Bob Lobel

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Robert "Bob" Lobel is a former sportscaster for WBZ-TV in Boston, Massachusetts. He anchored the sports segments on the evening newscasts between Sunday and Thursday, and hosted the weekly programs Sports Final and Patriots 5th Quarter. During a round of layoffs in April 2008, Lobel's contract was bought out by the station.[1]

Contents

[edit] WBZ

A native of Apple Creek, Ohio, Lobel joined the station as weekend sports anchor in 1979 and was promoted to weekday anchor and sports director in 1981. Before joining the television side of WBZ, Lobel worked at WBZ radio for three years, most notably as the co-host (with Upton Bell) of Calling All Sports, a sports talk show that aired nightly on the station. He also worked at WJOY in Burlington, Vermont and WGIR in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Lobel has also done some play-by-play work, calling WBZ's annual broadcast of the Boston Marathon, Boston Celtics games from 1989-1993, Boston College Eagles football games in 1986, New England Patriots preseason games from 1985-1991, and two NFL games for NBC in 1985. He was a sideline reporter for the NCAA Mens' Basketball Tournament between 1995 and 1997.

On the air, Lobel was known for using props and catchphrases during his sportscasts:

  • "Why can't we get players like that?" - when any former player for a Boston team is shown making a big play for his new team. This is emphasized in instances when the former Boston player burns a Boston team.[2]
  • the "Panic Button" when a local team is on a losing streak
  • a support beam from the Boston Garden occasionally used for Boston Bruins and Boston Celtics highlights.

Lobel is also known for his local charity work for Children's Hospital and The Genesis Fund among many others.

During a 2003 edition of Sports Final, Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan said that the wife of New Jersey Nets guard Jason Kidd needed someone to "smack" her for taking his young children to NBA playoff games where they could be taunted. Kidd had recently faced charges of domestic violence. Lobel immediately interrupted Ryan and tried to get Ryan to retract his comment, but Ryan refused. The Globe suspended Ryan for three weeks. In an Internet chat that summer, Lobel said that his actions were not "an act of heroism on my part, just knowing what is acceptable and what is not acceptable".[3]

On April 2, 2008, it was announced that Lobel will be released from WBZ-TV after almost thirty years with the station. [2]

On February 3, 2009 Bob Lobel returned briefly to the WBZ fold, on WBZ 1030 AM, replacing Gil Santos (longtime sportscaster who retired on January 30) as the on-air sports reporter.

[edit] WODS-FM and WAMG-AM

In September 2008, Lobel was hired as a co-host on a morning talk show on WODS-FM, "Oldies 103.3". The show, co-hosted by Karen Blake, will feature cover a range of topics including sports.[4][5][6] Due to back surgery in October 2008, Lobel was replaced on WODS on November 11, 2008.[7]

Lobel currently appears on The Boston Sports Show on Boston's ESPN Radio affiliate, WAMG-890, from 4-6 p.m. weekdays. The show is simulcast on WLLH-1400, Lowell.

[edit] Controversies

Lobel has been reported as having appeared on air in an intoxicated state which Lobel denies.[8]

[edit] Get Fuzzy

An edition of the comic strip Get Fuzzy published on May 13, 2005 resulted in legal action. In the original strip, characters Rob, Bucky and Satchel are watching television. Satchel asks "Is this sportscaster... drunk?" Rob replies "Lobel? Who knows. He's like some TV outreach program or something." [9]

Less than a week later, Lobel filed a libel lawsuit against cartoonist Darby Conley, United Features Syndicate, and the New Bedford Standard-Times newspaper. The New Bedford paper was named specifically because it did not censor the strip as several other Boston-area papers did, including The Boston Globe; most either refused to run the strip or substituted "Him?" in place of Lobel's name. The lawsuit claimed that the strip was both personally and professionally damaging, especially given that his contract was under negotiation for renewal at the time.[8][9]

On November 16, 2005, a brief article in the Boston Herald reported that Lobel and Conley had settled the suit out of court.[10][dead link] Conley made a public apology to Lobel, saying the strip was not intended to imply that he had been drunk on the air. Further details of the settlement were confidential, but the Herald quoted an unnamed source as saying Conley had made a substantial donation to charity.

The strip was left out of the Get Fuzzy collection Take Our Cat, Please.

[edit] Affair

In late 2004, the Boston Herald reported that he had an extra-marital affair. Lobel has denied all allegations, but has admitted he has been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder.[11]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Jessica Heslam (2008-04-02). "’BZ dial$ down, ending Lobel’s TV tenure". Boston Herald. http://bostonherald.com/news/regional/general/view.bg?articleid=1084409&srvc=home&position=0. Retrieved on 2008-04-02. 
  2. ^ a b "Lobel out in Ch. 4 purge". Worcester Telegram & Gazette. 2008-04-03. http://www.telegram.com/article/20080403/NEWS/804030736/1009/SPORTS. Retrieved on 2008-09-23. 
  3. ^ "Bob Lobel chat". Boston Dirt Dogs. 2003-05-12. http://www.bostondirtdogs.com/2003/lobel_chat_5.12.03.html. Retrieved on 2008-09-23. 
  4. ^ Jessica Heslam (2008-09-23). "New day dawns pretty early for former sportscaster Bob Lobel". Boston Herald. http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/general/view/2008_09_23_New_day_dawns_pretty_early_for_former_sportscaster_Bob_Lobel/. Retrieved on 2008-09-23. 
  5. ^ Christine McConville (2008-09-19). "Bob Lobel launches comeback - on radio". Boston Herald. http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media/view/2008_09_19_Bob_Lobel_launches_comeback_-_on_radio/. Retrieved on 2008-09-23. 
  6. ^ Christine McConville (2008-09-20). "Bob Lobel launches comeback as morning host on radio". Boston Herald. http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media/view/2008_09_20_Bob_Lobel_launches_comeback_as_morning_host_on_radio/. Retrieved on 2008-09-23. 
  7. ^ http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/2008_11_12_Back_surgery_forces_Bob_Lobel_out_of_radio_job/
  8. ^ a b Head Games - Boston Magazine
  9. ^ a b WGBH: Greater Boston
  10. ^ Error - BostonHerald.com
  11. ^ http://www.bostonmagazine.com/articles/head_games_1/

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Dan Davis		 Boston College Eagles football Play by Play
1986		 Succeeded by
Gil Santos
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