“BobRob” signs off. Longtime WSU and Tacoma Rainiers broadcaster announces immediate retirement

After 52 seasons, Washington State fans will not hear the familiar voice of Bob Robertson on Saturdays.

Robertson, the long-time Cougar play-by-play man and now analyst, announced his immediate retirement, the school announced on Monday.

Robertson, 89, was also broadcast games for the Tacoma Rainiers for more than three decades. In August the franchise named the broadcast booth after Robinson.

“It is a matter of getting old is what it is. Everything seems to move a lot faster around me, I move more slowly,” Robertson said in a press release issued by the school. “I hope to see you soon, I’m not going to go away. I like Washington State people and the school itself too much to do that. But I am going to be on the retired list, starting immediately.”

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ps5VqBumk9s" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Robertson, who began his broadcasting career in 1949 and became a mainstay in Pullman starting in 1964. For 52 seasons, his voice was heard by Cougar fans up and down the Pac-12 and at two Rose Bowls.

He will be forever known for his signature broadcast sign-off, “Always be a good sport, be a good sport all ways.”

Affectionately known as “BobRob”, Robertson broadcast everything from high school football to basketball to boxing to hydroplane races as he truly established himself as an institution in the Pacific Northwest.

“I’ve been with the Cougars a lot of years, more than half a century, calling basketball, football for the fans around the Northwest and elsewhere around the country and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it,” said Robertson. “It’s been great to be with you Cougars at your meetings and get-togethers, and I hope we can do it again and I’m sure we will.”

This story was originally published October 15, 2018 at 1:58 PM.