Greg Wrubell is a sports broadcaster based out of Cedar Hills, Utah. He is a commentator for college sports, including football, men's basketball, baseball, and women's soccer for Brigham Young University's (BYU) Sports Network and was the television voice for Utah Royals FC matches on KMYU their first season. He is also the Director of Broadcast Media at BYU.
Greg Wrubell | |
|---|---|
 Greg Wrubell during postgame broadcast December 2019 | |
| Born | Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada |
| Education | BYU, B.A. Communications, 1990 |
| Occupation | Sports Broadcaster |
| Employer | BYU Athletics |
| Known for | Play-by-play voice for BYU Football, Basketball, Baseball, and Women's Soccer |
| Spouse | Tauna |
| Children | Jocelyn, Caitlan, Regan and Afton |
Early life
editWrubell was born and raised in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where he developed an early love for hockey. He excelled at education and was allowed to skip first grade. He attended high school at Lord Beaverbrook High School. Despite his love of sports, Wrubell found he was not a very good player. Instead he attended choir, drama, and public speaking competitions.[1]
Wrubell's father, Allan, sparked his interest in sports. Allan was the local public address announcer for the Saskatoon Blades. As a result Greg decided to pursue sports broadcasting in college. Greg applied to many schools and eventually chose BYU. Greg attended BYU and was quickly swept up in the school's national championship run.[1] His first exposure to football occurred on his first day of school in 1984, when he watched BYU play at Pitt in BYU's Cougar Stadium. After seeing that action Greg knew he had found his calling and applied for a job at KBYU. They sent him to work covering the fencing team.[2]
Broadcasting career
editAfter serving two years as a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Brazil, Wrubell returned to BYU in 1987 and met his future wife, Tauna Fehrner, and began an internship at KSL. At the end of the summer, the two married and Wrubell parlayed his internship into weekend work where he became co-host of the KSL weekend sports talk show with Chris Tunis.[2] Wrubell would remain at BYU until 1990 when he graduated with a degree in communications.[3]
In 1992, Paul James invited Wrubell to join the BYU Cougars football radio team. Wrubell served as the sideline reporter for football and men's basketball. A heart attack led to James missing a few basketball games during the 1996-97 season, allowing Wrubell to move from the sidelines to play-by-play. Wrubell would become the full-time play-by-play voice for men's basketball during the 1997-98 season and then for football in 2001.[2]
Wrubell gained nationwide exposure when he made the only national radio commentary of the 2014 Miami Beach Bowl, including the infamous brawl between BYU and Memphis.[4] He followed that up by being featured nationally on ESPN's SportsCenter and IMG College's best of the week during weeks one and two of the 2015 BYU Cougars football season, following Tanner Mangum's hail-mary victories over Nebraska[5] and Boise State.[6]
In 2016, Wrubell left KSL where he had been a producer, reporter, host, and announcer[3] and became the BYU Director of Broadcast Media.[7] In 2018, Wrubell was hired as the first television broadcaster for Utah Royals FC.[8]
Personal life
editGreg and Tauna Wrubell live in Cedar Hills, Utah and are the parents of four children. One of their children, Regan, has autism, so Wrubell has participated in many autism-related benefit events. Wrubell testified before the Utah Legislature for autism funding and solicited corporate sponsors to donate to autism-related causes. He has also acted as emcee for benefit auctions for those with autism and at a few BYU award shows.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c "Greg Wrubell working his dream job". Deseret News. Archived from the original on January 24, 2015.
- ^ a b c "Voice of the Cougars".
- ^ a b "Greg Wrubell leaving KSL; more time for BYU?". 29 July 2016.
- ^ "Brawl erupts after Memphis beats BYU in 2OT in Miami Beach Bowl".
- ^ "BYU stuns Nebraska". 6 September 2015.
- ^ "Tanner Mangum 35 yard hail mary again". NFL.com.
- ^ "WRUBELL JOINS BYU ATHLETICS AS DIRECTOR OF BROADCAST MEDIA".
- ^ "NWSL team gets Royal treatment with 18 games broadcast locally". 22 March 2018.