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Vic Rauter, Cheryl Bernard, Russ Howard Vic Rauter, Cheryl Bernard, Russ Howard <\/p>\nIt all started at the 1986 Canadian Mixed Curling Championship in Kamloops, B.C. <\/p>\n
Forty years later, the man known as the \u201cVoice of Curling\u201d is calling his last bonspiel as Vic Rauter will retire following the World Men\u2019s Curling Championship in Ogden, Utah. <\/p>\n
His final broadcast will be Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. when he calls the gold-medal game of the tournament.<\/p>\n
Rauter\u2019s unique cadence \u2013 silky smooth and conversational, while thunderous and operatic when appropriate – has become synonymous with the granite game in Canada. <\/p>\n
In terms of longevity and impact in Canadian sports broadcasting, Rauter is in the same class as the likes of Foster Hewitt, Bob Cole and Don Wittman.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere will be no one that ever touches him in curling. I don\u2019t care who it is \u2013 and we\u2019ve got some wonderful people that have covered the sport,\u201d long-time TSN curling analyst Cathy Gauthier said. \u201cPeople will emulate him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s Johnny Carson,\u201d added fellow analyst Russ Howard, who\u2019s worked with Rauter since 2009. <\/p>\n
Vic Rauter, Cheryl Bernard, Russ Howard Vic Rauter, Cheryl Bernard, Russ Howard <\/p>\n
Rauter, who will turn 72 in May, has mused over the idea of calling it a career the past few seasons and finally felt it was time to retire after more than five decades in the industry. <\/p>\n
\u201cI am a spiritual guy. I\u2019m a blessed guy with a wonderful wife. And now it\u2019s time for us to enjoy what 53 years of work has given me,\u201d said Rauter, who\u2019s looking forward to travelling more with his wife, Marianne. <\/p>\n
\u201cI started this when I was 19. I\u2019ve been mentored well, taught lessons well, had wonderful experiences all along the way.\u201d <\/p>\n
As an up-and-coming broadcaster, Rauter was hired by TSN in 1985, a year after the network first went to air, initially anchoring SportsDesk, which is now known as SportsCentre. Rauter was soon approached by TSN\u2019s vice president of production Jim Thompson who wondered how much he knew about curling.<\/p>\n
\u201cI curled in a Sportsman\u2019s League down in the old Terrace in Toronto. It doesn\u2019t exist anymore. A lot of media guys curled in it,\u201d Rauter told his boss at the time. \u201cIt\u2019s mostly a hit and a giggle and have a beer. Then he said, \u2018Okay, because we\u2019d like you to do the curling with Ray Turnbull.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n
Rauter and Turnbull, a Brier champion in 1965, began working together in January of 1986. The rest is history.<\/p>\n
Rauter has been in the booth for TSN at every Tournament of Hearts and Brier since 1986, save for the 2006 season, when the broadcast rights were fully owned by CBC. <\/p>\n
No matter who Rauter was partnered with in the booth, the chemistry seemed effortless. <\/p>\n
Whether it was Turnbull, Vera Pezer, Linda Moore, Cheryl Bernard or the current iteration of Howard, Gauthier and Joanne Courtney, Rauter believes \u201cdefined roles\u201d made the broadcast flourish. <\/p>\n
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Vic Rauter, Linda Moore and Ray Turnbull Vic Rauter, Linda Moore and Ray Turnbull <\/p>\n
\u201cI am the play-by-play guy. I will always set it up for them [analysts], hopefully to make them look good, and they in turn make me look good,\u201d explained Rauter. \u201cIf I can bring something out of them, we have our defined roles. Simple as that.\u201d <\/p>\n
Another skill Rauter has mastered over the years is asking the questions a non-curling expert may be wondering while watching the broadcast at home. Curling can be complex game for a newcomer or even someone with a basic familiarity of the sport. Rauter has always done his best to simplify it. <\/p>\n
\u201cJim Thompson always said to me every year, \u2018What do you know about the game?\u2019 And I said, \u2018Nothing.\u2019 And he said, \u2018Perfect\u2019 because he always wanted me to be the eyes of the viewer who knows something but maybe doesn\u2019t know it as in-depth,\u201d Rauter said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s not trying to prove to Wayne Middaugh or Rachel Homan how good he is,\u201d said Howard. \u201cHe\u2019s asking the question that the fan wants to hear, wants answered.\u201d <\/p>\n
Aside from his ability to facilitate conversation, Rauter truly shines in the big moments, pumping up the volume and drama for countless memorable calls over the years.<\/p>\n
Brad Gushue\u2019s winning draw at the 2017 Brier in St. John\u2019s, Nfld., and Homan\u2019s ninth-end split for three at the 2024 World Women\u2019s Curling Championship in Sydney, N.S., are two that stand out in recent memory.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what I\u2019m going to miss the most, is that he makes every last shot exciting and important,\u201d said Gauthier, who\u2019s been with TSN for 30 years. \u201cAnd I know that there are a billion broadcasters that can make a last call, but no one\u2019s made the final like him. The excitement that he makes people feel that it\u2019s such a pivotal shot. Even if it\u2019s a draw for two, he brings the excitement as if you were in the building.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cWe just know to get the hell out of the way and let him do his thing,\u201d added Howard. <\/p>\n
Rauter\u2019s natural delivery and cadence are one of a kind. Rauter made a conscious effort during his career to not sound like anybody else, sometimes even watching other broadcasts on mute.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to pick up on anything of them. Even watching Don Wittman, and Don Wittman was very good. But I didn\u2019t want to be Don Wittman,\u201d explained Rauter. \u201cI wanted to be me.\u201d <\/p>\n
As for his famous \u201cMake the Final\u201d call, that was born during his days working with CBC prior to TSN. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt just stuck, it just kept going,\u201d said Rauter, who was inducted into the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame in 2006. \u201cYou don\u2019t go looking for this stuff. I don\u2019t think Al Michaels looked for a chance to say, \u2018Do you believe in miracles?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Must See: ‘He is the heartbreak kid no more’ – Dunstone wins his first career Brier Matt Dunstone clears both of Kevin Koe’s rocks out of the house with his final stone to secure the first Brier title of his career. <\/p>\n
Vic the newsman <\/p>\n
Becoming the \u201cVoice of Curling\u201d was never the dream for Rauter growing up. <\/p>\n
The son of Swiss immigrants, Rauter took after his father\u2019s interest in current affairs and inspired to be a foreign correspondent. <\/p>\n
After going to Humber College, Rauter got a job at CFTR radio in Toronto as a reporter where he covered City Hall, provincial politics, and \u201cchased fire truck and ambulances,\u201d looking for news. <\/p>\n
Before long Rauter was asked to do sports coverage on the weekends. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you\u2019re off and you never go back. I do tell you though, when a fire truck or a police car screams down the street, I do wonder where it\u2019s going because you never lose that,\u201d said Rauter. <\/p>\n
He got his first television gig with Toronto\u2019s Global TV in the early 1980s, reporting on local sports for their morning show. A few years later, Rauter was working alongside Brian Williams, covering the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles for CBC. He joined TSN a year later.<\/p>\n
\u201cA door opens, a door closes, that one closed, another one opens, and you go through,\u201d Rauter said. <\/p>\n
Of course, curling isn\u2019t the only sport Rauter has called. From ringette, rhythmic gymnastics and cricket to MLB and MLS games, there isn\u2019t much he hasn\u2019t covered. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe only thing I have not called, honestly, I swear to you, is a CFL game,\u201d said Rauter. \u201cI never did a CFL game.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Rauter has been to numerous Olympics as well. In fact, he was the first reporter to interview Canadian swimmer Mark Tewksbury after he captured the gold medal in the 100-metre backstroke at the 1992 Barcelona Games.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything was a little more innocent before 9\/11, of course. And a smile and a Canadian pin could get you a lot of places,\u201d said Rauter. \u201cI ended up going down to the back of the pool. When he came out all smiling, I was the first guy he saw. We did an interview and that was how I ended up in his book.\u201d <\/p>\n
The most prepared man in curling <\/p>\n
Like baseball, curling is a sport where the back-and-forth action is not constant. Being well-prepared with research and talking points is integral for any curling broadcaster to be successful.<\/p>\n
And Rauter is one of the best. <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t believe there\u2019s a broadcaster, news, sports, whatever it is, that\u2019s as prepared as Vic Rauter,\u201d said Howard. \u201cIt\u2019s insane what he does, the amount of work he does before.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we went to dead air for two hours, he could easily fill it,\u201d Gauthier said. <\/p>\n
There was a moment early in his TSN career when Rauter was caught unprepared.<\/p>\n
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Russ Howard Vic Rauter Cheryl Bernard Russ Howard Vic Rauter Cheryl Bernard <\/p>\n
During the opening ceremony of the 1987 World Men\u2019s Curling Championship in Vancouver, members of the Squamish Nation came out to bless each sheet of ice at BC Place. Rauter and broadcast partner Turnbull were caught off guard and had \u201cnothing to say\u201d to add context to what the viewers at home were seeing.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the show, Jim Thompson came to me and said, \u2018You weren\u2019t prepared, were you?\u2019 And I said, \u2018No,\u2019\u201d explained Rauter, who lives in Orillia, Ont. \u201cI wasn\u2019t expecting that, but I should have expected it. And now I over-prepare.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rauter does hours of research ahead of events, looking for nuggets of information about the athletes and cities that can add colour to the broadcasts. He won\u2019t use all those tidbits, but they\u2019re available if the show needs it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I do an opening ceremony now or a Canada Summer Games or something that requires that, I want to know what the trombonist had for lunch,\u201d said Rauter. \u201cBecause 1987 taught me that I wasn\u2019t prepared. That has stayed with me throughout my entire stay at TSN.\u201d <\/p>\n
On the road <\/p>\n
The Season of Champions is a grind. <\/p>\n
From the Scotties to the Brier to the men\u2019s and women\u2019s world championships, TSN\u2019s curling crew covers four 10-day events in less than a two-month period during a typical season.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a lot of time spent at the rink, airports and hotels, and not a lot of time at home. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s never been a place that we\u2019ve gone to that he doesn\u2019t know more about than the locals,\u201d said Gauthier. \u201cWe know Chinese buffets in every city in the country and many across the world. And if you can get him out for one night, you suck up every moment of it because he doesn\u2019t like to go out when he\u2019s working.\u201d <\/p>\n
Some of Rauter\u2019s most fond memories from the road were going out with cameraman and long-time fried Jim Young, affectionally known as Gyraffe, to shoot vignettes and tell stories about the city they were in. <\/p>\n
Their wide-ranging adventures took place on a ferry between Dartmouth and Halifax, down a mineshaft in Sudbury and even in a submarine. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey were the fun ones to do because it broke up the monotony of just going from hotel to arena and then home again,\u201d said Rauter. <\/p>\n
Young, who was Rauter\u2019s best man at his wedding, passed away in November of 2022 after a long battle with cancer.<\/p>\n
“For more than 30 years, you have seen the game through the eyes of Jim Young. However, those eyes have now closed and for the moment our curling family sees darkness.” @TSNVicRauter<\/a> pays tribute to longtime TSN camera operator Jim Young. pic.twitter.com\/HA2lNPjlmX<\/a><\/p>\n