Jim Zabel To Be Honored at Halftime of 'Wheelers Game
May 13, 2004 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Quad City Steamwheelers News Release
DAVENPORT, Iowa â On Saturday night when listeners on WFXN AM 1230 (in the Quad Cities) and KWPC AM 860 (in Muscatine) tune into the No. 2 ranked Quad City Steamwheelers (5-1) game versus the undefeated (5-0) and No. 1 ranked Wichita Stealth at The MARK of the Quad Cities, a different, but very familiar voice will be alongside the "Voice of the Steam" Jim Albracht for parts of the action.
Legendary sports broadcaster Jim Zabel will be calling the action with Albracht at the Steamwheelers game. The Arena Football League will honor Zabel at halftime of the game for his long-time involvement and support of Arena Football with the presentation of a special award.
A native of Davenport, Iowa, Zabel graduated with honors from Davenport (Central) High School in 1940 after winning the state 440-yard dash title for the Blue Devils his senior year. His plans to run for the Hawkeyes the next year were ruined when he seriously injured his leg late that summer in a car crash in which he was a passenger. At Iowa he instead applied his energies into the area of journalism where he became editor of the Daily Iowan and a broadcaster on WSUI Radio. This set the stage for a great career.
Zabel, best known for almost 50 years of broadcasting the Iowa Hawkeyes across much of the country on flagship station WHO, in combination with an extensive radio network, has been behind the microphone since graduating from Iowa in 1944.
In 1992 he began actively promoting the developing game of Arena Football throughout the Midwest on WHO radio and TV and at numerous speaking engagements. A long-time friend and mentor to Arena Football inventor and founder Jim Foster, who he first met as an undergraduate track man at Iowa, Zabel was a primary factor in the success of the Des Moines, Iowa, based Barnstormers which began operation in 1994.
Zabel broadcast every Barnstormers game from 1995-2001 when the club suspended operations due to the construction of an as of yet unfinished new arena in Des Moines to replace the 50-year old Vets Auditorium, the Barnstormers home venue.
Zabel returns to his hometown Saturday night to receive a special award from the Arena Football League for the outstanding job he did in promoting Arena Football over the years. On behalf of AFL League Commissioner David Baker, Jerry Kurz, the vice-president of development for the AFL and af2 will present the award at halftime.
Zabel will also broadcast his first Arena Football action since July 2001 as he works side-by-side with Albracht on the game broadcast.
Zabel joined the staff of WHO Radio on May 17, 1944. During the last 50-plus years he has broadcast more than 6,000 events, including University of Iowa football and basketball, six Rose Bowl games, 26 NCAA Basketball Tournaments, the Drake Relays, and Boys' and Girls' State Basketball Tournaments. He broadcast every Iowa football game for 47 consecutive seasons and is a true living broadcast legend.
In addition to play-by-play, Zabel does pre and post game coaches' shows on the radio, has a nationally syndicated call-in talk show, hosted the popular "Beat the Bear" show on WHO-TV and serves as part-time sports anchor for WHO-TV. He has also hosted the nations longest running TV bowling show, "Let 's Go Bowling," which was seen on WHO-TV for over 30 years.
In Sept. 1993, Zabel earned one of the most prestigious honors in the radio industry as the National Association of Broadcasters named him Medium Market "Personality of the Year." He has garnered dozens of additional awards, ranging from "I-Club Man of the Year" to being (more) inducted into the Des Moines Sports Hall of Fame.
Zabel spends his winters in Scottsdale, Ariz., and returns to his long-time home in Des Moines parts of the spring, summer and during the fall when he does a well listened to call in show on the Hawkeye Radio Network after each game. He also hosts the very popular "Jim and Jim" sports call in show every Sunday at 6 p.m. on WHO 1040 AM with former Iowa State head coach and former Barnstormers General Manager Jim Walden.
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