Jimmy Roberts: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 17:20, 19 February 2007

Latest revision as of 20:36, 8 March 2025

(159 intermediate revisions by 63 users not shown)

Line 1:

{{Short description|American sportscaster}}

{{otherpeopleOther people|Jimmy Roberts}}

'''Jimmy Roberts''' (born in [[1956]] or [[1957]]) is a sportscaster for [[NBC]]. Roberts joined NBC in [[May 2000]] after serving as a sports reporter for almost 12 years at [[ESPN]], where he won 11 [[Sports Emmy Awards]]. Roberts has worked 10 [[Olympic Games]] in his broadcasting career. At the Olympics for NBC, he hosts a nightly feature called the ''[[Chevy]] Olympic Moments'', which talk about a different athlete or the history of a certain place at an Olympics.

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2016}}'''Jimmy Roberts''' (born 1957) is a sportscaster for [[NBC Sports]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcsports.com/pressbox/bios/jimmy-roberts|title = Jimmy Roberts}}</ref> Roberts joined NBC in May 2000 after serving as a sports reporter for almost 12 years at [[ESPN]] and [[ESPN on ABC|ABC Sports]], winning Emmy awards throughout his career.

==Early life and career==

Roberts is also the interviewer for NBC's [[golf]] coverage, in addition to hosting the halftime show for [[University of Notre Dame du Lac|Notre Dame]] [[American football|football]], being one of the main anchors for NBC's weekend sports updates, and anchoring the network's coverage of the [[Wimbledon Championships]]. Roberts has won two Emmys since joining NBC. His journalism career began in [[1975]] when he started as a newspaper reporter. Roberts also worked under [[Howard Cosell]] as a [[writer]] and [[Television producer|producer]] at [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]].

Roberts grew up in [[White Plains, New York|White Plains]], New York.<ref name=":2" /> His father, Ralph, traded securities with the investment firm Moore & Schley in New York.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |date=1994-03-06 |title=WEDDINGS; Sandra Mayer, James Roberts |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/06/style/weddings-sandra-mayer-james-roberts.html |access-date=2024-07-29 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> His mother, Betty, taught first grade at the Ridgeway School in White Plains.<ref name=":3" />

While attending [[White Plains High School]], Roberts captained the varsity lacrosse team.<ref name=":0" /> He was also the school's morning announcer and occasionally wrote columns for his high-school newspaper, ''The Orange''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Allen |first=Scott |date=29 July 2024 |title=For NBC's Jimmy Roberts, the Olympics never get old, even at his 20th Games |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2024/07/29/jimmy-roberts-nbc-paris-olympics/ |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Donelson |first=Dave |date=2023-07-18 |title=Westchester's Jimmy Roberts to be Honored by Met Golf Writers |url=https://westchestermagazine.com/life-style/jimmy-roberts-met/ |access-date=2024-07-29 |website=Westchester Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Orange {{!}} White Plains High School |url=https://www.theorangewphs.com/ |access-date=2024-07-29 |website=The Orange {{!}} WPHS |language=en}}</ref>

At the [[1980 Winter Olympics]] in [[Lake Placid, New York]], Roberts attended the ''[[Miracle on Ice]]'' game between the [[United States]] and the [[Soviet Union]]. Apparently, Roberts was hoping to see a girl he noticed earlier in the Games, but when she never showed, he left before the U.S. comeback. Today, Roberts often tries to work this anecdote into speaking engagements. He is apparently the only journalist covering the game who left before it ended.

Roberts went on to study at the [[University of Maryland, College Park]].<ref name=":0" /> During his time at Maryland, Roberts worked at the popular campus hangout R.J. Bentley's, where one of his Emmy Awards is now displayed.<ref name=":0" /> While still at college, he began work at ABC Sports as a production runner, supporting the outside broadcast team as they covered the lacrosse national championship for “Wide World of Sports.”<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mushnick |first=Phil |date=25 May 2000 |title=JIMMY ROBERTS SIGNS WITH NBC |url=https://nypost.com/2000/05/25/jimmy-roberts-signs-with-nbc/ |access-date=2024-07-29 |website=[[New York Post]] |language=en-US}}</ref>

Roberts and his wife, Sandra Meyer, have three sons, and they all live in [[Westchester County, New York]]. His writing is regarded as some of the best in all of broadcast journalism. He is a graduate of the [[University of Maryland, College Park]].

==ABC, ESPN and NBC Sports==

Roberts hosted and narrated the [[Outdoor Life Network]]'s coverage of the [[2005]] [[Dakar Rally]].

Roberts' career has substantially been with NBC as a sports presenter. He began with the network briefly as a production assistant at the [[1980 Lake Placid]] games.<ref name=":0" /> He covered the [[speed skating]] competition and, witnessing [[Eric Heiden]]'s record five individual gold medals, came to regard it as history's greatest athletic achievement.<ref name=":0" /> Though he regards [[Dan Jansen]]'s 1,000 metre win at the [[1994 Winter Olympics]] as the most memorable sporting event he has televised.<ref name=":0" />

His first roles as a sports TV writer and associate producer were with ABC, under [[Howard Cosell]], on “SportsBeat,” a 30-minute investigative program. His work won him his first Emmy Award in 1984.<ref name=":0" /> He left the network to join [[ESPN]]. Having them sent an audition tape, he was hired by John Walsh who was running [[SportsCenter]].<ref name=":0" /> The first sporting event he presented was the heavyweight championship bout between [[Mike Tyson]] and [[Michael Spinks]] in 1988.<ref name=":0" /> He became the cable channel's main presenter for boxing, and golf, for the next ten years.<ref name=":0" />

Roberts' sister-in-law, Debbie Mayer, worked in the south tower on the 56th floor at [[New York City]]'s [[World Trade Center]]. Immediately after [[American Airlines Flight 11]] (the first aircraft of the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]]) struck the north tower, Mayer began going downstairs to leave the building. She had gotten to the 29th floor when the second aircraft struck, hitting the building she worked in. However, Mayer escaped safely before the towers collapsed.

In 1999, NBC approached Roberts as they needed a presenter for the upcoming [[2000 Olympic Games]] in Sydney.<ref name=":0" /> In this time, he became known as an essayist with a sense of story, remembered for his Olympic reports on [[Eric the Eel]] and other idiosyncratic sports personalities.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Slater |first=Chuck |date=2002-02-10 |title=FOR THE RECORD; A Television Storyteller Spotlights the Olympics |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/10/nyregion/for-the-record-a-television-storyteller-spotlights-the-olympics.html |access-date=2024-07-29 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Roberts told of the ordeal to ''[[USA Today]]'':

:"We had a couple of very anxious hours. My wife couldn't get through to Debbie. Finally, she went to her Manhattan apartment to wait for her. And she found her there. Turns out when the first explosion occurred in Building 1, Debbie started down the stairs. She had made it to the 29th floor when the building was shaken when the second plane hit. She was terrified but made it out."

He has remained with the network ever since, hosting golf coverage on [[Golf Channel on NBC|NBC]] and its [[Golf Channel]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Jimmy Roberts |url=https://www.golfchannel.com/about/bio/jimmy-roberts}}</ref> Other NBC assignments over the years for Roberts include hosting the halftime show for [[Notre Dame Football on NBC|Notre Dame]] [[American football|football]], being one of the main anchors for NBC's weekend sports updates, anchoring the network's coverage of the [[French Open]], and worked as a field reporter for NBC's [[Major League Baseball on NBC|coverage]] of the [[2000 American League Championship Series]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-11-13 |title="COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF" FEATURES JIMMY ROBERTS' INTERVIEW WITH FORMER NOTRE DAME AND NFL SAFETY TOM ZBIKOWSKI |url=https://www.nbcsports.com/pressbox/notre-dame/press-releases/countdown-to-kickoff-features-jimmy-roberts-interview-with-former-notre-dame-and-nfl-safety-tom-zbikowski |access-date=2024-07-29 |website=NBC Sports |language=en-US}}</ref> He has also reported on [[Thoroughbred Racing on NBC|horse racing]] for NBC.<ref name=":1" /> Roberts hosted and narrated the [[NBCSN|Outdoor Life Network]]'s coverage of the 2005 [[Dakar Rally]].<ref>{{Citation |title=Dakar Rally |date=2005-01-22 |type=Documentary |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0444613/ |access-date=2024-07-29 |others=Jerry Bernardo, Jimmy Roberts, Al Trautwig |publisher=Robert Dalrymple Productions}}</ref>

During his time at Maryland, Roberts worked at the popular campus hangout, [[R.J. Bentley's Filling Station]]; one of his Sports Emmys is on display there.

In presenting the [[2024 Summer Olympics]] from Paris for NBC, Roberts had covered 20 [[Olympic Games]] over his broadcasting career.<ref name=":0" /> Roberts has been honoured with 15 [[Emmy Awards]] in this time, along with Lincoln Werden Award for golf writers, in 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |title=MGWA to Honor Jimmy Roberts with the Lincoln Werden Golf Journalism Award {{!}} Metropolitan Golf Writers Association |url=https://metgolfwriters.org/roberts_receives_2023_werden_award |access-date=2024-07-29 |website=metgolfwriters.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Mentors Radio Show: 15-Time Emmy Winner Jimmy Roberts joins Dan Hesse to share life lessons on how athletes break out of slumps on Apple Podcasts |url=https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/15-time-emmy-winner-jimmy-roberts-joins-dan-hesse-to/id1254623710?i=1000662797140 |access-date=2024-07-29 |website=Apple Podcasts |language=en-US}}</ref>

On [[June 15]], [[2006]], Ralph Roberts, 82, Jimmy's father went missing from his home west of [[Lake Worth, Florida]] and his whereabouts are currently unknown.

==Other work==

[[Category:Living people|Roberts, Jimmy]]

In April 2009, Roberts published his first book, ''Breaking the Slump'', which detailed the struggles of many famous golfers, including [[Jack Nicklaus]], [[Arnold Palmer]], [[George Herbert Walker Bush]], and others and how they found their way through the inevitable challenges that plague anyone who plays the game.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pennington |first=Bill |date=2009-07-27 |title=Reading Your Way Out of Those Slumps |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/27/sports/golf/27golfbook.html |access-date=2024-07-29 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In 2022, Roberts co-authored “No One Wins Alone” with NHL hall of famer Mark Messier.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2021-10-22 |title=Mark Messier's memoir 'No One Wins Alone' is as much about teamwork and leadership as it is about hockey |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/article-mark-messiers-memoir-is-as-much-about-teamwork-and-leadership-as-it-is/ |access-date=2024-07-29 |work=The Globe and Mail |language=en-CA}}</ref> The book was a memoir about Messier’s career which focused on leadership.

[[Category:ABC Sports|Roberts, Jimmy]]

[[Category:American reporters and correspondents|Roberts, Jimmy]]

==Personal life==

[[Category:American sports announcers|Roberts, Jimmy]]

Roberts's father, Ralph, had been a US soldier, serving in the regiment which liberated the French town of [[Farébersviller]].<ref name=":0" /> The story of the battle was narrated by Jimmy Roberts in a special feature for NBC, which he described as "the best thing I've done."<ref name=":0" />

[[Category:American television producers|Roberts, Jimmy]]

[[Category:Golf writers and broadcasters|Roberts, Jimmy]]

In 1994, Roberts married Sandra Mayer, a producer for [[Today (American TV program)|''Today'']] and ''[[Nightline]]'' at NBC.<ref name=":3" /> The couple have lived in [[Rye, New York|Rye]] in [[Westchester County, New York]] since then, raising three sons.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Slater |first=Chuck |date=2002-02-10 |title=FOR THE RECORD; A Television Storyteller Spotlights the Olympics |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/10/nyregion/for-the-record-a-television-storyteller-spotlights-the-olympics.html |access-date=2024-07-29 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=JIMMY ROBERTS |url=https://www.nbcsports.com/pressbox/bios/jimmy-roberts |access-date=2024-07-29 |website=NBC Sports |language=en-US}}</ref>

[[Category:Major League Baseball announcers|Roberts, Jimmy]]

[[Category:Major League Baseball on NBC|Roberts, Jimmy]]

Roberts' sister-in-law, Debbie Mayer, worked in the south tower on the 56th floor at [[New York City]]'s [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]]. Immediately after [[American Airlines Flight 11]] (the first aircraft of the [[September 11, 2001, attacks]]) struck the north tower, Mayer began going downstairs to leave the building. She had gotten to the 29th floor when the second aircraft struck, hitting the building she worked in. However, Mayer escaped safely before the towers collapsed.

[[Category:NBC Sports|Roberts, Jimmy]]

[[Category:Notre Dame Fighting Irish football|Roberts, Jimmy]]

Roberts told of the ordeal to ''[[USA Today]]'':

[[Category:September 11, 2001 attacks|Roberts, Jimmy]]

[[Category:Sports Emmy Award winners|Roberts, Jimmy]]

:"<blockquote>We had a couple of very anxious hours. My wife couldn't get through to Debbie. Finally, she went to her Manhattan apartment to wait for her. And she found her there. Turns out when the first explosion occurred in Building 1, Debbie started down the stairs. She had made it to the 29th floor when the building was shaken when the second plane hit. She was terrified but made it out."</blockquote>

[[Category:Tennis commentators|Roberts, Jimmy]]

[[Category:University of Maryland, College Park alumni|Roberts, Jimmy]]

==References==

[[Category:Major League Baseball on ESPN|Roberts, Jimmy]]

<references/>

[[Category:The NFL on NBC|Roberts, Jimmy]]

[[Category:The NFL on Westwood One|Roberts, Jimmy]]

[[Category:{{Major League Baseball on NBC|Roberts, Jimmy]]}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Jimmy}}

[[Category:Living people|Roberts, Jimmy]]

[[Category:American television sports announcers|Roberts, Jimmy]]

[[Category:American television producers|Roberts, Jimmy]]

[[Category:TennisAmerican commentators|Roberts,golf Jimmycommentators]]

[[Category:Major League Baseball announcers|Roberts, Jimmybroadcasters]]

[[Category:College football announcers]]

[[Category:Notre Dame Fighting Irish football|Roberts, Jimmyannouncers]]

[[Category:People associated with the September 11, 2001 attacks|Roberts, Jimmy]]

[[Category:Sports Emmy Award winners|Roberts, Jimmy]]

[[Category:American tennis commentators]]

[[Category:University of Maryland, College Park alumni|Roberts, Jimmy]]

[[Category:GolfOlympic writers andGames broadcasters|Roberts, Jimmy]]

[[Category:1957 births]]

[[Category:American horse racing announcers]]