The Cal 100: No. 69 -- Bob Mansbach

Starting at the Cal student radio station, Mansbach became one of the top TV producers of high-profile sports events

We count down the top 100 individuals associated with Cal athletics, based on their impact in sports or in the world at large – a wide-open category. See if you agree.

No. 69: Bob Mansbach

Cal Sports Connection: Mansbach, who graduated from Cal in 1978, covered multiple sports while working for the Daily Cal and did reporting and play-by-play work for basketball, football and baseball while working for the student radio station, KALX-FM.

Claim to Fame: He has been nominated for more than a dozen Sports Emmy Awards, winning four, while working primarily as a sports producer for CBS television on events ranging from the Super Bowl to the NCAA basketball tournament to U.S Open tennis to the Winter Olympics

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Bob Mansbach is quite simply one of the best TV producers of sports events in history, winning multiple Sports Emmy Awards and nominated for many more.

He began his winding road to fame at Cal, where he covered several sports at the Daily Cal and did reporting and play-by-play work on a number of Cal sports at the student radio station, KALX-FM.

Mansbach, a 1978 Cal graduate, submitted a tape from his work at KALX-FM and was hired as the play-by-play announcer for Golden Gaters of World Team Tennis in 1976, 1977 and 1978 while still at Cal.

He landed a job in the mailroom at KRON-TV, and worked his way to the KRON Sports Department. Mansbach’s career took off from there, with too many prime jobs and Sports Emmy Award nominations to list here.

Mansbach worked for CBS television for 35 years. He was the producer of many U.S. Open tennis championships, several Super Bowls, the Masters, the NCAA basketball tournament, Major League Baseball, the NBA, and the 1992 Winter Olympics to name just a few. He worked extensively with Brent Musburger.

Bob Mansbach. Photo courtesy of Bob Mansbach

He was nominated for more than a dozen Sports Emmy Awards, and won four: In 2011 for Outstanding Playoff Coverage, for the NCAA tournament; in 2010 for Outstanding New Approaches, for March Madness on Demand; in 2005 for Outstanding Live Sports Special, for The Masters; and in 2010, for the prestigious George Wensel Technical Achievement Award, for U.S. Open tennis, in which “Flomotion” was used to track on-screen objects.

Mansbach played a role in the formation of the Tennis Channel, and contributed to the Tennis Channel on a freelance basis.

One of his most prized assignments came early in his career, when he did the radio play-by-play for the 1980 Wimbledon finals between John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg, considered, at the time, to be the greatest tennis match ever played.

Mansbach is retired and currently lives in New York City.

The Cal 100: No. 70 -- Mary T. Meagher

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Cover photo of Bob Mansbach courtesy of Bob Mansbach

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