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COUGAR RADIO NETWORK THE COUGAR SPORTS RADIO NETWORK Cougar football games are broadcast live on the radio throughout the Pacific Northwest via The Cougar Sports Radio Network. The 24-station football network - one of the largest in the Pac-10 - reaches from British Columbia to Oregon and can be heard worldwide via the internet and XM Satellite radio. The men's basketball network includes 15 stations. The KXLY Broadcast Group produces The Cougar Sports Network, which also features radio coverage of WSU men's basketball, baseball, women's basketball and women's volleyball, and 30-minute coaches show in the fall and winter seasons. Cougar football broadcasts begin an hour before kickoff, carry through the game and conclude with post-game interviews with players and coaches and a live call-in talk show. KXLY, which began partnership with the Cougars in 2001 and now runs through 2012, also publishes Crimson & Gray Magazine, the official game-day publication of Cougar football.
THE BROADCAST TEAM Hall of fame announcer Bob Robertson Sr. is in his 41st season calling Cougar football action. When Cougar fans gather and talk about Saturday afternoons in the fall on the Palouse, football and Robertson just naturally become part of the conversation. The long-time Cougar broadcaster began his association with WSU football in 1964 and with the exception of a three-year period in 1969-71, he's been calling the Cougar action ever since. Robertson's peers have selected him Washington Sportscaster of the Year 12 times, validating what Cougar fans have known for years - he is simply the best. In 1995 he was named the State Broadcaster of the Year. Robertson was inducted into both the WSU Athletic Hall of Fame and the Inland Empire Hall of Fame in 2001-02, and in August 2004 received the prestigious Chris Schenkel Award at ceremonies held at the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind. At the same time he became the first broadcaster west of the Mississippi to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame - broadcaster division. He is also a member of the Pierce County Hall of Fame. Bob's association with WSU runs deeper than just football broadcasts. For 23 years he was the voice of Cougar Basketball, including several NCAA tournament teams. In 1978-79, he was named WSU's Dad of the Year and he also worked with the WSU Cougar Club on the west side in the 1980's. Robertson was born in Fullerton, Calif., during spring training of the Seattle Indians of the Pacific Coast League. At the time his father was a player for the Seattle club. After graduating from Blaine (Wash.) High School, he attended Western Washington University in Bellingham, where he launched his broadcasting career. His first broadcasting exposure came as a young actor for the Canadian Broadcasting Company in Vancouver, B.C., then bloomed while attending college. In 1948 Robertson signed to play professional baseball, but a year later gave up playing to become the voice of the Wenatchee Chiefs of the Western International League, his first full-time broadcasting opportunity. Among his many accomplishments, Robertson has: This fall Bob and wife Joanne celebrate their 57th anniversary. They have four children, Hugh, Janna, John and Rebecca, and seven grandchildren. The Robertsons have resided in Tacoma since 1950, with the exception of his stint with Notre Dame. As much as Robertson is part of Cougar Football Saturday, so is his closing broadcast signature, "Always be a good sport, be a good sport all ways,"
 Joining Robertson in the broadcast booth for the seventh year is a name familiar very to Cougar football fans, former Cougar head coach (1978-86) Jim Walden. Walden is the third winningest coach in WSU football history. Known for his wit and charm, Walden later coached the Iowa State, then in 1995 moved into the broadcasting profession, both in radio and TV, while continuing to live in Iowa. Walden, who beat every team in the Pacific-10 Conference while at WSU, is perhaps best remembered for resurrecting a struggling program that had three coaches in three years, and for guiding WSU to the 1981 Holiday Bowl, the Cougars' first bowl appearance in 51 years. Jim now lives in Harrison, Idaho.
 Patrolling the sidelines and locker rooms is KXLY's Bud Nameck, who also handles the network's play-by-play duties during the Cougar men's basketball season. Nameck served as sports director for at KXLY for 13 years, 1982-95, and was the voice of Cougar football for FOX Sports Northwest for 14 years, 1988-2001. He is currently the program director for Cougar flagship Newsradio 920 KXLY and resides in Spokane with his wife Diane and daughter Kelsey.
The 2007 Cougar Sports Network
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