- Rod Trongard
Rod Trongard (1933-2005) was a
Minnesota -based sports broadcaster on both radio and television in theMinneapolis -St. Paul area for more than fifty years.Early career
Trongard's career began in 1953 at KXRA Alexandria, followed by positions at KSDN Aberdeen, South Dakota, and KDIO Ortonville. He moved to the Twin Cities in 1959 as news director at WLOL. It was there than Trongard began his sports broadcasting career, calling basketball for the
Minnesota Muskies as well as theMinneapolis Lakers (precedingChick Hearn until the Lakers moved toLos Angeles ). Trongard also calledUniversity of Minnesota football and basketball.He joined KSTP in 1968, where he broadcast
Minnesota Pipers basketball, producedMinnesota Vikings football andMinnesota North Stars hockey broadcasts, and did player and coach interviews. He also hosted Minnesota Gopher football coach Cal Stoll’s show on KSTP TV. He also was the public address announcer for the Minnesota Fighting Saints (WHA) hockey team and the Minnesota Kicks (NASL) soccer team.Wrestling
Trongard is fondly remembered as the voice of
American Wrestling Association (AWA) pro wrestling throughout the 1980s, calling matches involving the likes ofHulk Hogan ,Nick Bockwinkel ,Bobby Heenan ,Verne Gagne , TheRoad Warriors ,Shawn Michaels and many others. Trongard's voice was featured on the AWA's weeklyESPN broadcasts, reaching millions of homes around the world. His signature phrase "From coast to coast, continent to continent, and border to border" brought the broadcasts closer to the viewer, as he'd often include city names in the phrase, signifying the broad reach of wrestling and the AWA's broadcasts at the time.Trongard left the AWA in 1988 for a brief stint in the WWF, before retiring from the wrestling scene.
Later career and death
Trongard joined KEEZ FM Mankato in 1982, where he did morning drive, news, and sports for eleven years before moving to KTOE/KDOG Mankato in 1993. He continued to broadcast sports on KTOE/KDOG and on KXAC/KRRW St. James for many years, and was an important part of the community in southern Minnesota until he died after a long battle with liver cancer in June 2005.
Trongard was inducted into the
Pavek Museum of Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2003
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
