091 in the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census. It is the home of Olin College. History ...

. His beloved wife Mary Jane departed on September 5, 2019. Ron has three children, 5 grandchildren, and 4 great-grandchildren.

References

External links

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Audio of Ron Weber's final sign off
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weber, Ron 1933 births Living people American sports announcers Association football commentators College football announcers Foster Hewitt Memorial Award winners Major League Baseball broadcasters Minnesota Twins announcers NBA broadcasters National Hockey League broadcasters Olympic Games broadcasters People from Lock Haven, Pennsylvania People from Wheaton, Maryland Philadelphia 76ers announcers Sports commentators Tennis commentators Washington Capitals announcers Washington-Liberty High School alumni