Chris Marlowe
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Christian "Chris" Marlowe (born September 28, 1951) is an American professional sportscaster who resides in
Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
. He currently is the
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 ...
announcer for the
Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...
of the
National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...
in the fall, winter and spring, and in the summer he is a play-by-play announcer for the
Association of Volleyball Professionals The Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) is the biggest and longest-running professional beach volleyball tour in the United States. Founded in 1983, the AVP is headquartered in Newport Beach, California. The AVP operates as a 3-tiered ...
. He is a former collegiate basketball and volleyball player and played on the US National Men's Volleyball Team. He played beach volleyball extensively and won numerous tournaments on the Open beach circuit. He also was a captain of the US Men's volleyball team that won the
gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...
at the 1984 Olympic Games.


Early life

Marlowe was born in
Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
on September 28, 1951, and grew up in Pacific Palisades. His father,
Hugh Marlowe Hugh Marlowe (born Hugh Herbert Hipple; January 30, 1911May 2, 1982) was an American film, television, stage and radio actor. Early life Marlowe was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was born Hugh Herbert Hipple. He was of primarily Engli ...
, was an actor and starred in over 30 movies. His mother, K.T. Stevens, was also an actor, and appeared in 11 films. Marlowe's maternal grandfather was the prolific film director
Sam Wood Samuel Grosvenor Wood (July 10, 1883 – September 22, 1949) was an American film director and producer who is best known for having directed such Hollywood hits as ''A Night at the Opera (film), A Night at the Opera'', ''A Day at the Races (fi ...
, who was a three-time Academy Award nominee. Marlowe grew up playing volleyball on the beach. He was a two-sport standout at Palisades High School in
Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, playing basketball and volleyball. His Palisades High volleyball teams won three Los Angeles city championships. He graduated in 1969, after being selected a high school All-American.


College career

Marlowe was awarded an athletic scholarship at
San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...
, where he played both basketball and volleyball. San Diego State competed in the Pacific Coast Athletic Association in basketball. Marlowe played guard, and was a steady and consistent performer. He was selected Pacific Coast Athletic Association "Newcomer of the Year" in his freshman year. By his senior year he was on the PCAA All-Conference team. Marlowe lettered all four seasons at SDSU, and set a school record by playing in 114 consecutive games. In volleyball San Diego State competed in the 18-team Southern California Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (SCIVA). Volleyball was a new sport for the NCAA, having been first sanctioned as a championship sport in 1970, Marlowe's freshman year. The competition in college volleyball was dominated by the schools of southern California. The Aztecs of San Diego State were soon contenders for the national title, and Marlowe was one of the standouts on the team. In his junior year of 1971-72 Marlowe's Aztecs stepped into the spotlight as one of the nation's top teams. Marlowe was a starting outside hitter and setter for the Aztecs. SDSU and
UC Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...
were considered the top favorites to win the national championship. 1972 was the first appearance by the Aztecs in the four team volleyball championship. At the time the format of the tournament matched the format of a USVBA tournament, and consisted of a four-team preliminary round robin to determine seeding into a subsequent single-elimination championship bracket. SDSU made the trip back to
Ball State University Ball State University (Ball State, State or BSU) is a public university, public research university in Muncie, Indiana. It has two satellite facilities in Fishers, Indiana, Fishers and Indianapolis. On July 25, 1917, the Ball brothers, indust ...
in
Muncie, Indiana Muncie ( ) is an incorporated city and the county seat, seat of Delaware County, Indiana, Delaware County, Indiana. Previously known as Buckongahelas Town, named after the legendary Delaware Chief.http://www.delawarecountyhistory.org/history/docs ...
where the 1972 national tournament was being held. In round robin play the Aztecs beat Ball State 2-1 (15-8, 6-15, 15–5) and handled UCLA 2-0 (15-13, 15–7) before losing to UCSB 0-2 (13-15, 10–15). UCLA, UC Santa Barbara and SDSU all ended up with identical 2 - 1 records, but the Bruins earned the top position in the playoff seeding on the basis of points differential. The Bruins easily beat Ball State in their semi-final. In the other semi-final SDSU was down 2 games to none before they bounced back and avenged their round robin loss, defeating UC Santa Barbara in five, 11–15, 13–15, 15–9, 15–11, 15-12 for a 3–2 win. The win set up a championship final between San Diego State and the Bruins. In the championship match SDSU jumped out 2 games to none, and with an 8–3 lead in the third appeared ready for a three-game sweep. However the Bruins rallied back to win it, 10–15, 9-15, 15–9, 15–10, 15–7. UCLA had won their third consecutive national crown. In his senior year Marlowe was voted team captain. California teams still dominated the national scene, and
Long Beach State California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is a public research university in Long Beach, California. The 322-acre campus is the second largest of the 23-school California State University system (CSU) and one of the largest universities i ...
was the top ranked team and the favorite to win the title. In the regional finals San Diego State met defending national champion UCLA at UCLA's
Pauley Pavilion Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion, commonly known as Pauley Pavilion, is an indoor arena located in the Westwood Village district of Los Angeles, California, on the campus of UCLA. It is home to the UCLA Bruins men's and women's basketball teams. The men ...
in a rematch of the 1972 national championship match. The Bruins went up 2-0 before a three-game comeback by the Aztecs eliminated the Bruins from the tournament. After the win Marlowe commented to a Sports Illustrated writer "When we came back and beat UCLA in Pauley, it was like it was willed to be. It was like God came down from the mountain and was rooting for the Aztecs." The 1973 national championship tournament was hosted by
San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...
in
San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...
. In preliminary round robin play held in
Peterson Gym Peterson Gymnasium (or Peterson Gym) is a 3,668 seat multi-purpose arena in San Diego, California on the campus of San Diego State University (SDSU). The gym opened in 1961 and currently serves as the home of the San Diego State Aztecs women's vo ...
the Aztecs beat
Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
2-0 (15-1, 15–5) and Ball State 2-1 (17-19, 15–12, 15–5) before losing to Long Beach State 1-2 (15-10, 13–15, 7-15). Long Beach State ended round robin play with a perfect 3–0 record and the #1 seed. SDSU was seeded second with a 2–1 record, Ball State was third seed and Army was seeded fourth. In their semi-final SDSU defeated Ball State 3-0 (15-5, 15–7, 15–10) while Long Beach State defeated Army 3-0 (15-5, 15–1, 15–2), setting up a championship final between San Diego State and Long Beach State. A record crowd showed up at the
San Diego Sports Arena Pechanga Arena (historically known as the San Diego Sports Arena) is an indoor arena built in 1966 and located in the Midway area of San Diego, California. The arena seats 12,000 for indoor football, 12,920 for ice hockey, indoor soccer and ...
for the championship final. In what was then the largest crowd to witness a volleyball match in the U.S., more than 10,000 fans were on hand as the Aztecs lost the first game of the match 11–15. Game 2 saw the noise in the gym reach a deafening level, as the Aztecs came back to beat Long Beach State in a barn burner, 15–13. The final two games were all Aztecs, as they won them 15–8, 15–6 to give them their first national championship. With the title point the fans stormed the court to celebrate the achievement. The championship win was the first and only Division I team title ever won by San Diego State University. The 1973 San Diego State volleyball team finished with a collegiate won-loss record of 20–5. Marlowe was selected to the All Tournament team and was made first team All-American. The 1973 San Diego State volleyball team was inducted into the SDSU hall of Fame in 2003. Marlowe graduated from San Diego State in 1974 with a B.A. in physical education. Following his collegiate career Marlowe continued to play volleyball on the club level, and competed on one of the nation's best USVBA teams. He was voted Most Valuable Player at the USVBA Open Nationals in 1976 and again in 1978.


Beach career

Marlowe started competing in beach tournaments in 1975. On the beach he was nicknamed "The Lion" for his intensity and the unruly blonde hair that blew about on the top of Marlowe's head. In 1976 he was a captain on the national indoor team, but the team failed to qualify for the Olympic games. Marlowe had time enough left in the summer to team with Steve Obradovich and win the largest and most coveted beach event of the day, the
Manhattan Beach Open The Manhattan Beach Open is a beach volleyball tournament held annually during the summer in Manhattan Beach, California. Held on the south side of the Manhattan Beach Pier, the Open is the only professional volleyball tournament in which amat ...
. The following year was Marlowe's big year in the sand. He teamed with
Jim Menges James Menges (born January 10, 1951) is an American former volleyball player, coach, and Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) tournament director. He played college volleyball for the UCLA Bruins under head coach Al Scates. His college ...
, whose former partner, Greg Lee, had left to pursue a career in professional basketball. The pairing of Menges and Marlowe was dynamic. Together they took a first at the Santa Barbara Open followed by another first at the Hermosa Beach Open. Marlowe then paired with Ron Von Hagen to win the Rosecrans Open. Teaming with Menges again they won at the San Diego Open before the pair finally lost a championship match to Obradovich and Gary Hooper in the finals of the Laguna Beach Open. They came back to win at the Manhattan Beach Open and grabbed another first at the Lake Tahoe Open, before finishing the year by taking the world championship at the State Beach Open held at
Will Rogers State Beach Will Rogers State Beach is a beach park on the Santa Monica Bay, at the Pacific coast of Southern California. Located in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, the beach is owned by the California Department of Parks and Recreation; ...
. Marlowe did not play on the beach in 1978 but returned in 1979, partnering with Fred Sturm. They had one 3rd-place finish and five others in the top five. Following 1979 he moved away from the beach to focus instead on his fledgling acting career until 1982, when he returned to the US National team. All told Marlowe won eight open tournaments, including two highly prestigious Manhattan Beach Opens and the 1977 World Championship.


US National Team

Following his graduation from college Marlowe continued to play volleyball on indoor national club teams which competed in the Open division of the USVBA. At the 1976 USVBA Open National Championship he was voted the Most Valuable Player. Following the tournament he was selected to play on the US National team. His teammates chose him to be their team captain. The US national team failed to qualify for the 1976 Olympic games, and Marlowe returned to California and beach volleyball. In 1977 the program hired former player
Doug Beal Doug Beal (born March 4, 1947, in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American volleyball player and coach, a former USA Volleyball CEO, and a member of the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. Education * Master's degree in Education from Bowling G ...
as head coach of the U.S. Men's National Team. He became the driving force for establishing a full-time, year-around volleyball training center. The facility opened in 1978 in
Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Day ...
. However, California was the hot bed of volleyball talent at the time, and though the nation's top players were willing to play on the national team, many were unable to relocate to Dayton. In 1980 the US national team again failed to qualify for the
Olympic games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
, this time held in
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
. The United States had boycotted the games, making the failure to qualify a moot point, but it was clear the US team had to make a change. In 1981 the national team training center was moved to
San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...
. Marlowe rejoined the National team in 1982. In 1982 the US team was ranked 13th internationally. A collection of the top collegiate players from the California area joined Marlowe on the team, including
Karch Kiraly Charles Frederick "Karch" Kiraly () (born November 3, 1960) is an American volleyball player, coach and broadcast announcer. In the 1980s he was a central part of the U.S National Team that won gold medals at the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games. He ...
,
Dusty Dvorak Douglas Scott "Dusty" Dvorak (born July 29, 1958 in San Diego, California) is a former volleyball player from the United States, who was a member of the American Men's National Team that won the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 ...
,
Steve Timmons Steve Dennis Timmons (born November 29, 1958) is an American former volleyball player who represented the United States at three consecutive Summer Olympics starting in 1984, winning gold in 1984 and 1988 plus a bronze in 1992. Steve played voll ...
,
Craig Buck Craig Werner Buck (born August 24, 1958 in Los Angeles, California) is a former volleyball player (position middle blocker) from the United States, who was a member of the American men's national team that won the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Ol ...
,
Steven Salmons Steven Edward "Steve" Salmons (born July 3, 1958, in Saint Joseph, Missouri) is a former American volleyball player. He won an Olympic gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympi ...
, Pat Powers and
Doug Partie Robert Douglas "Doug" Partie (born October 21, 1961 in Santa Barbara, California) is a former American volleyball player, who was a member of the United States men's national volleyball team that won the gold medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics in ...
. At this point, being on the national team was a full-time job, practicing five hours a day, five days a week. Marlowe had to adjust from being an outside hitter and setter in a 6-2 system, to a full-time setter in the 5-1 system the national team was using. It was a significant adjustment, but at this point in his career it was one he had to make to play at the Olympic level. He appealed to SDSU Aztecs coach Jack Henn to help him make the transition from outside hitter to setter. "Chris and I had a little bit of a falling-out after ’73," Henn said. "But he realized he had to change positions to play in the Olympics. He could have gone off in his gold chains, but he humbled himself and asked for help." By the following year the U.S. squad was among the world's elite teams. Coming into the 1984 Olympic games the roster had to be cut down to 12 players. Marlowe was the last man cut. In the late spring of 1984 the US National team went on a five match tour of the Soviet Union, whose national team was the reigning world champions. The US swept all five matches of the series. Near the end of the final match, some six weeks before the start of the Olympics, setter Rod Wilde landed on the foot of a Soviet player who had crossed under the net. Wilde suffered a broken leg. Marlowe was asked to rejoin the team. In a show of support, his teammates selected him team captain by a unanimous vote on his first day back. The turnaround for the US National team culminated with the gold medal at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Playing at the Olympic games and winning the gold medal were lifetime achievements for Marlowe. Asked how he felt, Marlowe said "I felt like I was on Cloud 10, one notch higher than Cloud 9." Said US National Team head coach Doug Beal "Chris wasn’t the most gifted player. He wasn’t the best jumper, but he had the knack of making people around him better. He saw the game like few players see it. He always made good decisions. He ranks right up there with the best competitors of all time. "In ’84, we trained for 10 days before the Olympics in
Pullman, Washington Pullman () is the largest city in Whitman County, located in southeastern Washington within the Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest. The population was 29,799 at the 2010 census, and estimated to be 34,506 in 2019. Originally founded as Thr ...
. That was the most intense, most emotional time, and Chris was the key to that training and our success."


Entertainment and acting

Marlowe had come from a family of actors. He pursued this career as well, and in 1978 he spent a year appearing in the daytime TV series ''
Love of Life ''Love of Life'' is an American soap opera televised on CBS from September 24, 1951, to February 1, 1980. It was created by Roy Winsor, whose previous creation ''Search for Tomorrow'' premiered three weeks before ''Love of Life''; he created ''Th ...
''. He also had several minor film roles. His movie credits include '' Rollerball'', ''
Rounders Rounders is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams. Rounders is a striking and fielding team game that involves hitting a small, hard, leather-cased ball with a rounded end wooden, plastic, or metal bat. The players score by running aroun ...
'', ''
Look Who's Talking Too ''Look Who's Talking Too'' is a 1990 American romantic comedy film and a sequel to director Amy Heckerling's 1989 comedy ''Look Who's Talking''. The film stars the original cast members John Travolta and Kirstie Alley as James and Mollie Ubriacco, ...
'', ''
The 6th Man ''The 6th Man'', sometimes titled ''The Sixth Man'', is a 1997 American sports comedy film directed by Randall Miller, and starring Marlon Wayans and Kadeem Hardison. The film features real National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) schools ...
'' and ''
Side Out ''Side Out'' is a 1990 American comedy-drama sports film about a beach volleyball competition, featuring C. Thomas Howell, Peter Horton, Harley Jane Kozak and Courtney Thorne-Smith. It was the last film from Aurora Productions, Hollywood, Aurora ...
''. Early in his career, he guest starred on TV's ''
The Love Boat ''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy/drama television series that aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986; in addition, four three-hour specials aired in 1986, 1987, and 1990. The series was set on the luxury passenger cruise ship MS ''Pac ...
'', ''
A Man Called Sloane ''A Man Called Sloane'' is an American secret agent adventure television series that aired on NBC during the 1979–1980 television season. It was a Woodruff Production in association with QM Productions and became the final series produced by ...
'', and ''
Bosom Buddies ''Bosom Buddies'' is an American television sitcom starring Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari created by Robert L. Boyett, Thomas L. Miller and Chris Thompson ( Miller-Milkis-Boyett Productions). It aired on Thursday nights for two seasons on ABC fr ...
'', and was a regular on the short-lived ''
Highcliffe Manor ''Highcliffe Manor'' is an American sitcom with a gothic horror background focused on the events in a mansion with crazy scientists and strange figures. The series starred Shelley Fabares and aired on NBC from April 12 to May 3, 1979. Summary The ...
''. During this time Marlowe also worked doing sports broadcasting jobs. Following the 1984 Olympics, Marlowe's agent guided him to make a choice between pursuing a further career in acting or a further career in sports broadcasting. Said Marlowe: "That was a time when I was always auditioning for parts but nothing I really wanted. So a sports announcer job for me seemed to be more natural. I was playing the role of myself, which I really enjoyed."


Broadcast career

Marlowe is a
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 ...
announcer who splits his time between two major commitments. In the fall, winter and spring he resides in Denver and does the play-by-play announcing for the
Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...
of the
NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
. In the summers he comes back out to Los Angeles and works as a play-by-play announcer for the AVP. In addition to basketball and volleyball, he has done play-by-play announcing of over 25 other sports, and is considered one of America's most versatile television sports broadcasters. Marlowe first got an opportunity to do TV broadcast work when ABC hired him to provide color commentary for the 1978 NCAA indoor volleyball championship. UCLA head coach
Al Scates Allen Edward Scates (born June 9, 1939) is a former American volleyball player and volleyball coach, who was head coach of the UCLA Bruins for 48 years. Scates is the winningest volleyball coach in the history of the NCAA, and the 19 NCAA titles ...
had been doing commentary for ABC when the Bruins were not in the NCAA championship tournament. In 1978 the Bruins made the final, and ABC asked Scates if he knew someone who could replace him in the booth. Scates got to know Marlowe as Marlowe used to work out at the Bruin gym, and Scates recommended him. Marlowe's first job was providing color commentary for the NCAA championship match between UCLA and Pepperdine. Said Scates: "They liked Chris so much, that was the end of my television career." Marlowe found he enjoyed broadcasting, and that he was good at it. Between acting jobs and his own volleyball commitments he continued to do color commentary for both indoor and beach volleyball for the next several years. After he completed his athletic career with the 1984 Olympic games he made a serious commitment to sports broadcasting, and he took courses in the skills of the trade. Marlowe credits sportscasting expert Lou Riggs of
Santa Monica College Santa Monica College (SMC) is a Public university, public, community college in Santa Monica, California. Founded as a Junior college#United States, junior college in 1929, SMC enrolls over 30,000 students in more than 90 fields of study. Althoug ...
for training him in sports broadcasting fundamentals. When Marlowe started with Prime Ticket, his first partner on play-by-play was
Lynn Shackleford Lynn Shackelford (born August 27, 1947) is an American former professional basketball player. A graduate of John Burroughs High School in Burbank, California, Shackelford earned 7 varsity letters in 3 years in basketball, baseball and golf. He ...
. He next worked with
Keith Erickson Keith Raymond Erickson (born April 19, 1944) is an American former basketball, and volleyball player. After graduating from El Segundo High School (California), attended El Camino College. Erickson then played basketball at UCLA, where he was a ...
. When Erickson quit that opened up the play-by-play spot that Marlowe had been preparing for. Marlowe moved over to play-by-play and was joined in the booth by former teammate
Paul Sunderland Paul Benedict Sunderland (born March 29, 1952) is an American professional sportscaster who resides in Los Angeles, California. He worked as the indoor volleyball play-by-play announcer for NBC Olympics’ coverage of the 2016 Summer Olympics, ...
as his analyst. Marlowe and Sunderland knew each other well, and had first played together on the U.S. National Indoor Volleyball Team in 1975. "When Paul moved into the color spot that really clicked. We were old friends, played together on the national team for years, and our chemistry was fantastic." Marlowe and Sunderland called their first volleyball event in 1985, doing the college regional playoff match between San Diego State and Pepperdine. Their first work broadcasting at an Olympic games was at the Summer Olympics in Barcelona in 1992. They teamed up again for the Olympics in Atlanta, and again four years later in Sydney. Moving from analyst/color commentator to play-by-play was a big step-up in difficulty for Marlowe, but it meant many more broadcast opportunities. "It was smart to move to play-by-play because there is always someone else coming up who can fill the analyst role. Once I started doing that, I realized I could be good at it. I’m smart, and quick, good with numbers and could set up the analyst." Soon Marlowe was branching out into basketball, and then other sports as well. "My bosses at Prime Ticket started letting me do basketball – I also played that – and that led to me doing other things like boxing, gymnastics, swimming, water polo … even windsurfing." Marlowe has worked to become very versatile. In his nearly 40-year career in sports broadcasting he has covered and announced all variety of sporting events. Marlowe called Pacific 10 Basketball for FOX Sports Northwest in addition to handling USC Trojan play-by-play duties for FOX Sports West. Marlowe also did Pacific-10 College Football play-by-play for FOX Sports Northwest, NCAA College Basketball on ESPN and FOX, San Diego State Basketball and WUSA Soccer for San Diego's Cox Cable, AVP Professional Beach Volleyball for NBC, college volleyball for CSTV, and NCAA Championships in swimming, diving, gymnastics and volleyball for ESPN. He has also called aerobics, baseball, boxing, cliff-diving, equestrian show jumping, fencing, poker, rhythmic gymnastics, skiing, college soccer, track and field, water polo, wind surfing and wrestling. He has hosted sports programs such as the "UCLA Sports Magazine" for Prime Sports, the "Just for Kicks" soccer show on ESPN, the "Marlowe Minute" for Dig Magazine on FOX Sports West and the "Aztec Sports Weekly" for Cox Cable. Along with assignments for
Fox Sports Net Fox Sports Networks (FSN), formerly known as Fox Sports Net, was the collective name for a group of regional sports channels in the United States. Formed in 1996 by News Corporation, the networks were acquired by The Walt Disney Company on Mar ...
, Marlowe was the announcer for every
Association of Volleyball Professionals The Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) is the biggest and longest-running professional beach volleyball tour in the United States. Founded in 1983, the AVP is headquartered in Newport Beach, California. The AVP operates as a 3-tiered ...
event in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He was also an occasional anchor on the ''Southern California Sports Report''. Marlowe is a veteran of four consecutive Olympic telecasts on NBC, starting with calling play-by-play for NBC's coverage of
Beach Volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two or more players on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side of the ...
at the
2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...
in
Athens, Greece Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
. Marlowe also has done AVP events for NBC, college volleyball for CSTV, and volleyball, football and basketball for ESPN. Marlowe has seen a number of changes in sports broadcasting over his career, among which is having women in front of the camera. He notes having enjoyed working with
Michele Tafoya Michele Tafoya is an American former sportscaster. From 2011 to 2022, she was a reporter for NBC Sports, primarily as a sideline reporter for ''NBC Sunday Night Football''. She currently works as a political advisor and makes television appear ...
and
Heather Cox Heather Cox (born Heather Schoeny on June 3, 1970) is an American sportscaster who is a sports reporter for NBC. As Heather Schoeny, she played college volleyball at University of the Pacific. Biography High school Cox attended Capistrano ...
, comments that both are very good at their jobs, and states having women as sports broadcasters has been a good change in the sports broadcasting industry.


Personal life

Most of the year Marlowe resides in
Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
with his wife, Laurie. In the summers they move to
Manhattan Beach, California Manhattan Beach is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast south of El Segundo, California, El Segundo, west of Hawthorne, California, Hawthorne and Redondo Beach, California, Red ...
. They have two grown daughters, both of whom were standout setters for Arapahoe High School in Denver. Their older daughter, MacKenzie, graduated from
Chapman University Chapman University is a private research university in Orange, California. It encompasses ten schools and colleges, including Fowler School of Engineering, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, Fowler School of Law, and Schmid College of Scie ...
. She is interested in working in the film industry and has interned at DiNovi Pictures. She currently is an executive assistant at
William Morris Endeavor Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc. (formerly known as William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, WME or WME-IMG) is an American holding company for talent and media agencies with its primary offices in Beverly Hills, California, United States. The compa ...
. Their younger daughter, Grace, attends the
USC School of Cinematic Arts The University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) houses seven academic divisions: Film & Television Production; Cinema & Media Studies; John C. Hench Division of Animation + Digital Arts; John Wells Division of Writing for Sc ...
.


Awards

In 1986 Marlowe was inducted into the USVBA Hall of Fame in
Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...
. Eight years later in 1994 San Diego State inducted Marlowe into their Aztec Hall of Fame. The California Beach Volleyball Hall of Fame elected to induct Marlowe into their hall later that same year. Finally, on 23 April 2017 Marlowe was inducted into the Los Angeles City Section sports Hall of Fame. At his induction into the Los Angeles City Section sports Hall of Fame, Marlowe spoke of the athletic accomplishments he valued most. Among these he listed winning three LA city championships at Palisades High School, an NCAA championship at San Diego State University, being selected first team All American in his senior year at San Diego State, being twice selected MVP at the USVBA national championships, winning four USVBA Open team national championships, winning the World Championship and 8 other tournaments on the beach circuit, including the two Manhattans, and a gold medal at the Olympic games. Of them all, what he prized most was winning the Olympic gold medal in front of his family and friends at the games held in Los Angeles in 1984.


See also

*
SDSU Aztecs The San Diego State Aztecs are the athletic teams that represent San Diego State University (SDSU). San Diego State currently sponsors six men's and eleven women's sports at the varsity level. The Aztecs compete in NCAA Division I ( FBS for foo ...
*
USA Volleyball USA Volleyball (USAV) is a non-profit organization which is recognized as the national governing body of volleyball in the United States by the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). It i ...


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marlowe, Chris 1951 births Living people American television sports announcers Olympic gold medalists for the United States in volleyball Volleyball players at the 1984 Summer Olympics San Diego State Aztecs men's basketball players San Diego State Aztecs men's volleyball players Denver Nuggets announcers Television anchors from Los Angeles National Basketball Association broadcasters College basketball announcers in the United States College football announcers American men's volleyball players Olympic Games broadcasters Volleyball commentators Beach Volleyball commentators Poker commentators Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics American men's basketball players XFL (2001) announcers Women's United Soccer Association commentators