The Passing of Bob Robertson: WSU Claims Him, as do Huskies, Irish

Bob Robertson was the "Voice of the Cougars." No question, he was the original Cougar Gold, as in golden tones.

That's how his obituaries and remembrances will read across the Northwest following the esteemed broadcaster's weekend passing at 91 at his home in Tacoma, Washington.

Washington State University claims him as a college football treasure. A broadcast legend on the order of alums Keith Jackson and Edwin R. Murrow. A raspy, familiar sound that echoed for decades throughout the Palouse and beyond.

Bill Swartz, KOMO radio broadcaster and host of the Dawg House show, attended WSU and developed such an affection for Robertson that he learned to impersonate the broadcaster with bits that were always spot on.

Listen Swartz' tribute to Robertson in the featured video. It's a classic, with yet more impersonations.

Robertson, however, was a man for all press boxes.

Lest anyone forget, this esteemed broadcaster once called University of Washington football games in 1969-71, turning up on both sides of the Apple Cup.

Notre Dame football games, too.

Yes, Robertson described one of the worst seasons in Husky football history — 1-9 in 1969 — but it certainly wasn't his fault. Sitting alongside the equally revered Bill Schonely, who was fresh off a one-and-done Seattle Pilots season and soon to be a Portland broadcast legend, these two men made a dismal UW team all sound so successful on KVI.

Robertson had the good fortune to describe the first two seasons of the Sonny Sixkiller era in 1970 and 1971. That was much more fun for him and he was at best describing every last long touchdown pass.

Once the Husky radio broadcast rights were sold to KIRO, Robertson was off to Washington State, where he stayed for more than four decades. He had two stints with the Cougars, from 1964-68 and 1972-2018.

Prior to all of this, Robertson called Notre Dame football games for the 1955 and 1956 seasons before returning to the Northwest.

"I didn't like flat and humidity," he said of the Indiana radio job.

A California native, Robertson grew up Vancouver, British Columbia, and began broadcasting games in 1947 in Bellingham, Washington, while he was a student attending Western Washington State College. He picked up radio gigs to help pay his way through school.

He was a decent athlete who signed a baseball contract with the Portland Beavers and was all set to report when he was offered a radio job in Wenatchee. He wisely chose the microphone.

"I knew it was going to be a struggle for me because I didn't run very well," Robertson said. "I became the voice of the Wenatchee Chiefs."

He described the action for the Tacoma Rainiers, Tacoma Giants, Tacoma Cubs, Tacoma Tigers, Fresno Cardinals, Seattle Rainiers, Spokane Indians, Seattle Totems and Seattle Sounders, always up for the action, no matter what sport it was.

His signature sign-off is such memorable one it's been repeated for decades: Be a good sport always; always be a good sport.

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