Bill Roth (sportscaster)

William B. Roth[1] is an American television and radio sportscaster. Longtime play-by-play voice of Virginia Tech Hokies football and men's basketball from 1988 to 2015, Roth also served as an announcer for the Richmond Braves from 1993–96, and spent 2015-16 with the UCLA Bruins[2] before joining ESPN in 2016.

Bill Roth
Sports commentary career
SportsNCAA Football, NCAA Basketball

Education and early career

Bill was born and raised in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. While in high school, he interned for radio station KDKA and later at the Duquesne University campus station. Bill graduated from Syracuse University in 1987. It was at Syracuse where Roth began his broadcasting career at campus station WAER where he was a radio sportscaster. He won the Robert Costas Scholarship at Syracuse in 1986. After graduating from Syracuse, he began broadcasting various sports for ESPN including field hockey, lacrosse, professional kick boxing, baseball, and other NCAA sports.

Virginia Tech

At the age of 22, Bill began working for Virginia Tech as the "Voice of the Hokies"[3] in 1988, where he broadcast Hokies football, basketball and baseball games. Bill also served as host of the Hokie Hotline, a weekly radio show featuring Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer and basketball coaches Frankie Allen, Bill Foster, Bobby Hussey, Ricky Stokes, Seth Greenberg, James Johnson and Buzz Williams. Bill also hosted a weekly television show, Virginia Tech Sports Today, that was shown every Sunday morning on TV stations in Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Maryland. Roth's tenure is longer than any other sportscaster in Virginia Tech history and he called more games than any other announcer in the school's history. Bill has called several NCAA men's basketball tournaments, and major bowl games: Orange Bowl (1996, 2008, 2009, 2011), Sugar Bowl (1995, 2000, 2004, 2012), Gator Bowl (1994, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2005.) Roth called games of Virginia Tech great Michael Vick including the school's 1999 undefeated regular season during Vick's time at the school. Roth's signature broadcast opening, marking the transition from pregame to game program, greeted viewers with the phrase "From the Blue Waters of the Chesapeake Bay to the Hills of Tennessee, the Virginia Tech Hokies are on the air."

Richmond Braves

From 1993-1996, Bill served as a play-by-play announcer with the Richmond Braves baseball team, the triple-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. The 1993 team won the International League championship led by Chipper Jones and manager Grady Little.

UCLA

In April 2015, Roth was announced as the new play-by-play announcer for the UCLA Bruins,[2] replacing Chris Roberts, who retired after 23 years with the school.[4] After completing the 2015-16 seasons, UCLA announced Roth was being replaced by Josh Lewin .[5] According to a June 2, 2016 article by David Teel of the Daily Press, Roth will be returning to his East Coast roots, "remain[ing] on the air and with IMG College, developing new, nationally oriented programming from the company's Winston-Salem, N.C., headquarters".[6] Roth also joined the faculty of the Virginia Tech Department of Communications as a professor of practice.[7]

ESPN

Bill joined ESPN’s college football play-by-play team in 2016 as an announcer for ACC, AAC, MAC, and Pac-12 football games. Bill also has called bowl games for ESPN Radio each year since 2016. Bill has been teamed with a variety of analysts including Mike Golic, Jr, John Congemi, Ray Bently, Dustin Fox, Barrett Jones, and John Gregory. Bill also called the NCAA Division II National Championship Game for ESPN in 2019. * Bill's ESPN Bio

CBS Sports Network and Westwood One

Bill basketball play-by-play duties include assignments for CBS Sports Network and Westwood One Radio. Bill calls roughly eight games each season for CBS Sports including the network’s annual coverage of the Jamaica Classic in Montego Bay. Bill joined the Westwood One radio team in 2020 as a play-by-play announcer of NCAA basketball. * Bill's Westwood One archive.

Honors and awards

Virginia Sports Hall of Fame

In April 2013, Roth was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in Portsmouth, Virginia. Bill was inducted into the Commonwealth's Hall of Fame on the same night as Tech all-America defensive end and Baltimore Ravens Super Bowl Champion Cornell Brown. The two joined Bruce Smith, Antonio Freeman, Dell Curry, Allan Bristow, Johnny Oates, Carroll Dale and other Virginia Tech stars in the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. As of July 2013, there are 23 Virginia Tech Hokies who have been inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.

WAER-Syracuse Hall of Fame

In August 2014, Roth was inducted into the WAER Hall of Fame in Syracuse, NY. Bill was inducted by Mike Tirico who was a classmate at Syracuse with Bill.

Quotes

1995: "Jim Druckenmiller has pulled off the greatest comeback I've ever seen! TOUCHDOWN TECH! I've never enjoyed saying that more!" Virginia Tech's come-from behind victory at UVA gives the Hokies a bid to the 1995 Sugar Bowl vs. Texas.

2004: "Give it to me Roscoe, Give it to me!" Roth's call of DeAngelo Hall stripping Miami's Roscoe Parrish during Tech's 31-7 win over No.2 Miami at Lane Stadium.

2009: "And the ACC's Giant Killers have done it again. Tonight, Virginia Tech takes down Number One Wake Forest" at the conclusion of Tech's upset of undefeated No. 1 Wake Forest in men's basketball.

2009: "It's a miracle in Blacksburg! Tyrod did it Mikey! Tyrod did it!" Virginia Tech's last-second win over Nebraska in 2009. Roth refers to Virginia Tech quarterback Tyrod Taylor and long-time analyst Mike Burnop.

2013: "That ball was in the air longer than a non-stop flight to Tel Aviv!" After quarterback Logan Thomas threw a long touchdown pass during Virginia Tech's 2013 season.

2019: "Malcolm Perry is having the greatest homecoming since Beyoncé played Coachella." During Tennessee-native Malcolm Perry's 213 yard rushing performance in Navy's win over Kansas State in the 2019 Liberty Bowl game in Memphis.

Bill’s Bowl Streak dating back to 1993
Game City Network Result Analyst/Sideline
1993 Independence Bowl Shreveport, La. Virginia Tech Sports Network. Virginia Tech 45, Indiana 20 Mike Burnop
1994 Gator Bowl Jacksonville, Fl. Virginia Tech Sports Network Tennessee 45, Virginia Tech 23 Mike Burnop
1995 Sugar Bowl New Orleans, La. Virginia Tech Sports Network Virginia Tech 28, Texas 10 Mike Burnop
1996 Orange Bowl Miami, Fl. Virginia Tech ISP Sports Network Nebraska 41, Virginia Tech 21 Mike Burnop
1997 Gator Bowl* (Jan. 1, 1998) Jacksonville, Fl. Virginia Tech ISP Sports Network North Carolina 42, Virginia Tech 3 Mike Burnop
1998 Music City Bowl Nashville, Tn. Virginia Tech ISP Sports Network Virginia Tech 38, Alabama 7 Mike Burnop
1999 Sugar Bowl* (Jan. 4, 2000) New Orleans, La. Virginia Tech ISP Sports Network Florida State 46, Virginia Tech 29 Mike Burnop
2000 Gator Bowl* (Jan. 1, 2001) Jacksonville, Fl. Virginia Tech ISP Sports Network Virginia Tech 41, Clemson 20 Mike Burnop
2001 Gator Bowl* (Jan. 2, 2002) Jacksonville, Fl. Virginia Tech ISP Sports Network Florida State 30, Virginia Tech 17 Mike Burnop
2002 San Francisco Bowl San Francisco, Ca. Virginia Tech ISP Sports Network Virginia Tech 20, Air Force 13 Mike Burnop
2003 Insight Bowl Phoenix, Az. Virginia Tech ISP Sports Network California 52, Virginia Tech 49 Mike Burnop
2004 Sugar Bowl* (Jan. 3, 2005) New Orleans, La. Virginia Tech ISP Sports Network Auburn 16, Virginia Tech 13 Mike Burnop
2005 Gator Bowl* (Jan. 2, 2006) Jacksonville, Fl Virginia Tech ISP Sports Network Virginia Tech 35, Louisville 24 Mike Burnop
2006 Chick-fil-A Bowl Atlanta, Ga Virginia Tech ISP Sports Network Georgia 31, Virginia Tech 24 Mike Burnop
2007 Orange Bowl* (Jan. 3, 2008) Miami, Fl Virginia Tech ISP Sports Network Kansas 24, Virginia Tech 21 Mike Burnop
2008 Orange Bowl* (Jan. 1, 2009) San Francisco, Ca. Virginia Tech ISP Sports Network Virginia Tech 20, Cincinnati 7 Mike Burnop
2009 Chick-fil-A Bowl Atlanta, Ga. Virginia Tech ISP Sports Network Virginia Tech 37, Tennessee 14 Mike Burnop
2010 Orage Bowl* (Jan. 3, 2011) Miami, Fl. Virginia Tech ISP Sports Network Stanford 40, Virginia Tech 12 Mike Burnop
2011 Sugar Bowl* (Jan. 3, 2012) New Orleans. La. Virginia Tech IMG Sports Network Michigan 23, Virginia Tech 20 (OT) Mike Burnop
2012 Russell Athletic Bowl Orlando, Fl. Virginia Tech IMG Sports Network Virginia Tech 13, Rutgers 10 (OT) Mike Burnop
2013 Sun Bowl El Paso, Tx. Virginia Tech IMG Sports Network UCLA 42, Virginia Tech 12 Mike Burnop
2014 Military Bowl Annapolis, MD Virginia Tech IMG Sports Network Virginia Tech 33, Cincinnati 17 Mike Burnop
2015 Foster Farms Bowl Santa Clara, Ca UCLA IMG Sports Network Nebraska 37, UCLA 29 Matt Stevens (A), Wayne Cook (S)
2016 Liberty Bowl Memphis, Tn. ESPN Radio Georgia 31, TCU 23 Al Groh (A), Alex Corrdry (S)
2017 Liberty Bowl Memphis, Tn. ESPN Radio Iowa State 21, Memphis 20 Barrett Jones (A), Dawn Davenport (S)
2018 New Mexico Bowl Albuquerque, NM. ESPN Radio Utah State 52, North Texas 13 Barrett Jones (A), Taylor Davis (S)
2019 Liberty Bowl Memphis, TN ESPN Radio Navy 20, Kansas 17 Dustin Fox (A), Taylor Davis (S)
2020 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl Boise,ID ESPN Ohio 30, Nevada 21 John Congemi(A), Kris Budden (S)
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References
  1. "Virginia Tech | Search - People". search.vt.edu. Retrieved 2017-10-04.
  2. "Hall-of-Fame Broadcaster Bill Roth Hired as New Play-by-Play Announcer". UCLA Athletics. April 22, 2015.
  3. Colston, Chris (2003-09-01). Tales from the Virginia Tech Sidelines. Sports Publishing LLC. pp. 139–. ISBN 978-1-58261-728-2. Retrieved 8 May 2011.
  4. Bitter, Andy (April 22, 2015). "Hall of Fame Hokies broadcaster Bill Roth leaving for UCLA". The Roanoke Times.
  5. "Lewin Replaces Roth as Voice of Bruins". Bruin Athletics. June 2, 2016.
  6. Teel, David (June 2, 2015). "Former Hokies voice Bill Roth returning to eastern roots after one year at UCLA". Daily Press.
  7. "Former Voice of the Hokies Bill Roth returns to Virginia Tech to teach". Virginia Tech. August 18, 2016. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
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