Winning Spirit Magazine May-June 2019 | Page 7

Team Players for 40 Years Jazz Employees Have Been There Since the Beginning A As part of the WWA presentation and to mark the Group’s 40th anniversary, each employee received a copy of History in the Making. long with the 40th anniversary of the LHM Group of Companies, 2019 also marks the 40th anniversary of the Jazz in Utah. While that is a remarkable story by itself, it is also remarkable that of the people who were there when the Jazz moved from New Orleans, some of them are still hard at work for the Jazz today. Dan Roberts, public address announcer for Jazz games, has been the in-arena voice of the team since 1979. His booming baritone has called more than 1,700 regular season games, and he has only missed six in his career. Once or twice during every game, Roberts will encourage the crowd to make noise by asking, “How ‘bout this Jazz?’ “ A Nevada native who moved to Salt Lake City as a boy, Roberts attended the University of Utah but did not graduate, leaving school in order to support his family with a cabinetry business. His love of sports led him to a side job in the radio industry, which eventually led to becoming an unpaid basketball announcer and eventually, to becoming the offi cial Jazz announcer. Roberts was joined in his Jazz milestone by three members of the stats crew. John Allen, Ron Beck, and Will Arnott have also been working Jazz games for 40 years. Together, they’ve been a part of making each game memorable and for setting the standard of hard work and commitment that their coworkers have greatly appreciated over the years. ◆ LHMWSM.com 5