Carter Blackburn (born March 30, 1979) is an American
sportscaster. He currently works for
CBS Sports
CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W 5 ...
after leaving
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
in 2014.
Early life and education
Blackburn was born in
Dallas, Texas
Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...
, and grew up in
Kerrville
Kerrville is a city in, and the county seat of, Kerr County, Texas, United States. The population of Kerrville was 24,278 at the 2020 census. Kerrville is named after James Kerr, a major in the Texas Revolution, and friend of settler- ...
, in the
Texas Hill Country
The Texas Hill Country is a geographic region of Central and South Texas, forming the southeast part of the Edwards Plateau. Given its location, climate, terrain, and vegetation, the Hill Country can be considered the border between the Ameri ...
near
San Antonio
("Cradle of Freedom")
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, mapsize = 220px
, map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = United States
, subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State
, subdivision_name1 = Texas
, s ...
.
Blackburn began his broadcasting career at
KERV/
KRVL radio during his sophomore year at
Tivy High School
Tivy High School is a public high school located in Kerrville, Texas, United States. It is classified as a 5A school by the UIL, and is a part of the Kerrville Independent School District located in east central Kerr County. In 2015, the scho ...
. By his junior year in high school, he was sports director for the radio station, doing morning drive-time reports on area high school sports and Texas college and pro teams as well as providing
play-by-play
In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...
for radio and TV for
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
,
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
,
softball
Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...
, and
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
.
He then graduated from the
S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications of
Syracuse University
Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...
in 2001 with a degree in
broadcast journalism
Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are broadcast by electronic methods instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. It works on radio (via air, cable, and Internet), television (via air, cable, ...
and
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
. At Syracuse, he served as play-by-play announcer for football, basketball and lacrosse broadcasts on
WAER-FM
WAER (88.3 FM) is a radio station in Syracuse, New York. It is located on the campus of Syracuse University, and is a part of the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. The station features a jazz music and National Public Radio format ...
.
Professional career
He worked for International Sports Properties (ISP) in
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in N ...
, and
Fox Sports Net South from 2001 to 2003; among his assignments were games in what became the
NBA Development League
The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...
.
He joined
CBS Sports
CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W 5 ...
(then known as CSTV) in 2003 when the channel launched. Blackburn made his national broadcast television debut on CBS Sports with a Big Ten women's basketball game between Penn State and Michigan State in January, 2008. He later called two
2008 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
The 2008 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 65 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2007–08 basketball ...
games, working afternoon session games at the
Honda Center
The Honda Center (formerly known as the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim) is an indoor arena located in Anaheim, California. The arena is home to the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League.
Originally named the Anaheim Arena during construction, ...
in
Anaheim, California
Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...
.
He reprised that role in 2009 & 2016.
In September 2009 he began broadcasting for ESPN and ESPNU.
He provided play-by-play for TV broadcasts of NCAA football, men's and women's basketball, baseball, softball, and lacrosse. In 2011, Blackburn broadcast the 2008 Reebok Grand Prix where Usain Bolt set a new world record in the 100 meters with a time of 9.71. In 2011 Blackburn provided play-by-play for the World Series of Softball tournament in Oklahoma City, OK. In 2012, he replaced
Joe Tessitore
Joseph William Tessitore (born January 1, 1971) is an American sportscaster for ABC and ESPN. He leads ESPN's world championship fight broadcasts as the blow-by-blow broadcaster for Top Rank Boxing on ESPN, serves as a play-by-play announcer fo ...
for the Friday Night Football package for ESPN and ESPN2. He also called
Little League Baseball
Little League Baseball and Softball (officially, Little League Baseball Inc) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization[sports network
Sports channels are television speciality channels (usually available exclusively through cable and satellite) broadcast sporting events, usually live, and when not broadcasting events, sports news and other related programming.
The first sport ...]
. He also called college basketball, football, and baseball games. On December 27, 2014 Blackburn filled in for
Verne Lundquist
Merton Laverne Lundquist Jr. (born July 17, 1940) is an American sportscaster.
Biography
Early life and career
Lundquist was born in Duluth, Minnesota. He graduated from Austin High School in Austin, Texas, before attending Texas Lutheran Un ...
during the
2014 Sun Bowl
The 2014 Sun Bowl was an American college football bowl game that was played on December 27, 2014, at Sun Bowl Stadium in El Paso, Texas. In this 81st edition of the Sun Bowl, Arizona State from the Pac-12 Conference met Duke from the Atlantic C ...
. Blackburn was a part of the CBS Sports team doing feature group coverage for the
2015 Masters
The 2015 Masters Tournament was the 79th Masters Tournament, and the first of golf's four major championships, held April 9–12 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Jordan Spieth led wire-to-wire and shot a record-tying 270 (−1 ...
golf tournament.
He also calls NFL games for CBS on occasion, partnering with
Chris Simms
Christopher David Simms (born August 29, 1980) is an American sports analyst and former American football, football player. He was a quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in t ...
for 2015 and 2016.
By age thirty-one, Blackburn had called the NFL on Fox, the NCAA basketball tournament on CBS, and college football on ABC.
In 2008, at 26, Blackburn was the second-youngest announcer of an NCAA Tournament game, at least in CBS's run as the telecaster.
Jim Nantz
James William Nantz III (born May 17, 1959) is an American sportscaster who has worked on telecasts of the National Football League (NFL), NCAA Division I men's basketball, the NBA and the PGA Tour for CBS Sports since the 1980s. He has anchor ...
was the only one younger (26 years old in 1985).
Notable calls
Blackburn called then-Penn State coach Joe Paterno’s record setting 409th win for ABC, Paterno’s last game as coach of the Nittany Lions.
*March 18, 2016: Blackburn was the play-by-play announcer for
Turner Sports
Warner Bros. Discovery Sports (WBD Sports) is the division of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) that is responsible for sports broadcasting, sports broadcasts on its parent company's various channels in the United States, including TBS (American TV ch ...
's coverage of the
NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as NCAA March Madness and commonly called March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 college basketball teams from ...
's first round match–up between the
Northern Iowa Panthers
The Northern Iowa Panthers are the athletic teams of the University of Northern Iowa. The university is a member of the Missouri Valley Conference and competes in NCAA Division I (Division I FCS in football).
History
The school's mascot is t ...
and the
Texas Longhorns
The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and a ...
, where Panthers guard
Paul Jesperson hit a half court shot at the buzzer to upset the Longhorns 75–72 just seconds after
Isaiah Taylor
Isaiah Shaquille Taylor (born July 11, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for Žalgiris Kaunas of the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) and the EuroLeague. He has previously played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) ...
hit a running floater to tie the game at 72.
*August 24, 2019: Blackburn was the play-by-play announcer for
CBS Sports
CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W 5 ...
college football coverage of the Week 0 match–up between the
Arizona Wildcats
The Arizona Wildcats are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Arizona, located in Tucson, Arizona, Tucson. The Wildcats compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Divis ...
and
Hawaii Rainbow Warriors
The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and Rainbow Wāhine are the athletic teams that represent the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UH), in Honolulu, Hawaii. The UH athletics program is a member of the Big West Conference in most sports and competes a ...
, where
Khalil Tate
Khalil Tate (born October 23, 1998) is an American gridiron football quarterback who is currently a free agent. He was most recently a member of the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL). After playing quarterback at the Univers ...
was tackled by Hawaii defensive lineman Manly Williams and defensive back Kalen Hicks at the one yard line as time expired in an attempt to bring the game within one point pending the extra point.
Personal life
Blackburn lives in
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...
.
References
External links
Official biography by CBS Sports
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blackburn, Carter
1979 births
Living people
American radio sports announcers
American television sports announcers
Baseball announcers
Softball announcers
College baseball announcers in the United States
College basketball announcers in the United States
College football announcers
Golf writers and broadcasters
Lacrosse announcers
National Football League announcers
People from Dallas
S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications alumni
Women's college basketball announcers in the United States