Samuel A. Nover (March 5, 1941 – December 4, 2018) was an American sportscaster. His run of 30 years of sportscasting at the same station is one of the longest in Pittsburgh broadcasting history.

Broadcasting career

From 1964 to 1968, Nover worked at radio stations in Charlotte, and Jackson, Michigan. In 1968, he was hired as a sportscaster at

WKBD-TV WKBD-TV (channel 50), branded as CW Detroit 50, is a television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, affiliated with The CW. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside WWJ-TV (channel 62), a CBS owned-and-operated station. ...

in Detroit, Michigan. He worked at WIIC-TV (later known as WPXI-TV) in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

from 1970 until his retirement in 2001. He was the Sports Director and principal sports anchor, with the exception of two years he spent full-time at NBC Sports in New York. Nover was also the voice of the Pittsburgh Maulers of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

in their one year of existence and was the voice of the

Don King Donald King (born August 20, 1931) is an American boxing promoter, known for his involvement in several historic boxing matchups. King's career highlights include, among multiple other enterprises, promoting "The Rumble in the Jungle" and the ...

Radio Network for its short period of existence. Nover had the distinction and privilege to do the blow-by-blow of the Heavyweight title fight between

Larry Holmes Larry Holmes (born November 3, 1949) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1973 to 2002 and was world heavyweight champion from 1978 until 1985. He is often considered to be one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time. ...

and

Michael Spinks Michael Spinks (born July 22, 1956) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1977 to 1988. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the undisputed light heavyweight title from 1983 to 1985, and the lineal ...

with Hall of Fame announcer

Don Dunphy Don Dunphy (July 5, 1908 – July 22, 1998) was an American television and radio sports announcer specializing in boxing broadcasts. Dunphy was noted for his fast-paced delivery and enthusiasm for the sport. It is estimated that he did "blow-by ...

as his color commentator. Nover is best remembered for having the last sit-down interview with

Roberto Clemente Roberto Enrique Clemente Walker (; August 18, 1934 – December 31, 1972) was a Puerto Rican professional baseball player who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates, primarily as a right fielder. On December ...

shortly before Clemente's death in 1972. The interview has been excerpted by almost every major television network. Nover also did television play-by-play for the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...

in the 1970s.

NBC Sports

Nover left WIIC in 1980 and signed a contract with

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division for NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, that is responsible for sports broadcasts on their broadcast network NBC, the Cable television, cable channels NBC owns, and on Peacock (streaming service) ...

, who hired him to be the boxing commentator at the

Moscow Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

. However, the United States boycotted the games and Nover eventually returned to his old job at WPXI-TV in 1982. He also worked many venues for '' NBC Sportsworld'', including boxing and was partnered for many years with former Lightweight Champion, Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini and

Alexis Arguello Alexis may refer to: People Mononym * Alexis (poet) ( – ), a Greek comic poet * Alexis (sculptor), an ancient Greek artist who lived around the 3rd or 4th century BC * Alexis (singer) (born 1968), German pop singer * Alexis (comics) (1946– ...

. Nover also did

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, 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 ...

play-by-play for

from the late 1970s until the late 1980s. His color commentator partners included

Bob Trumpy Robert Theodore Trumpy Jr. (born March 6, 1945) is an American former professional football player who was a tight end for the Cincinnati Bengals of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL), from 1968 through 1977. ...

Len Dawson Leonard Ray Dawson (June 20, 1935 – August 24, 2022) was an American professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL) for 19 seasons, primarily with the K ...

, and Paul Maguire. He also did play-by-play on television for the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

during the preseason from the late 1980s until the late 1990s.

Personal life

Prior to his death, Nover lived in

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, Florida, Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lag ...

, and maintained a residence in Pittsburgh. He has two daughters, Dana and Molly.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nover, Sam 1941 births 2018 deaths American radio sports announcers American television sports announcers Bowling broadcasters American boxing commentators Eastern Michigan University alumni Ferris State University alumni Jewish American sports announcers Mass media in Pittsburgh NFL announcers National Hockey League broadcasters Pittsburgh Penguins announcers Pittsburgh Steelers announcers Radio personalities from Detroit Television personalities from Detroit United States Football League announcers University of Michigan alumni World Football League announcers