Download the Spring 2005 issue. - Seton Hall University

A L U M N I
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Ground Floor Opportunities Take Ley to the Top
Bob Ley ’76 has taken two big chances
with his career. After college, he
accepted a do-it-all job in a novel
media format — cable television. In 1979,
he became a broadcaster for ESPN, a new,
all-sports cable network. Today, cable television
and ESPN are part of Americana,
and, for millions of sports fans, Ley is a
familiar and trusted sports journalist.
“There was no grand master plan for
ESPN when it started. Its success has been,
in part, a happy accident,” says Ley, host of
ESPN’s Outside the Lines Nightly investigative
series and the Sunday morning SportsCenter.
“It was difficult for ESPN to get to the
top, but staying there is even tougher. Our
broadcasters have to be the toughest, the
smartest and 100 percent accurate, because
30 SETON HALL UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE
somewhere watching is a fan who knows the
team inside and out.”
Ley’s entrée into sports journalism began
when he was a student at Bloomfield High
School. Ley himself says he “wasn’t good
enough to play on a team,” so he put his
communication talents to work for a local
“pirate” radio station and the school newspaper.
He also phoned in game results to the
Star-Ledger and the Newark Evening News.
Seton Hall University’s Department of
Communication attracted Ley to South
Orange. Even before he enrolled, he made
himself known at the University’s radio station
(WSOU-FM). “During freshman orientation
in August 1972, I went to all the
‘required’ places on campus,” he says. “But
I probably spent more time at WSOU.”
For the next four years, the radio station
was Ley’s “home.” He was there first thing in
the morning, between classes and on weekends.
“It was the center of my activities and
where I made friends that I’m still in touch
with today,” he says. One of Ley’s college
friends, Don Skwar ’73, former sports editor
for the Boston Globe and The Setonian, also
works at ESPN. Their colleague, Dick Vitale
’62, is also an alumnus.
As a sophomore, Ley was WSOU sports
director during a remarkable time. The
early-to-mid 1970s were the beginning of
Seton Hall’s emergence as a collegiate men’s
basketball powerhouse. Ley covered the
game in which Seton Hall defeated Saint
Peter’s to clinch a spot in the National
Invitational Tournament. “When the team