Courtesy Indianapolis Star

(December 18, 2009) Bob Lamey is like the sports fan who calls a talk radio show to vent about his beloved team, which explains why he relates so well as the "Voice of the Indianapolis Colts."

Lamey is as passionate as the people he speaks to during radio broadcasts, soaring when the Colts win and emotionally drained when they lose. He knows he's prone to overreaction but makes no apologies about being wholly invested not only in his profession but in the teams he follows.

"Yes," he said flatly, "I'm a homer."

Lamey, who turns 71 next week, isn't tied only to the NFL team he describes. He bleeds for the New York Yankees, too.

Lamey can talk baseball until he's Colts blue in the face. He knows the statistics of the players through the years, their tendencies, studies prospects in spring training and, like most fans, second-guesses the manager almost daily.

For Lamey's sake, it's good both teams win much more often than not.

The Colts (13-0) look to extend their NFL-record regular-season winning streak tonight at Jacksonville against the Jaguars. It stands at 22 games. The Yankees last month won their record-extending 27th World Series title.

"I pick him up on the morning of home (Colts) games, and we drive in together," said John Osler, who has been Lamey's game-day statistician since 1974 for hockey, basketball and football. "Most of the time we talk about the Yankees. It doesn't take long to know how they're doing."

The same is true of Lamey during Colts games. When things are going well, his voice sings. But throw in a penalty, a holding infraction not called against the opponent or a touchdown yielded and the mood swings.

It's why, in disgust, Lamey inadvertently muttered one of his infamous thoughts -- "He fumbled the frickin' football" -- when Dominic Rhodes lost the ball at the goal line in the 2006 AFC Championship Game against New England.

"Bob's a great fan who's also a great broadcaster," said former Colts quarterback Mark Herrmann, who was Lamey's radio sidekick from 1995-2004. "Sometimes it's hard for him to distinguish between the two."

Lamey formerly was a full-time Colts employee, an assistant in the public relations department. He called games starting in their first season here in 1984 through '91. Others called the games for three seasons before he resumed those duties in '95. These days, he is a seasonal worker who maintains an office at the team's headquarters. The title has no influence; a sports fan is for life.

"I don't take losses very well," Lamey said. "At home I do a lot of yelling at the radio and the TV."

Osler said the pessimism Lamey often exhibits on the air stems from "always preparing himself for disappointment" that's bound to come in athletics. He broods internally.

"I just let him (worry)," Osler said.

Lamey often paces during Colts games to release nervous energy, and he acknowledges pounding his fist on the desk on occasion. The rest of what he does in that radio booth goes undocumented because Lamey regulates the door.

"Let's just say I use the commercial breaks to vent," he said with a smile. "That's my time and my place to do that."

Baseball came first

Lamey's broadcasting roots are grounded in baseball's heyday, when as a boy growing up on the East Coast he could flick his radio dial from Mel Allen (Yankees) to Russ Hodges (New York Giants) to Red Barber and Vin Scully (Brooklyn Dodgers). He remembers being scolded for listening to the 1949 World Series at school in New Jersey.

"Tommy Henrich (of the Yankees) hit a home run in the bottom of the ninth off Don Newcombe (of the Dodgers)," Lamey said of the baseball classic's first walk-off homer for a 1-0 win in Game 1. "It was a great time to be a baseball fan."

Lamey wasn't much of an athlete, but he played baseball after his father, a DuPont engineer, was transferred to Victoria, Texas, when Lamey was in the seventh grade. As Lamey put it, he "couldn't hit a curveball or spell," so he veered toward the local radio station. He never played football.

Lamey went to college to study engineering but realized he didn't have the aptitude for it. He told his father he wouldn't walk across any bridge he'd designed, so he returned to broadcasting after his Navy service.

His first job was covering the Carolina Cougars of the American Basketball Association. When the team folded, he left Charlotte, N.C., to take a job at WIBC in Indianapolis covering the Racers, a minor league hockey team.

Lamey's enthusiasm so much endeared him to fans that he became known as "Hockey Bob," a reference he still hears on occasion.

He said he came to love Indianapolis as he covered the Pacers from 1977-84 and the Indianapolis 500 over the years, and he and his first wife raised three children on the city's Eastside. Since 2000, he has been married to Kim, who had three more children for Lamey to adore.

Lamey doesn't describe his life on the Westside with his familiar on-air excitement. He and Kim share Friday night movies, lighthearted ones without violence, and quiet postgame dinners at places like Union Jack's.

"Then I'm in the books by 7 (p.m.), doing my stats for the next week's game," he said. "I go until midnight, get up at 4 or 5 in the morning, and start all over again."

How he feels depends on the outcome of the games.

"I try to follow (team president) Bill Polian's rule that you put aside what happened after 24 hours, but that's hard sometimes," he said. "When we win, the feeling lasts a little longer."

Fans know the feeling well.

Additional Facts
Bob Lamey file
» Position: Radio announcer for the Indianapolis Colts.

» Born: Dec. 23, 1938, in Chester, Pa.

» Personal: Family spent some time in New Jersey before moving to Victoria, Texas, where he was raised. Attended Texas Christian and Ohio universities. Served on the USS Topeka in the Navy (also stationed in San Diego). Wife, Kim; children, Becky, Gayle, Sheryl, Nikki, Erin and Erik.

» Career: Breakthrough job was broadcasting the Carolina Cougars of the old American Basketball Association. Moved to Indianapolis in 1974 to work for WIBC and cover the Indianapolis Racers, a minor league hockey team. Did play-by-play for the Checkers (hockey) and Pacers before moving to the Colts. Has done the Colts all but three years since 1984. Now is a contracted employee of the NFL team.

» Quote: "I try never to criticize an individual (on the air). Maybe 'the Colts' aren't playing well or 'the defense' isn't playing well, but I know if (a player) has lost his mom the week before."

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