CONTACT: John Laabs, WBA Foundation President & CEO
jlaabs@aol.com or (608) 575-7678
New Sports Gallery Commemorates Greatest Moments in State’s Sports Broadcasting
MADISON–The online Wisconsin Museum of Broadcasting is pleased to announce the March 22nd grand opening of a new exhibit devoted exclusively to the greatest moments in the history of Wisconsin sports broadcasting!
“Sportscasters who call the action and bring the excitement into homes throughout Wisconsin have earned a special and distinctive place in the fabric of our lives,” said John Laabs, president and CEO of the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association Foundation and curator of the museum, in a statement today. “We are so pleased to devote this new exhibit entirely to the games and announcers who have helped make Wisconsin teams famous.”
The Sports Gallery exhibit will be unveiled and open to the public at http://www.wisconsinbroadcastingmuseum.org on Thursday, March 22. Visitors to the Museum can click, watch and hear the electrifying play-by-play highlights of some of the greatest games ever played by Wisconsin teams–called as they happened by some of the best-known Wisconsin sportscasters.
Among the highlights:
* Earl Gillespie at the mic in 1954 as Jim Wilson pitches the Milwaukee Braves’ first no-hitter
* Ted Moore calling the Green Bay Packers’ famous 1967 Ice Bowl game
* Bob Leu’s “shot and a goal!” narration of the UW Men’s Hockey first NCAA championship title in 1973.
Many other big names are featured in the Museum’s new Sports Gallery : Uecker, Irwin, McGee, LePay, Doucette, Manthey, Stout, and more. Play-calling highlights from the most famous games in history include the Braves’ opening season, the Packers’ first Super Bowl victory, the Bucks’ 1971 Championship, and Badger Basketball’s run to the NCAA finals in 2000.
In all, the Sports Gallery spotlights 35 of the greatest moments in Wisconsin sports broadcasting history. Laabs said the Museum hopes to add more.
“Sportscasters have played a remarkable role in the lives of fans,” Laabs said, “and their play-by-play of Wisconsin’s most exciting and historic broadcast moments is what the Sports Gallery will commemorate for all time.”
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The Wisconsin Broadcasters Association Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization devoted to enhancing, promoting and supporting the broadcast industry by encouraging the preservation of broadcast history, participating in public affairs activities, and providing educational opportunities for professional broadcasters and those who seek careers in the broadcast industry.
The online Wisconsin Museum of Broadcasting is an interactive, Web-based virtual museum of the history of broadcasting as seen through the lens of the radio and television broadcasters of one state: Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Museum of Broadcasting is owned and operated by the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association Foundation, a sec. 501(c)(3) charitable, educational, scientific and research foundation established in 1989.
