Bob Lobel is a sportscaster for WBZ-TV in Boston, Massachusetts. He anchors the sports segments on the evening newscasts between Sunday and Thursday, and hosts the weekly programs Sports Final and Patriots 5th Quarter.
A native of Apple Creek, Ohio, Lobel joined the station as weekend sports anchor in 1979 and was promoted to weekday anchor and sports director in 1981, making him the longest-tenured television sports anchor in Boston . Before joining the television side of WBZ, Lobel worked at WBZ radio for three years, most notably as the host of Calling All Sports, a sports talk show that aired on Saturday nights. He also worked at WJOY in Burlington, Vermont and WGIR in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Lobel has also done some play-by-play work, calling WBZ's annual broadcast of the Boston Marathon and two NFL games for NBC in 1985. In 1985, Lobel turned down an offer from CBS Sports to host the College Football Today pre-game show, a job which eventually went to Jim Nantz . He was a sideline reporter for the NCAA Mens' Basketball Tournament between 1995 and 1997.
On the air, Lobel is known for using props and catchphrases during his sportscasts:
During a 2003 edition of Sports Final, Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan said that the wife of New Jersey Nets guard Jason Kidd needed someone to "smack" her for taking his young children to NBA playoff games where they could be taunted. Kidd had recently faced charges of domestic violence. Lobel immediately interrupted Ryan and tried to get Ryan to retract his comment, but Ryan refused. The Globe suspended Ryan for a month. In an Internet chat that summer, Lobel said that his actions were not "an act of heroism on my part, just knowing what is acceptable and what is not acceptable".
Lobel sits in as a frequent guest on Mike Barnicle's weekday morning radio show on WTKK, usually when Dan Shaughnessy is absent.
