Long time Fort Wayne Komets broadcaster Bob Chase has passed away at the age of 90. In total Chase spent 63 years calling ice hockey. An impressive feat for any sport or generation.
Bob Chase was known for his long career calling play-by-play for the Fort Wayne Komets hockey games. For 63 seasons, Chase called the action on radio and/or television. Only Vin Scully, who called play-by-play for 67 seasons with the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers, had a longer broadcasting tenure with a single franchise.
Chase married his wife, Muriel, on April 6th, 1950. Because his boss at WOWO thought the name “Wallenstein” was too lengthy for the airwaves, he took his wife’s maiden name for use on the air.
“He looks, he shoots, he scores!” Chase would famously shout
Chase was born in Negaunee, Michigan. He played hockey as a child and attended Graveraet High School. At the age of 17, he enlisted in the United States Navy, and served as a cryptographer during World War II. Chase attended Northern Michigan University, where he graduated in 1952. In 1949, while attending Northern Michigan, Chase began his broadcasting career at WDMJ in Marquette.
Upon his graduation, he moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana where he was hired as a DJ at WOWO. He served a variety of roles at WOWO, including program director, DJ, marketing and promotions director, sports director, and program host. He retired from full time duties at WOWO in 2009.
“I will always be grateful for all I learned from Bob,” Komet general manager David Franke said
Chase is best known for his association with the minor-league Fort Wayne Komets. He began his tenure with the Komets in 1953 as the team’s co-announcer, and took over full-time duties in 1954. For many years, Chase’s Komets broadcast was the only International Hockey League broadcast on the air.
Aided by the long range of WOWO’s 50,000-watt signal, Chase’s voice was known and heard throughout the Midwest and out to the East Coast – over 28 states in all, plus half of Canada – and overseas in Europe.
“My dad was my best and worst critic,” Chase often said
Chase broadcast over 4,500 Komets games throughout his career, including 526 of the 532 playoff games played during his time with the Komets. Chase also broadcast every IHL All-Star game played from the inaugural contest in 1962 until 1999, when the Komets left the league. Over the course of his career, Chase turned down the play-by-play job for the Detroit Red Wings in 1962 in favor of his friend and incumbent, Bruce Martyn, and was considered for posts with the Boston Bruins, California Golden Seals, Minnesota North Stars, St. Louis Blues, and Washington Capitals. Chase called his last Komets game on May 15, 2016.
Bob Chase was the only broadcaster of the IHL All-Star Game from the time he joined the Komets until 1999, the year the Komets left the IHL.
“This is a guy who could have been an NHL hockey announcer or a network announcer, a national talent,” said Mark DePrez, former general manager at WOWO. “He had opportunities to do that over the span of his career. Yet he opted to stay here”
Along with his hockey duties, Chase covered high school basketball for 17 years. One of his notable basketball moments was when he covered the famed 1954 Milan High School and their win in the state basketball championship. The 1954 Milan team was later memorialized as the team that inspired the 1986 movie, “Hoosiers”.
Chase also broadcast Big Ten football for 10 years, and he announced the Indianapolis 500 for 25 years.
Chase borrowed from a pair of Canadian broadcasters, Foster Hewitt and Danny Gallivan, who were famous for the “Hockey Night in Canada”. His best critic was his father, Gunnard. The elder Chase offered key advice that the son molded into a presentation that became known to his followers as “Radio Rinkside”, so named because of Chase’s ability to describe the action in a way that left the listener with a feeling of being right there watching the game as it was being played.
“Some people think it was bad I never left, but in the end, it always ends up for the best,” said Chase, whose four children were born in Fort Wayne. “You don’t always understand it, but it works out”
Chase was famous for his colorful and enthusiastic calling of play-by-play. One of Chase’s most often repeated cries evolved from his coverage of the breakaway. Fans know Chase for calling “He looks, he shoots, HE SCORES!” In addition, he rarely missed a chance to promote the radio station. Going into commercial breaks, he would remind listeners, “on WOWO, this is KOMET hockey.”
Beyond his duties as a sports announcer, Chase was often found behind the WOWO microphone interviewing famous personalities. HIs interview list included Elvis, the Beatles, Jim Brown, Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, then Vice President Richard Nixon, Gordie Howe, and Arnold Palmer.
Outside the broadcast booth, Chase served as the general manager of the Komets during the 1989–90 season, which saw the Komets achieve a 37–34–11 record and a playoff berth.
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