KMOX broadcaster to speak at Elks banquet
Legendary KMOX broadcaster Ron Jacober has so many followers on his Sunday morning sports broadcast he could legitimately be called a church.
St. Louis' radio's premier radio sports director will hold services in Du Quoin on Wednesday, May 6 as the keynote speaker during the Elks annual all-sports banquet. This is the 68th installment of the night that Du Quoin celebrates high school sports.
Elks banquet committee member Fred Huff keeps hitting it out of the park with respect to finding speakers that inspire these great Du Quoin-area athletes. For example Chuck Flynn (1952), Jack Hartman (1967), Bob Burnes (1970), Gale Sayers (1977), Stan Musial (1977), Jim Hart (1985), Rich Herrin (1992), Don Stanhouse (1995), Bruce Weber (2000) and Jerry Kill (2003 and 2009). The list goes on and on.
The banquet will be held at the Elks Club just off of Rt. 51 behind radio station WDQN starting at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10, but they will go fast with the announcement that Jacober will be the guest speaker.
Ron Jacober has covered St. Louis sports on radio and television longer than anyone in the history of the market-43 years. He served as Sports Director of KMOX for two decades before going to a part time schedule. He continues to do part time hosting on the award winning "Sports On a Sunday Morning" along with doing some part time work on the Sports Open Line program.
Ron was recently inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in Springfield. He has also been honored with inductions into the St. Louis Radio, St. Louis Media and Highland Illinois Schools Halls of Fame.
He has won numerous awards from the Missouri Broadcasters Association along with being named St. Louis' best sportscasters. His work on KSDK television earned him two Emmy Awards. He was selected by CBS/Westwood One as a commentator at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. His work in Sydney earning him the Jack Buck Media Award at the annual MS Sports Dinner and the A.I.R. Award for best news series, "Postcards from Sydney."
Ron was honored by the Missouri Athletic Club with the Bob Burnes/Bob Broeg Award for his contributions to St. Louis and the sports community.
Jacober has worked on broadcast teams for St. Louis Cardinals baseball, St. Louis University basketball, St. Louis Blues hockey, St. Louis Storm and Ambush pro soccer, college basketball on ESPN and Missouri Tiger football. He has covered, Super Bowls, World Series, Stanley Cups and NCAA Final Fours. Ron holds a Journalism degree from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, and was named the J-School's Alumnus of the Year.
He and his wife Lois have two sons, David, an Army veteran and currently a police officer in Pueblo, Colorado and Jeffrey, a Naval Academy graduate and former Navy top gun fighter pilot, currently a pilot for Southwest Airlines. Ron is one of the original staff members of the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame and serves as the hall's Historical Consultant.