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Christopher Eugene "Chris" Schenkel (August 21, 1923 – September 11, 2005) was an American sportscaster. Over the course of five decades he called play-by-play for numerous sports on television and radio, becoming known for his smooth delivery and baritone voice.

Biography[link]

Early life and career[link]

Schenkel began his broadcasting career at radio station WBAA while studying for a premedical degree at Purdue University. He worked for a time at WLBC in Muncie, Indiana.^[1] After military service in World War II, he resumed sportcasting in Providence, Rhode Island. In 1947, he called the first American football game ever broadcast on television (a Harvard-Army contest).

In 1952, Schenkel was hired by the DuMont Television Network, for which he broadcast New York Giants football and hosted DuMont's Boxing From Eastern Parkway (1953-1954) and Boxing From St. Nicholas Arena (1954-1956).

In 1956, he moved to CBS Sports, where he continued to call Giants games, along with boxing, the Triple Crown horse racing, and The Masters golf tournament, among other events. Along with Chuck Thompson, Schenkel called the 1958 NFL Championship Game for NBC. He was the voiceover talent for the very first NFL Films production ever made, the 1962 NFL Championship Game between the Green Bay Packers and the New York Giants.

ABC Sports[link]

ABC Sports hired Schenkel in 1965, and there he broadcast college football, Major League Baseball, NBA basketball, golf and tennis tournaments, boxing, auto racing, and the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. He also had a long-term assignment covering professional bowling, mainly for the Professional Bowlers Association (also known as the Pro Bowlers Tour). He covered bowling from the early 1960s until 1997, as it became one of ABC's signature sports for Saturday afternoons. His broadcast partners on the PBA telecasts included Billy Welu (through 1974) and Nelson "Bo" Burton, Jr. (1975–97). Schenkel and his broadcast team provided exciting and colorful coverage to a sport not typically considered attractive to a television audience.

During his 36 years on The Professional Bowlers Tour, there were occasions when ABC sent Schenkel away to cover other assignments. Strangely, he was away on assignment for the first four of the PBA's televised 300 games. He would eventually witness a 300 game on January 31, 1987 when Houstonian Pete McCordic bowled one in the first match of the Greater Los Angeles Open. Chris told McCordic it was a great moment for him, since he was away all the other times. Chris would witness and call five more televised 300 games.

Contrary to current popular belief, Chris Schenkel, not Jim McKay, anchored ABC's prime time coverage of the ill-fated 1972 Summer Olympics. When the terrorist attacks (otherwise known as the Munich Massacre) occurred, Schenkel was asleep after hosting the previous night's coverage live from Munich from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. local time. McKay, who was on his way to the Stadium for track and field coverage, was told to return to the ABC studio to report on the situation unfolding at the Olympic Village. Schenkel returned to anchor Olympic coverage after the Games resumed.

Honors[link]

In 1971, Statesboro, Georgia businessman Charlie Robbins honored Schenkel by developing in his name a scholarship for golf at Georgia Southern University and developed the Chris Schenkel Intercollegiate Golf Tournament, featuring some of the nation's top college golf teams. The tournament ended after the 1989 because of concerns after it was discovered the golf club hosting the tournament was all white, but was revived in 1999 as the E-Z-Go Schenkel Invitational. The tournament is regarded as one of college golf's premier intercollegiate tournament in the East.

Chris Schenkel also was the play by play man (with Bud Wilkinson) for the legendary Nebraska-Oklahoma "Game of the Century" on Thanksgiving Day 1971, as well as the Sugar Bowl national championship showdown between Notre Dame and Alabama on New Year's Eve 1973 (with Wilkinson and Howard Cosell, in a rare college football appearance). In 1974, Schenkel was replaced by Keith Jackson as ABC's lead play-by-play man for college football telecasts, but Schenkel continued to call college football games for several more years.

Schenkel was named National Sportscaster of the Year four times, and in 1992 he received a lifetime achievement Emmy. Also in 1992, the Pro Football Hall of Fame presented Schenkel with its Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award. In 1999, he received the Jim Thorpe Lifetime Achievement Award.

In 1999, the Professional Bowlers Association named the Player of the Year award after Schenkel.

In a 2009 vote by its members, the American Sportscasters Association ranked Schenkel 25th on its list of the Top 50 Sportscasters of All-Time.^[2]

Personal[link]

He was married to former dancer and model, Fran Page.

Schenkel had three children, Christina, Teddy, and Johnny. He also has three grandchildren, Christopher, Michael, and Katie.

In 1971, Schenkel, a longtime friend of Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony Hulman, was a passenger in the pace car for that year's Indianapolis 500 race. Astronaut John Glenn and Hulman were also in the car when its driver, Indianapolis-area Dodge dealer Eldon Palmer, crashed the 1971 Dodge Challenger convertible into a camera platform at the beginning of the race. Someone had moved the flag Palmer had positioned as a braking reference point, leading to the incident that injured twenty-two people, mostly photographers. Schenkel was in the back seat and suffered a broken shoulder when a photographer tumbled into the car. The car's other occupants were not seriously injured. The moment of the crash was captured by Chicago Tribune photographer Frank Hanes and was widely distributed via various media outlets.

Death[link]

Schenkel died of emphysema in 2005 at the age of 82.

Other appearances[link]

Schenkel appeared (along with Bo Burton) as the bowling announcers in the final match in the 1979 movie Dreamer.

Schenkel appeared as himself in the 1996 film Kingpin. He played the role of play-by-play announcer in the final match between characters Ernie McCracken and Roy Munson.

Another appearance was in the 1994 film Greedy. He played himself as an announcer of a bowling tournament early in the movie.

Schenkel's voice can be heard on the "Daisy" ad.

Schenkel also appeared in "Beer in a Bottle" industrial ads for Owens-Illinois.

References[link]

External links[link]

Biography portal

• Chris Schenkel at Find a Grave

Nelson "Bo" Burton, Jr. (born June 5, 1942 in St. Louis, Missouri) is a professional ten-pin bowler and former longtime analyst for the Professional Bowlers Tour on ABC Television. He is the son of Nelson Burton, Sr., who himself was a successful bowler in his day, competing with the likes of Glenn Allison and Billy Welu. Bo compiled 18 titles on the PBA Tour and earned $763,782 (USD).

Biography[link]

Bowling career[link]

He won his first title in Louisville, Kentucky, on August 20, 1964, at age 22. He was the 1970 PBA Player of the Year, leading the tour in average. Burton won major titles at the 1976 ABC Masters and the BPAA U.S. Open in 1978.

Both Burton and his father are members of the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) Hall of Fame. Burton, Jr. is also a member of the PBA Hall of Fame, elected in 1979. His final PBA tour title came in 1984 at the AMF Angle Open in his hometown of St. Louis. In that tournament, Burton set a record for a televised four-game pin total with a combined score of 1,050 (278-279-257-236). This record stood until 1995 when it was broken by David Ozio with a score of 1,070; that record fell in 1996 when Bob Learn, Jr. famously shot 300 in the televised finals of a tournament in his hometown of Erie, PA en route to a now-record four-game total of 1,129.^[1] Burton, Jr. was ranked #15 on the PBA's 2008 list of "50 Greatest Players of the Last 50 Years."

Broadcasting career[link]

In 1975, Burton became the color analyst on ABC's Saturday afternoon telecast, The Pro Bowlers Tour, working with veteran sportscaster Chris Schenkel. He replaced Billy Welu, who had died the previous year. Burton spent nearly 23 years (1975 to 1997) with ABC. From 1978 to 1997, he hosted a bowling Tip Of The Week, usually after the second televised match. Burton also continued to compete on the PBA Tour part-time, and would even make the TV finals in some events (his broadcast backup on those occasions was usually Dick Weber.) He and Schenkel were still working together when ABC ceased production of the series in June 1997.

After leaving ABC, Burton moved to ESPN and spent one year in 1998 providing analysis for select PBA broadcasts. He also was a commentator for the 1998 Women's College Bowling National Championship. He and former NBC bowling announcer Jay Randolph called the action on ESPN2.

Burton has also been involved with the Generations Bowling Tour, as both a competitor and color commentator on local telecasts.

In August 2007, Burton and Marshall Holman were the broadcasters for the 2007 U.S. Women's Open in Reno, Nevada on ESPN. The early rounds of the event were taped that month and aired every Sunday afternoon over the course of four weeks, starting Sept. 16. The live televised finals aired on Oct. 14, and Liz Johnson won the event. It was Bo's first national broadcasting work in nearly ten years. He also handled the broadcast of the 2008 U.S Women's Open, once again teaming with Holman.

Burton was the color analyst for the CBS telecast of the USBC "Clash of the Champions" that aired on May 10–11, 2008. He teamed with play-by-play man Bill Macatee and laneside reporter Lynn Swann. The broadcast marked bowling's return to network television for the first time since 1999 when CBS carried it.

Burton Jr. returned to the ABC broadcast booth for the 2011 PBA Tournament of Champions, the first ABC broadcast of a PBA event since 1997.^[2]

Personal life[link]

Burton has resided in South Florida with his family since 2001. He has not bowled regularly on the PBA Tour since 1986.

Bo has also been involved in the Strike-a-Thon.

References[link]

External sources[link]

Hall of Fame Player Bios at www.pba.com [1]

Mark Roth (born April 10, 1951) is a former professional bowler. He was born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York. As a youth he resided in Meiers Corners, Staten Island, New York City, New York.^[1]

Bowling career[link]

Roth is a member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA). His 34 PBA titles place him fifth on the all-time PBA Tour winners list, behind Walter Ray Williams, Earl Anthony, Pete Weber and Norm Duke. He was the second professional bowler to surpass US$1 million in career winnings, with Anthony being the first. His eight titles won in 1978 are still the PBA record for a single season, topping the previous mark of seven titles set by Billy Hardwick in 1969. Roth won another six titles in the 1979 season while collecting his third consecutive PBA Player of the Year award. He won his only career major title (U.S. Open) in 1984, after having qualified for 10 previous "major" television finals without winning. Roth was inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame in 1987, and the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) Hall of Fame in 2009.^[2]

Roth was well known for his high powered "cranker" style that has been copied by many bowlers since. Despite the power he generated, Roth was also one of the best spare shooters of all time, as he is notable for being the first bowler to pick up the 7-10 Split on television, on 5 January 1980.^[3] In addition, Roth utilized a unique six-step delivery. (Most bowlers regard a four-step or five-step delivery to be the classic form and the most effective way to throw a bowling ball.)

Roth shot a 299 during the televised finals to win his very first PBA tournament at the 1975 King Louie Open in Overland Park, Kansas. Roth repeated the feat, shooting a 299 during the televised finals of the 1987 Greater Buffalo Open in Cheektowaga, New York. On 6 October 2006, Roth won the very first Generations Bowling Tour event, defeating Dale Eagle in the final 237-234, and averaged 241 over the three-game stepladder final.

Awards and recognition[link]

• Four-time PBA Player of the Year (1977, 1978, 1979, 1984)
• Six-time winner of the PBA High Average Award
• PBA recordholder for most titles (8) in a single season (1978)
• Inducted into PBA Hall of Fame, 1987
• Inducted into International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, 1992
• Ranked 5th on the PBA's 2008 list of "50 Greatest Players of the Last 50 Years"

Post-career[link]

On June 4, 2009, Mark Roth suffered a stroke which has left him partially paralyzed on his left side.^[1] His rehabilitation is ongoing, but Roth was seen in late March 2010 on his feet and moving around at the Geico Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship, a PBA Tournament named in his honor.^[4] Mark also made a special guest appearance at the "2nd Annual Upstate University Hospital - Strikes Against Stroke" at Flamingo Bowl in Liverpool, NY in May of 2010. On March 6, 2011, as part of the 2011 Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship, he rolled the honorary first ball for the televised finals and downed seven pins.

Personal life[link]

Roth and his wife Denise^[5] reside in Fulton, New York.^[1] He is Jewish.

In the media[link]

• Roth makes a brief appearance in the bowling movie Kingpin, along with several other professional bowlers.
• Roth also appears in an early 1980s episode of Fantasy Island. He plays an opponent of a 153-average bowler fulfilling a fantasy to compete and win against professionals.

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Biography at pba.com
• Jewish Hall Of Fame