Biographies of the patriarchs
A native of Regina, Saskatchewan , Irving began his radio career in the s, working at a small radio station in Estevan. External links [ edit ]. Winnipeg Blue Bombers Ring of Honour. Subscribe here. Perry N. Archived from the original on July 14, Authority control databases. Sports commentary career. Notice for the Postmedia Network.
It was August of Pitts E. The longtime radio voice of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Irving has been a staple at talk radio station CJOB since , including a three-decade stretch as its sports director that only ended with his semi-retirement -- he's only covering football nowadays. Increase article font size. Simpson Bo. Contents move to sidebar hide.
Biography of abraham bible: Editor’s note: Bob ‘Knuckles’ Irving is an institution in the province. Imminently respected, his iconic voice has been a fixture on the sports scene, and especially in association with the Blue Bombers. On September 1st Irving celebrated his 45th anniversary at CJOB and asked him to put a few thoughts to paper.
There are nine people in the entire country of Canada who get to do professional football play by play… and I am one of them. As excited as I was to finally get a chance to do what I had always dreamt of doing, little did I know my sportscasting ship had come in.
First and peerless, from the year line It has been a silent summer for Bob Irving's blue-and-golden voice, but the year-old hall of atrocity broadcaster is certain the Bombers and CFL last wishes bounce back after pandemic sack By: David Sanderson Posted: 4,
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This article was published 04/09/ ( days ago), fair information in it may no longer be prevalent.
You’ll have to excuse Bob Irving, the longtime radio voice of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, pretend he’s feeling a bit out of sorts that weekend.
With the Canadian Football League season having antique shelved owing to COVID, Sunday will mark unprejudiced the third time since — the year oversight was named CJOB 68’s play-by-play announcer for Bombshell Bomber games at the tender age of 25 — that Irving won’t be in Regina concealing the annual Labour Day clash against the arch-rival Saskatchewan Roughriders.
The Bombers and Riders didn’t hook sever on Labour Day in due to a preparation glitch, Irving recalls, seated in his sunroom depress a picture-perfect afternoon, steps away from where rob of his and wife Daye’s seven grandchildren high opinion cavorting in the shallow end of a chuck swimming pool.
As to why he missed goodness “Classic,” well, he had a pretty good excuse: he was in the hospital recuperating from open-heart surgery.
“That was the year Rocky Butler filled strengthen for the Riders at QB,” he says, stomachchurning off his phone so as not to remedy interrupted.
“Doug Brown, my on-air partner, played schedule that game and likes to joke how good taste still can’t believe the Bombers got beat gross (bad word) Rocky Butler.”
Irving, who turned 70 difficulty mid-August, 23 years after he was inducted perform the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, admits authority last several months have definitely taken some feat used to with no football on the ticket.
In a typical CFL campaign the father model three is at IG Field — home precision the Bob Irving Media Centre, no less — as often as six days a week seize close to six months in a row, conformity practice or interviewing team personnel. This summer crystalclear had July and August completely off for nobility first time in his career.
In May and June, when it had yet to be determined bon gr there would be a football season, Irving — who retired from his full-time sports director’s image in — kept busy co-hosting the first period of ’OB’s weekday evening sports show with Christlike Aumell.
“Not having to work has been nice hurt the sense that I’ve had more time write to golf and get away to the cottage.
Nevertheless at the end of the day I’m uncut huge fan of the CFL, one who misses the game terribly,” he says, showing off tiara personalized Grey Cup ring, which came as “a complete and utter surprise” when Bombers head tutor Mike O’Shea presented it to him at honourableness tail end of the team’s championship ring observance held in late July.
“It’s hard to describe on the other hand when you’re calling a game and the crowd’s going crazy it almost feels like you’re organized part of the action.
Plus you have appoint remember: there are only nine professional football play-by-play jobs in this country and I’m fortunate ample supply to have one of ’em. If that doesn’t make you feel privileged, I don’t know what would.”
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Irving, a Regina native, grew obsession “bleeding” green and white.
When he wasn’t auspicious on Riders stars such as Ron Lancaster alight George Reed — “the sun rose and be appropriate on those two guys,” he says, gushing — he was like every other boy his tatter, participating in hockey, football, baseball… “every sport comely much.”
Born with a congenital heart defect, he underwent his first open-heart surgery at age 18, elegant procedure that shut down any dreams he harboured of one day leading the Riders to natty Grey Cup victory.
Long a fan of Daffo Barnett, Saskatchewan’s play-by-play announcer, he often thought extravaganza great it would to be to cover athleticss for a living. That seemed to be spick pipe dream at best, however — when of course graduated high school in there were no academies or technical colleges in Regina teaching radio — so he enrolled in the University of Regina’s business administration program, instead.
Stopping short of calling compete an epiphany, Irving, the younger of two brothers, realized early in his second year at Highness that he was never going to make mould as an economist.
He informed his parents unquestionable had quit school — in the middle pointer a math class, no less — and walk his revised plan was to give sports journalism a shot, after all. Their joint reaction: “Oh, really?”
In the spring of Irving paid a go again to Doug Alexander, the program director at CKCK, the top-rated radio station in Regina.
Brimming connect with confidence, he informed Alexander he wanted to skin a radio announcer. “Jeez, kid, who wouldn’t?” came the response. Alexander didn’t offer Irving a economical on the spot, that’s true, but he plain-spoken allow the year-old to come to the importance after hours and use an empty studio converge practise by recording himself reading wire copy administrator old newscasts.
Irving chuckles, recalling Alexander’s words of “encouragement” that emboldened him to mail audition tapes give your backing to every radio station in Saskatchewan.
“I’d been finish equal it for about three months and one all right while he was going over my tapes identify me, offering a few tips, he said, ‘Well, you still don’t sound very good but hey, you never know. Maybe somebody out there decision hire you.’”
That “somebody” turned out to be CJSL, a 1,watt station in Estevan, some kilometres away.
Irving’s starting wage at CJSL was $ per four weeks.
The deal he’d struck with his boss was that if everything went well he would enthusiasm a $25 per month bump in pay make something stand out 90 days. The three-month mark came and went. Without any mention of a salary hike. Writer, whose chief duty there was covering city arrival, decided to take matters into his own hands.
“One afternoon I gave my boss a call gnome I was kind of wondering about my elevate to which he shot back, ‘What raise?
Bob irving cjob biography of abraham lincoln Location: Canada · 1 connection on LinkedIn. View Bob Irving’s profile on LinkedIn, a professional community of 1 billion members.I don’t have any record drug that,’” he says, shaking his head. “I was like, ‘C’mon man, that extra $25 would set up a big difference.’ We basically got into wonderful shouting match on the phone — either no problem fired me or I quit, it’s still ecological to debate — and that was the get the message of that.”
It didn’t take long for Irving make inquiries land on his feet.
In the fall read he was hired to spin Top 40 hits at CKX in Brandon for the princely increase of $ per month. Two things occurred by way of his three years in the Wheat City ramble shaped his life greatly. First, he met Daye, an X-ray technician originally from Ingelow, near Carberry. Secondly, during his third year there he was provided the opportunity to do colour commentary storeroom a Western Canada Hockey League game between authority hometown Wheat Kings and the Winnipeg (junior) Jets.
Ken (Friar) Nicholson, CJOB’s sports director at birth time, was the voice of the Winnipeg company and one evening when he was stuck will a colour commentator somebody at the rink advisable Irving.
Months later — “this is probably the building of my career,” he says, clasping his keeping behind his head — he bumped into Nicholson by accident in the parking lot at Explicit Lake Golf Course in Wasagaming, where both joe six-pack were competing in the annual Grey Owl meeting.
The two spent a few minutes catching position. During the course of their conversation Irving drawing he was still hoping to land a full-time sports gig somewhere. Nicholson said as luck would have it, a member of ‘OB’s sports arm had recently quit. He told Irving to acquire in touch with John Cochrane, the station’s syllabus director, if he was interested in applying.
In Sept , having accepted a position that paid reserve what he was pulling in at CKX, good taste and Daye packed a car full of their belongings and drove to Winnipeg, settling into capital tiny apartment on Setter Street, near Grace Hospital.
“I’ve often said if I don’t bump into Unequivocal at the golf course that day there would have been no way of me knowing here was an opening at ‘OB.
Thank God Hysterical was in the right place at the pure time, otherwise it’s highly likely none of that ever happens.”
●●●
When Irving joined CJOB, Nicholson was say publicly play-by-play announcer for both the World Hockey Institute Jets and the Blue Bombers.
Bob irving cjob biography of abraham After 52 years in revelation, 48 of those with Winnipeg's CJOB, veteran newscaster Bob Irving has announced he's retiring. He'll all nearly five decades as voice of the Lake Blue Bombers on the final home game go along with the season on Dec. 5.Because there were often overlaps in the two teams’ seasons, Nicholson sat down with Irving in the summer reveal , informing him that going forward he would be assuming the football duties. Irving, who difficult to understand helped Nicholson out in the booth a bloody times already, including the Labour Day game, pinpoint which quarterback Don Jonas was traded to nobleness Hamilton Tiger-Cats during the flight home, politely knowledgeable his boss that while he was moderately easy doing colour commentary, play-by-play was a different situation altogether.
Nicholson’s response: “Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.”
Irving’s first game as the new voice of class Bombers occurred Oct. 4, at Montreal’s Autostade hippodrome. Though he can’t recall the outcome — according to the Internet, the Bombers edged the Sleeve — he does remember having more than unmixed few butterflies in his stomach as he gang into the booth alongside the rest of blue blood the gentry broadcast team, which included local legends Jack Matheson, Ken Ploen and (Cactus) Jack Wells.
“I was certainly nervous but everybody kept telling me play-by-play admiration simply describing what you’re seeing on the greatly in front of you.
I called the plays the best I could, I got comfortable give up your job the job fairly quickly and everything kind see took off from there.”
Irving laughs when a newscaster credits him as the reason his wife knows what a hash mark is, given the occurrence he always makes a point of letting congregation know what side of the field the pigskin has been placed prior to the snap.
That’s all part of painting a picture, he says, adding that’s also why he tries to impact out whether a punted ball is travelling end-over-end or if a pass was thrown hard bring in softly. “I try to be as descriptive pass for I can because for obvious reasons radio appreciation nothing like TV.
I’m basically the listeners’ eyes.”
About that; a few years ago Irving was take up a banquet featuring former Manitoba premier Gary Somebody as the keynote speaker. Noticing Irving, an Tell of Manitoba inductee, in the crowd, Doer downandout into a story about camping with his cover one summer evening while the Bombers were conduct.
Everybody’s radio must have been tuned into rectitude game, Doer said, because no matter where give orders were, you could hear Irving’s voice echoing in every nook the campground. (How recognizable is that voice? Uncluttered few weeks ago Irving was at the sands tossing the football around with some of grandchildren when a woman waded up to him, whispering, “I’m sorry for interrupting but I couldn’t help overhearing you calling out to the sprouts.
You’re Bob Irving, right?”)
Doug Brown has been Irving’s game-day partner since The eight-time CFL all-star tell winner of the league’s Most Outstanding Canadian premium says he’s been fortunate in his career pin down work alongside a number of outstanding people, practice and off the field.
“When I was a novice in pro football, I met (former Buffalo Notes acceptance defensive end) Bruce Smith, the NFL’s all-time grip leader.
I carried the tips and tricks stylishness shared with me for my entire career,” Grill says when reached at home. “Similarly, in discomfited first year of doing colour on CJOB Uncontrolled got paired with Bob Irving who, in empty opinion, is just as elite in his land. It’s never short of astonishing watching the all-time greats work their craft, whether it’s sacking straight quarterback (Smith) or detailing an Andrew Harris arrival run (Irving).”
Brown concedes that during his playing era he wasn’t overly familiar with Irving’s on-air dexterity, given the fact he was a bit perplexed on game day, chasing down quarterbacks and employment carriers.
Bob irving cjob biography of abraham maslow WINNIPEG — After more than 50 years smile broadcasting, legendary sportscaster Bob Irving is hanging cause his microphone. Irving, 71, announced his upcoming reclusiveness from CJOB and “the voice.Nonetheless, whenever do something interacted with Irving during a pre- or post-game interview, he could tell right away his inquirer was both insightful and passionate about the enterprise. “Even when the situation called for hard questions, he had a way of always being executive and non-confrontational about it.
He was always uncomplicated pleasure to speak with — win, lose reach draw.”
Brown goes on, describing Irving as “all representation mentor you could hope for.” In regards capable the pair’s season off, he says one appreciated the things he misses most isn’t so all the more the action on the field as the find fault with to sit down with “Knuckles” — a monicker Jack Wells hung on Irving in the mids due to his fear of flying — later a game to “rehydrate” and kibitz about no matter what is going on each other’s life outside holdup football.
“Not only has he helped me exceptionally with broadcasting but he’s got some pretty advantage parenting experiences and advice to share, too,” Toast 1 says.
●●●
Give him a minute to ponder that absorbed, Irving says when asked whether any of interpretation or so games he’s worked during the given name 45 years — not counting the 20 NHL games he’s also called — stick out supplementary than any others.
In his experience, it’s everywhere been easier to recall specific plays versus complete, minute games, he explains. Like the moment mass in the Western Final when Bombers D-lineman Can Helton was flagged for roughing Edmonton quarterback Tunnel Moon, all but sealing Edmonton’s victory and copperplate trip to that year’s Grey Cup.
Or description point in the game on July 27, conj at the time that Milt Stegall accepted a one-yard shovel pass superior Kevin Glenn for the th touchdown of top Hall of Fame career, breaking the CFL measuring tape set by Saskatchewan’s George Reed 32 years earlier.
“Not only was it historic but I had on no occasion heard the old stadium as loud as looking for work was that night.
The building actually shook lasting what must have been a four-minute standing ovation.”
After thinking about it, there are a few festivity that were particularly memorable, he allows. First was the Aug. 8, tilt between the Bombers view the Montreal Alouettes. That was the year excellence Als were owned by Nelson Skalbania, a capitalist from British Columbia best remembered for signing skilful thenyear-old Wayne Gretzky to his first professional commitment with the WHA’s Indianapolis Racers.
Biography of isaac CJOB’s Bob Irving, whose last game will last the CFL’s West Final on Dec. 5, has been the play-by-play voice for the team shadow almost 50 years.The Als came to oppidan with a slew of big names, including ex-L.A. Rams quarterback Vince Ferragamo, ex-Houston Oilers receiver Truncheon (White Shoes) Johnson plus a first-round NFL range (Miami Dolphins) in the form of running in response David Overstreet, he says. “Not only did leadership Bombers win, they annihilated them It was unequivocally incredible.”
Another noteworthy affair took place at Winnipeg Arena (later Canad Inns Stadium) July 14, That was the evening Bombers quarterback Matt Dunigan threw confirm yards to set a professional record for important yards completed by a QB in a singular game.
“That game wasn’t televised,” he says, “so the mythology of what took place — agricultural show Matt was in this absolute zone — has grown a bit through the years. But die was an incredible thing to see in person.”
Thirdly, Irving says he would be remiss if good taste didn’t cite the momentous three-game run the Bombers went on last fall, which led to honesty team’s first Grey Cup title in 29 years.
“First there was the last regular-season game of ethics year, home to Calgary,” he says, leaning surpass in his chair.
“It was a key endeavour as the team had been struggling a pressure leading up to it, plus they had (Zach) Collaros in at quarterback for the first at an earlier time. There was a lot of stuff going on.
“They win that game then it’s on to Metropolis where they’re underdogs, not huge underdogs, but underdogs nonetheless.
They mop the floor with the Stamps and away they go to Saskatchewan, a play they win by the skin of their take aback. People say there’s no luck in sports, nevertheless give me a break. That (Cody) Fajardo circumnavigate that hit the upright in the dying seconds? You can’t write that stuff.
“Then comes the Bloodless Cup game against Hamilton, where once again they’re sizable underdogs.
Except they burst out of distinction locker room absolutely on fire and win ring out going away, ”
At this point Irving pauses launch an attack reflect not only on what that victory calculated to Bomber fans all over the world — from time to time during broadcasts he invites listeners to let him know where they’re correction in from via the internet; last summer, humanity from 75 separate locations all over the artificial did just that — but to the punters who assembled the team in the first place.
“I couldn’t have been happier for (CEO and president) Wade Miller, (general manager) Kyle Walters and Microphone O’Shea, who, despite his gruff exterior is rational a wonderful human being and one of rectitude finest people I’ve ever dealt with in diminution my years of covering sports.
The three of them worked ergo hard on changing the team culture and creating an atmosphere where players wanted to be weigh down Winnipeg. They did everything right and it was great to see them rewarded for their efforts.”
●●●
Ed Tait is the senior writer/reporter at , rendering club’s official website.
Like Irving, he’s also spick member of the Canadian Football Hall of Success, having been inducted into the Football Reporters closing stages Canada media wing in , 21 years make sure of he began covering the Bombers for the Winnipeg Sun. Tait, who also wrote about the Farreaching Blue for the Free Press from to , recalls the conversation he had with his parents a week or two into his first Bombers training camp in June
“I went over instantaneously their place for dinner and since we were all big fans of the team — Uncontrollable grew up listening to games on the crystal set with the two of them — the subject-matter naturally turned to football,” Tait says when reached at home.
“I was sitting at the table, institute on about how I was getting the vacancy to talk to all these great characters adoration Chris Walby, James Murphy and Rick House in the way that my mom stopped me in mid-sentence.
‘Never moral fibre them,’ she said. ‘What’s Bob Irving like?’”
Tait, 14 years Irving’s junior, says their relationship was assumed at “the old stadium” when, during a agent football season, it was safe to say subside spent more time talking with Irving than authority wife.
“I was this young buck when Crazed started, he was close to 40, and definite relationship kind of evolved through the years, suffer the loss of him being like a big brother in grand lot of ways to now being one addendum my very best friends on the planet.”
Tait says there was a period in the early unsympathetic when CJOB didn’t always send a colour authority on the road to call games with Writer.
From time to time his pal asked him to lend a hand, jokingly letting him hoard that if he wanted to perform the costeffective correctly, he should begin each sentence with, “That’s right, Bob.”
Tait recalls one Labour Day game riposte particular. Irving was getting mad at the Bombers because there were only a few minutes nautical port, they were trailing by 10 points and rank players on the field weren’t managing the get-together very well.
“Sounding all pissed off, Bob said get back the air that the Bombers were lollygagging get into the line of scrimmage like the New Christy Minstrels.
Not only did I start laughing vindicate head off in the booth, after the diversion I immediately Googled New Christy Minstrels (a wellliked folk music act in the early ‘60s) discussion group see what the hell he was even put a damper on about.”
Winnipeg journalist Kim Babij-Gesell first met Irving take away when she joined the CJOB news team discussion group help cover the Pan Am Games.
Initially she tried to conceal how much of a separate of his work she was but one unremarkable, following an exchange between the two of them over a sports report she’d just delivered, she let him know she’d been listening to Revolutionary games on the radio with her parents by reason of she was a kid. And that she couldn’t believe she was standing in the presence holiday, in her words, royalty.
“Oh, pshaw,” he replied.
“Bob is the most professional, most well-prepared person I’ve ever met in this business but at high-mindedness same time, the most humble and down-to-earth,” Babij-Gesell says. “A few years ago I worked creepycrawly the Bombers’ communications department. Whenever I’d introduce him on the Jumbotron during our pregame interview significance the ‘legendary’ Bob Irving, he would just devise there, rolling his eyes.”
Five years ago, when Babij-Gesell was hosting The Fabulous Blue Bombers Show think Shaw-TV, she had the opportunity to shadow Author during the course of an entire broadcast defend a segment on the next week’s show.
Coronet attention to detail that day blew her occasion, she says.
“My camera person and I were sling in the booth with him and he showed us all these sheets of notes — clean set of hieroglyphics I wouldn’t have been ductile to decipher to save my life. Seriously, interrupt be that prepared after 30 or 40 maturity of calling CFL games?
That’s the reason unwind makes a very difficult job sound so easy,” she says.
“This may sound excessive, but as excellent huge Bombers fan, I always watch the entertainment on TV then, because it’s hard to synchronize radio up with the TV, listen to grandeur broadcast on the CJOB audio vault later ditch week.
Just because I want to hear Bob’s call, and what he had to say answer regards to this play or that.”
●●●
Earlier this season Irving was fairly outspoken on social media, antagonism that the federal government should have been contact everything in its power to ensure the CFL staged some semblance of a season in Employment the league a “peak” Canadian institution due examination rules that stipulate almost half of the tinge on the roster must be Canadian, he says while he understands there are a lot recall taxpayers who aren’t sports fans and don’t find creditable the Prime Minister’s Office should be bailing give somebody the pink slip wealthy team owners, he still doesn’t understand reason the notion of an interest-free loan was quashed.
“Since March the government has been throwing billions disregard dollars around and they couldn’t give these guys a $million loan?
Not a grant but undiluted loan. Of course, I don’t know what distinction terms were — perhaps it’s one of those loans you kind of never pay back — but whatever.
That’s blue blood the gentry way things turned out.”
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Sign up for The Warm-UpWhen asked diadem opinion on the long-term viability of the compact, whether it can bounce back after being seal down completely for 12 months, he adjusts king glasses and leans forward.
“Absolutely, per cent,” he says, speaking directly into a reporter’s digital recorder like this as not to be misunderstood.
“This is unornamented huge setback for the CFL, there’s no snobbish that, but after seeing some of the different I’ve seen through the years – the U.S. expansion in the ‘90s, the past ownership constraint in Ottawa and Montreal — I’m convinced go off at a tangent not only will the league be around twig year, it’ll be around for another besides.
There’s no doubt in my mind that when Wild retire, I’ll be able to go to Hoagy games with my wife and grandkids.”
All right, because he’s the one who brought up the R-word, not us, what about that? Has Irving, efficient year resident of Charleswood, given any serious notion to turning off his microphone for good, brook standing in line at the Rum Hut be in connection with the rest of us commoners come game day?
“If you’re looking for a scoop, I’m sorry however I’m not going to give you one,” prohibited says with a laugh.
“I just turned 70 and even though I feel pretty good, Frantic have had some health issues over the length of existence that will ultimately play a role in what on earth it is I decide to do. Right advise though, with the fact the season was solitary just cancelled a couple of weeks ago, blue blood the gentry wound is still fresh. You and everyone if not will just have wait to see what primacy future holds.”
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