Who's Who in Sports: Bob Rathbun

Since 1996, Bob Rathbun has been a staple in the Atlanta sports scene. As a play-by-play man, he's spent time working with the Atlanta Braves, both ACC and SEC football and basketball, as well as the WNBA, but he is perhaps now most recognized as the Voice of the Atlanta Hawks, a position he has held for the past 17 years.

Bob spent some time at our Athens, Ga home office last week and was kind enough to answer some questions and tell some stories about breaking into the business and some observations from his seat on the sideline almost every night.

Bob has been recognized as the Sportscaster of the Year six times in Virginia and twice, here in Georgia. He's also won 9 Southeast Regional Emmy's. This is an impressive resume for someone who started their career as a 12 year old calling one half inning of a local American Legion baseball game in his small hometown in North Carolina. After working as an intern for a few games, the normal broadcaster looked at Bob before the start of a game and asked him if he was ready. Twelve year Bob nodded and his head and was rewarded with the bottom half of an inning later in the game. The only home run hit that day Bob got to call much to the chagrin of the normal play-by-play personality, Marty Brennaman, voice of the Cincinnati Reds since 1974. Mr. Rathbun lists Brennaman and Dr. Karl Hales, his speech coach and teacher from Catawba College as some of his earliest mentors. 

When asked about some of his favorite calls, a question he gets often, he says that the most memorable for him are the ones that are more personable and less known. He mentions his first NCAA radio broadcast, a game between Old Dominion and UCLA where he was a one-man show. However, being stationed next to KMPC out of Los Angeles made him feel like he had hit the big time. He also remembers his first MLB game after toiling in the minor leagues. It was a spring training game between the Orioles and the Red Sox. Maybe these aren't the most exciting stories but you can see why they are meaningful. Of course, Bob also got to call Andres Galarraga first game back after cancer treatment and he recalls that as being pretty special as well.

Of course, times have changed since those early days so I asked Bob about the most demanding part of his job today and this was answer: "The information Age. So much is available via internet, video, audio sources. I'm overwhelmed daily and I don't deal with it very well. I like to try to read everything to prepare for my broadcasts and it is frustrating to run out of time daily trying to cover everything. One mistake, and those kind, caring souls on Twitter are ready to nail you to the cross."

That doesn't mean he shies away from social media. In fact, I recommend you give him a follow on Twitter @BobRathbunTV. He also advises younger people to be involved on it but to be aware what the say or post, not just to Twitter but also to other social media sites. In fact, when asked about advice for younger folks interested in taking a similar career path, Bob had this to say "Get to know the decision makers by networking. I always thought that if you worked hard, kept your nose clean, and produced great broadcasts you would get hired. Not true. They only hire their friends so get to know them on a personal basis. I would get to New York in any way that I could. (Or LA). The networks have a strong Northeast bias, they tend to hire people who went to the same schools that they did, and come from the same part of the country (Northeast) that they do. Just go down the talent rosters and see how many of these men and women worked in the Boston-NY-Philly-DC corridor. Not many hires from the South. And this is true of MLB, NBA, colleges etc. Agents play a key role as well. Chose wisely."

Eventually, my questions turned to Bob's observations from the his courtside or sideline seat every night. I was interested in what he saw from coaches. He said that the most successful coaches he sees are leaders with tremendous people skills. Additionally, "You can X and O all day, put if you can't unite and inspire those around you (players, your staff, media) you ultimately will fail. The competition is too keen. Plus, successful coaches have great upper management behind them."

I was also interested in motivational techniques that he had seen coaches use and his response was that successful motivators that he saw always knew the difference between a kick in the ass and a pat on the back.

Finally, I told Bob that as UGA graduates we would be remiss to not ask about his nightly work with UGA legend, Dominique Wilkins. He said he couldn't have asked for a better partner. He called Dominique a rock star but was quick to say how patient he is with the autograph and picture requests. And he mentioned how much he loved to hear stories about the "old days."

Look for Bob on Fox Sports broadcasting Hawk games as they come down the stretch. He's hopeful they can get out of this current funk and make a run in the playoffs but understands how taxing the injuries have been on this team. But, he feels as if the team is moving in the right direction and hopes to see big things from the current management.