Bob Steele Close Up On Sports | The Boneyard

Bob Steele Close Up On Sports

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My wife and I are going crazy trying to think of the opening music that used to play before Bob Steele's Close Up On Sports on WTIC TV back in the days of black & white tv. We were trying to name as many theme songs as we could during one of our "There's nothing better to do" pandemic days.
Anybody have a clue?
 
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My wife and I are going crazy trying to think of the opening music that used to play before Bob Steele's Close Up On Sports on WTIC TV back in the days of black & white tv. We were trying to name as many theme songs as we could during one of our "There's nothing better to do" pandemic days.
Anybody have a clue?
I cannot comment on his sports broadcasting since I cannot remember it, but I found a nice biographical youtube video of him.

I used to listen to him when attending UConn in the 1960's and my roommate from New Britain and his very traditional family, loved Bob Steele.

In the video, he comments and you can see pictures of him. He was quite a legend in a very classy, yet folksy way. Maybe, Connecticut's version of Will Rogers.

No shock jock. No screamer like a lot of today's sportscasters or radio broadcasters. No pomp and circumstance. Just a regular guy with a class act. Subtle, yet effective.

I recall the radio engineer was "Mr. Zwirko."

Hope this is helpful.

 
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I cannot comment on his sports broadcasting since I cannot remember it, but I found a nice biographical youtube video of him.

I used to listen to him when attending UConn in the 1960's and my roommate from New Britain and his very traditional family, loved Bob Steele.

In the video, he comments and you can see pictures of him. He was quite a legend in a very classy, yet folksy way. Maybe, Connecticut's version of Will Rogers.

No shock jock. No screamer like a lot of today's sportscasters or radio broadcasters. No pomp and circumstance. Just a regular guy with a class act. Subtle, yet effective.

I recall the radio engineer was "Mr. Zwirko."

Hope this is helpful.


Thanks, that was great!
 
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Bob Steele is a name from the past! Good old TIC days!
 
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Bob Steele's humor reminds me of Jonathon Winters. I put myself through UConn working as a short order cook at the Howard Johnson in the Hartford Meadows back in the late 70's. Some shifts started at 6 or 7 AM and I would listen to Bob driving in as he was a classic. He would give the farm report early in his show reporting on the price of hog bellies etc. It was bizarre to a 18 year old but those were the times. One day at work our manager came in and told us that MLK's wife Coretta Scott King had stopped to eat on her way to another destination. The cooks in the kitchen tried our best to give her group a good meal.
 

gtcam

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He and his wife would eat at the old Carbones on Franklin Avenue every Friday night.
When I used to go (a lot) he would always be sitting there drinking a cocktail and puffing on a cigarette
As I remember he usually ate the filet of sole or the veal marsala - never deviated
He occasionally spoke to my father and they shared Walt Dropo stories
I remember on the radio he would have that bird soundtrack before every show at 5AM
 
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His son, Robert, ran for governor and Bob refused to talk about him on his show. Thought it would be unfair.
 

rbny1

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We listened to him every morning in our house when I was a kid growing up in the late 1940s and the 1950s. All these years later I still remember his corny humor, such as….

On a stormy day, an American and a Russian began to argue whether it was raining or snowing. They got angrier and angrier until the American’s wife finally settled the matter by saying, “Rudolf the red knows rain, dear.”

Listening to him each morning was a big part of my childhood, corny jokes and all.
 
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I know that one of Bob Steele's programs used the William Tell Overture as a theme (apologies to The Lone Ranger). The morning show did begin with the chirping birds melody, so the William Tell might have been the "Close Up" theme. Or it might have been the theme for his early radio program "Strictly Sports." Or perhaps the closing theme of the morning show. Ah, memory.

Bob was a favorite of all who enjoy awakening to the electronically-enhanced sounds of a man slurping coffee and juicily chomping his wife's coffee cake.

Bob's first love was boxing with baseball a close second. UConn basketball, although avidly followed in the state even then,, rarely got a mention on his sports programs.
 
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I was just trying to think of Bob
He was notorious for bad predictions
I remember one weekend there was a big fight , a triple crown horse race . and a third big event I can’t remember.
His pick sustained a huge cut that not only stopped the fight but required hospitalization for the boxer
His horse not only lost but had to be destroyed .
The third event didn’t go much better.
That my memory of Bob
Betting against his picks was a winner.
 

Waquoit

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Bob always gave a local nod when giving the sports scores. "Lakers beat the Rockets 120-111. Johnny Egan had 2 points..."
 
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Bob always gave a local nod when giving the sports scores. "Lakers beat the Rockets 120-111. Johnny Egan had 2 points..."
Growing up, I remember him as being an excellent guard from Hartford Weaver, who starred at Providence, and later played and coached in the NBA.

Interestingly, he has worked for charitable organizations in Houston, at least until 1999 according to the YouTube posting, which appears to mention him as part of an anti-bullying message if I am reading it correctly.

 

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