News 12 LI's Bob Wolff Recognized By Guinness World Records For Longest Career As A Sportcaster

WOODBURY, N.Y. - Nov. 14, 2014 - PRLog -- News 12 Long Island recently announced that award-winning sportscaster Bob Wolff has been recognized by Guinness World Records for having the “longest career as a sportscaster and broadcaster.”   Currently enjoying his 75th year in broadcasting, with more than 68 of those in television, Wolff is still going strong.  Guinness World Records presented Wolff with the 75 year certificate at the New York Knicks game at Madison Square Garden this past Wednesday.

Patrick Dolan, President, News 12 Networks and News 12 Long Island News Director, noted: “For more than 28 years, we’ve been thrilled and honored to count Bob Wolff as a member of the News 12 family. Bob is more than a sportscaster---he’s a broadcast legend. His genius and relentless work ethic have been an inspiration for scores of young sport professionals at News 12 and elsewhere. We couldn’t be happier to be a part of his legacy.”

“This has been a wonderful journey and I’m still enjoying every moment”, said Bob Wolff.  “I’ve been privileged to work with some of the best professionals in the business and for that I am truly grateful.  I feel enormously lucky that I have been a professional sports broadcaster in nine decades, beginning on CBS in 1939, providing play-by-play of some of the most memorable games in sports history.  To be honored at Madison Square Garden, where I’ve called so many memorable events, and made so many friends, is something I’ll always cherish, and I look forward to continuing to cover sports well into the future.”

Wolff began his professional career in 1939 working for WDNC-CBS while a freshman at Duke University in Durham, NC.  The Phi Beta Kappa graduate became a sports television pioneer in 1946 when he joined DuMont Network’s WTTG-TV as the first telecaster in Washington, D.C.  He was also the first basketball team telecaster in history, calling play-by-play for the Red Auerbach-coached Washington Capitols in their inaugural 1946-1947 season.  During his 15 years in Washington, D.C., Wolff became a local broadcasting legend.  He was the television voice of the Washington Senators beginning in 1947 and, in addition to calling games, he also handled the team’s pre-game and post-game TV and radio shows.

Beginning in 1954, he began a remarkable 36-year television run as MSG play-by-play broadcaster where he held the record for telecasting more MSG events than any other sportscaster, including long-running tenures as the TV voice of the New York Knicks, the Rangers, numerous college basketball teams, the National Invitation Tournament, the Millrose Games, Virginia Slims Tennis, the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show and the National Horse Show.   He’s also been the national play-by-play voice for NBC, ABC and the Mutual Broadcasting System’s “Game of the Week” in baseball and college football, and the local television play caller for eight pro teams in five sports.  On the college scene, he was a popular play caller for Maryland, Navy and St. John’s.

Wolff has been behind the microphone for many sporting firsts.  In 1956, he was selected to cover Mutual Broadcasting System’s broadcast of the 1956 World Series between the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers.  He had a sportscasting first in Game 5 when he called Don Larsen’s perfect game – the only one in World Series history.  He also called the Baltimore Colts 1958 victory over the New York Giants at Yankee Stadium in the first overtime NFL Championship that has been called “the greatest game ever played.”  And in 1960, Wolff teamed with Canadian TV hockey great Foster Hewitt to call television’s first-ever pay-per-view game, Toronto against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden.  In 1961, Wolff followed the Senators to Minnesota to become the play-by-play voice of the Minnesota Twins and in 1962, he was selected to be the play-by-play telecaster on NBC’s Baseball Game of the Week. Wolff joined News 12 Long Island when it launched in 1986 and continues to serve as an active sportscaster with the network.

Throughout his long and distinguished career, he has received numerous accolades.  For starters, Wolff holds the rare distinction of having broadcast the play-by-play championships in all four major professional sports – the World Series, the Stanley Cup Finals, the NBA Championship and the National Football League Championship.  In 2003, he became the first person to capture the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association’s (NSSA) Triple Crown of awards.  Wolff was inducted into the NSSA Hall of Fame and was also selected as New York State Sportscaster of the Year for the sixth time and received the national Powerade Award for Best Sportscast for the “Bob Wolff Baseball Scrapbook” show on the MSG Network.  That same year, he was also inducted into the Madison Square Garden Walk of Fame.  In 1995, he was honored with baseball’s prestigious Ford C. Frick Award for major contributions to baseball and was inducted into the broadcast wing of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.  In July 2008, he was voted into the National Basketball Hall of Fame with the Curt Gowdy Award, joining Curt as the only two sportscasters to be in both the basketball and the baseball halls.  Wolff has also been honored by selection to the Hall of Fame of his collegiate fraternity- Sigma Nu.

A New York native, Wolff resides in Rockland County, NY, with his wife Jane.  They have two sons and a daughter.  The “Wolffpack” now includes nine grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.

About News 12 Networks
News 12 Networks is the first, largest, and most watched 24-hour local cable news network in the country.  News 12 Long Island, the first of its kind, launched in 1986, and today the network of 7 individual local 24-hour news channels remains a cable-exclusive service, serving New Jersey, Connecticut, Westchester, Hudson Valley (Rockland and Orange Counties), the Bronx, and Brooklyn in addition to Long Island.  News 12 Networks also includes five traffic and weather channels, providing constantly updated information in those two key subject areas, throughout the same coverage footprint.  In addition to the 12 cable channels, News 12 also features the award winning news12.com, the premiere destination for local  news on the web; and News 12 Interactive, channel 612 on Optimum  TV,  providing local news on-demand to Cablevision subscribers.   News 12 Networks is owned and operated by Cablevision Systems Corporation.

Photo Caption:
Pictured (l. to r.) are Guinness World Records Mike Janela, News 12 Long Island’s Bob Wolff, and  Knicks legend  Walt “Clyde” Frazier.
Photo Credit:  George Kalinsky/MSG Photos