WFUV Remembers Legendary Broadcaster Bob Wolff

Late last August I was fortunate enough to spend a day with the man I like to call the “Beethoven” of sports casting, but, everyone knew him as Bob Wolff. In preparation for the interview I would have with him, I read some of the books he had written and watched some of his work. I could not believe I had never heard of him before, mainly because this guy was a legend in every sense of the word. I think my original naiveté towards who he was genuinely helped ease any nerves I may have had before entering his home. This was probably the most special day in my young sports broadcasting career but at the same time there were a lot of bumps in the road.

If you have ever conducted an interview with someone you know that when things don’t go smoothly your subject can often lose interest, become annoyed, or even ask to reschedule. I can tell you that not one of those things even came close to happening with Bob. Anyways, we get to Bob’s charming apartment and the batteries in the camera are dead: Mistake # 1.

So when my videographer went to go get the batteries, which unsurprisingly took about an hour, I was left one on one with Bob. So Mistake #1 turned out to be something great. We sat there like old friends; he showed me his Emmys, the piece MSG did on his career, a picture of his beautiful family and shared so much advice. When my colleagues returned to Bob’s house, we began to get going, except the microphones on both cameras refused to work, something we should have tested beforehand: Mistake # 2.

I said earlier that this day had plenty of problems but the actual interview was my best ever. We hit it off. He spoke about interviewing so many different people, including Babe Ruth and Derek Jeter. He gave me an opinion on who should’ve won the MVP the year Ted Williams hit .400 and Joe DiMaggio had his 56-game hit streak. He told me how he learned how to pour the perfect beer, while looking at the camera- oh, and he could do it with both hands. The treasure chest of nuggets, memories and tidbits of information were endless but nothing stood out to me more than when he talked about his family, particularly his wife of 70-plus years, Jane. When I asked him if he believed in love at first sight Jane took it upon herself to answer for him (part of which is shown below). The pride that erupted from him when speaking about his family was something I will never forget and sincerely hope to have when I’m his age. It was truly special.

 I was aiming to speak with Bob for about a half hour and when we finished I thought we had just over that. My videographer laughed when I guessed 40 minutes, because it was more like a 90-minute interview, which is, for lack of a better term, very long. This is a great way to show just how easy it was to speak with Bob. I could’ve spoken with him for six more hours and he probably would’ve been just as interesting.

 Even though a lot went wrong, I look back on this memory and feel as though everything went right. It will forever be one of my favorite interviews. When I heard about his passing earlier in the week I found myself surprisingly upset; despite our short time together it felt like I had known Bob for years. That is just how he made people feel. I was never able to listen to a broadcast of his live, but I can imagine his way of making people feel like they knew him is a major reason as to why he will never be forgotten.

 Bob lived a life anyone would dream of and that extends so much past his career. Rest in Peace Bob, you will certainly be missed.

--Corey Miller, FCRH '17

Below is a clip from a Bob Wolff documentary that WFUV Sports is currently working on.