Bob Blackburn - Broadcasting

Bob Blackburn burned his name into the hearts of radio listeners throughout Oregon and Washington at a level matched by few through the 1950s, ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s and retired as one of the great, local media pioneers.

Born in 1924, Blackburn grew up in Los Angeles and delved into radio broadcasting in 1943 in California before moving to Portland to broadcast games for the Portland Beavers. He covered the team for 18 years, many with partner Rollie Truitt.

Beyond the Portland Beavers, Blackburn earned a place in Oregon State’s history as play-by-play broadcaster for OSU football and basketball games and helped formed a statewide network for the school. While sports director for KEX in the ‘50s, he also served as an afternoon disc jockey.

Blackburn broadcast everything from Portland Buckaroos games, to University of Oregon football. On Sundays, he re-created games of the Los Angeles Rams for listeners using information from a teletype. The expansion Seattle Super Sonics hired him as their radio voice in 1967.

While broadcasting solo for the Sonics during their first 20 seasons (1967-’86), Blackburn came to be known by a simple nickname: “Voice.” Over the course of his career, he is credited with having called more than 7,000 events and 2,359 NBA games. Blackburn retired from broadcasting in 1992 and died in 2010 at age 85. He was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 2002, and is also a member of the Washington Sports Hall of Fame.