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Bob Hogue Has Fond Memories of the Cedar Valley
Bob Hogue has journeyed a long way. The former KWWL-TV sports director in Waterloo from 1979-84, he earned his business degree from the University of Southern California and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). He has more than 30 years of radio and television broadcasting experience and served as a state senator in Hawaii from 2000-06.
A former collegiate student-athlete who played baseball as a walk-on at USC during its national championship run of five titles in a row in the 1970s, he began his broadcasting career at the University of South Dakota as a color commentator for Coyote football. He then became the primary play-by-play announcer for the Iowa Television Network. His broadcasting experience also extended to the University of California, Sacramento State, California-Davis and the University of Pacific.
Still living in Hawaii, he joined the Pacific West Conference in July of 2007 as commissioner. He has been a play-by-play specialist for Hawaii Pacific, BYU–Hawaii and the University of Hawaii. He currently writes a weekly sports column for MidWeek Magazine and freelances for several other magazines.
CVA: How did you originally land in the Cedar Valley? Why did you leave?
BH: I was at KWWL from 1979-84 — the glory years when Hayden Fry was at Iowa, Stan Sheriff was at UNI, Iowa went to the Final Four and UNI beat Wisconsin in basketball. Dan Gable was winning all those NCAA wrestling championships as coach at Iowa, and Ron (Steele), Liz (Mathis), Craig (Johnson) and I were number one in the news ratings. It was a wonderful time to be living in Iowa! I came to Waterloo-Cedar Falls when I was promoted from a station in Sioux City at age 25. I left at age 30 when I was fortunate enough to get a major market TV offer to work in Sacramento.
CVA: Give a brief synopsis of what you’ve been doing since you left.
BH: I worked at the top-rated news station, KCRA, in Sacramento for four years, then moved to Honolulu, where I was on the top-rated station in Hawaii, KHON. I was Sports Director at both stations, and then ran for the Hawaii State Senate in 2000. I served six years as the Minority Floor Leader, representing Kailua-Kaneohe in the state legislature. I ran for the U.S. Congress in 2006, winning the primary election, but falling short in the general. I was named Commissioner of the Pacific West Conference in 2007. I also write for MidWeek Magazine and other publications and do occasional broadcasting work on radio and TV. I wrote a novel called Sands of Lanikai that should be published within the next year.
CVA: Give a brief synopsis of your family.
BH: I live with my daughter Amanda, who will be off to college in California after the Christmas holidays. My other daughters, Jesica and Becky, live on the Mainland, Jes in Kansas, Becky in New York City. I coached all of them (in basketball) when they were growing up. Becky was state Player of the Year in high school and Jesica married my assistant coach when I was a varsity high school basketball coach!
CVA: What do you miss the most about living and working in the Cedar Valley?
BH: I loved the people—everyone was always so passionate and positive. I loved going to the sporting events and interacting with everyone. I loved the games at the UNI-Dome and in Iowa City, and I loved covering the high schools. I really loved playing basketball at the UNI rec center and playing flag football in the parks on Sunday afternoon. And I was really lucky to work with such awesome co-workers.
CVA: What does your future hold? Any new plans?
BH: I love my new job as Commissioner of the PacWest. It perfectly dovetails with my three previous careers —as a CPA, a sportscaster, and a legislator. I love the opportunity to travel and to work with coaches, athletic administrators, and student-athletes. I feel very blessed.
BH: I had always enjoyed bantering about politics (my Dad and Mom are really into it) and I eventually had a political talk show on radio to go along with my sports casting duties. Eventually, I was recruited into the political arena and ran for State Senate and Congress. I’ll admit it was both satisfying and frustrating—satisfying because you can truly help people and frustrating because some people see a letter next to your name (D or R) and immediately despise you. Personally, I like sports better because you settle the issues on the field or on the court and not in a backroom.
CVA: What would you like to say to the people in the Cedar Valley?
BH: Please tell everyone I say “Aloha!” Feel free to call me if you ever get to the islands—and if you start the conversation with “Oh, My!” I’ll know immediately you’re from the great state of Iowa!
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