Sportscaster Bobby Curran, who was the “voice” of University of Hawaii football and basketball broadcasts for more than three decades, died Sunday at St. Francis Hospice. He was 69.
Curran, who grew up in Long Island, N.Y., was the play-by-play announcer for more than 400 broadcasts in 32 football seasons. He also was host of the popular sports talk show, “The Bobby Curran Show.”
“Bobby Curran was a storyteller and magician behind the microphone,” UH said in a statement. “The New Yorker quickly adapted himself into the local culture and became a fixture on the airwaves for more than three decades. His smooth, colorful voice was synonymous with UH football and basketball. … Bobby was so much more than a voice. He was respected by the players and coaches and, most importantly, beloved by his listeners, the fans. Our heart-felt condolences go out to his wife Jo and sons Max and Finn.”
In November 2022, he underwent a double-lung transplant in Phoenix. He recovered in time to see his son, Finn, graduate from Mid-Pacific Institute. Soon after, he retired from broadcasting.
“Players come and go, coaches come and go, but Bobby was there for three decades,” said Larry Beil, who preceded Curran as play-by-play broadcaster. “He was more of the face of the franchise, if you want to call it that, than any of the coaches and players because he was the constant. He poured his heart and his soul and his overall health into UH athletics. And I think it’s a sad day, not unexpected, but even when it happens, oh, man, it’s sad.”
After playing basketball for William & Mary, Curran sought a school to complete his bachelor’s degree. In a coin flip, UH won over Tulane, according to his wife Jo.
After earning a degree in English, Curran worked part-time at KGU, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and at Compadres restaurant.
“He had the New York personality where he didn’t accept ‘no,’” Scott Robbs of Spectrum Sports said. “He believed in what he thought he could do. He’d be watching something, and he said, ‘I can do that.’He was at Compadres, and a guy he worked with told him, ‘why don’t you try? Go for it.’ And he did.”
Robbs said Curran was the first host of a sports talk show in Hawaii, with KGU, in the early 1990s. He eventually moved to 1420-AM, where he was the play-by-play announcer, as well as host of the morning talk show.
“People don’t think about this, but to do morning radio and then games at night, and then to come back and do more morning radio and more games at night, it takes a toll on your body,” Beil said. “He did it for many, many years. It shows his dedication.”
Former UH coach June Jones said: “Bobby was with me through the glorious times at the University of Hawaii. It always felt like we were one together, and losing him is losing a part of me.”
He was inducted into the UH Sports Circle of Honor in 2023, and was named Hawaii’s Sportscaster of the Year six times by the National Sports Media Association.
“Bobby thought he had the best life of anybody,” said Jo, who grew up in Scotland. “Whenever we would be coming home from a vacation in Scotland, I would be sad. I would be leaving everybody. And Bobby would say, ‘hey, we get to go home to Hawaii.’ He loved Hawaii. He loved UH. He loved the whole sports thing. … He lived his dream life. He told everyone who wanted to know his dream was Hawaii, University of Hawaii sports, and the fact he had two sons on top of that.”
He is survived by wife Jo and sons Max and Finn.
Jo said there will be private cremation ceremony. There also will be a celebration of life at Murphy’s Bar & Grill at date to be determined.
