TC Media Now’s exclusive interview with former KSTP and KARE sportscaster Tom Ryther. A native of St. Louis, Tom came to KSTP in 1971 to head the station’s sports coverage, eventually being part of a KSTP news team earning record setting ratings that have yet to be matched. During this time Tom also hosted the Twin Cities version of Bowling for Dollars, recording over 500 half hour shows. In 1979 Tom joined station WTCN in it’s earliest days as an NBC affiliate. Best remembered today as the sports side of KARE’s news team of Paul Magers, Diana Pierce, and Paul Douglas, Tom has kept a relatively low profile since leaving KARE-TV in 1991. Listen to Tom tell his journey to the Twin Cities in his own words, as well as a final sign off he did not get to do on the air.
Comments:
gc5341: Nice interview. Tom Ryther was the first sportscaster I ever watched back at Channel 5 Eyewitness News. I remember him along with Ron Magers and Barry ZeVan. Good to hear from Tom and listen to him get a chance to say farewell.
Rosie Ryther King: Nice to see Cousin Tom – always enjoy listening to him and seeing what he does best. Love you Tom.
jim cange: I finally found Tom after all these years. Tom would not tell you that he was a very fine fast pitch softball player. He played with a Belleville Il team at 1ST base. I was very fortunate to know Tom from that era. I played many games with him and against him. We became fast friends on and off the field. Tom also interviewed me on WIBV radio in 1967. I was a coach of a basketball team located in the area and we were contending for first place in the league. Tom was a terrific guy and I have missed him.
Don Eicher: TR….I watched you at KSTP….matriculated at the University of Minnesota and was fortunate to welcome you back to Minneapolis at WTCN!! I produced with you for about 2 years before joining my friend Steve Pascente in Phoenix. I spoke to you about your Bud Grant shows and we did a special on the 1980 Vikings surprise playoff team, and the 1981 North Stars Stanley Cup Finals team. Great to see you here and learn tales never shared when we worked together. I worked in TV Sports in Phoenix until 1992 when staffs were cut. But I learned craft editing on computer, and for 20 years now, work for CNN as a computer editor in Los Angeles. Funny, I remember you and I watching CNN, just 5 months old in December 1980, covering the John Lennon shooting. You thought coverage made him into some sort of ex-president, and we agreed it was over the top. Now that I have worked there 20 years, I can tell you………Nothing has changed! 🙂