RETIRED KSPN2 sportscaster Bob Coldeen couldn’t be thankful enough to the local sports community for a “most fun, rewarding and memorable 28 years.”
Retired sportscaster Bob Coldeen poses with Johana Sarabia, an aspiring soccer player.
Coldeen, who first arrived on island in 1973 as an educator, became part of the local sports community in 1981.
He said he decided to retire at the age of 70. “At this age, it’s getting harder to move around. So it was just time. It was just that time,” he added.
For the past 28 years, “watching CNMI sports develop, seeing young athletes grow in front of my eyes, it has been most fun, rewarding and memorable,” Coldeen said.
He had been a regular fixture at all sporting events in the CNMI — baseball, basketball, volleyball, soccer, football, athletics, triathlon, golf, boxing, mixed martial arts, fishing, bodybuilding — you name it, Bob covered it.
“I’m the biggest fan of CNMI sports,” he added.
If Coldeen would mention every single person he is thankful to, he said the interview would most likely last two to three hours, or would never end.
“So thank you to all of you. You guys and girls have been most awesome — so much fun at every level for all of our sports,” said Coldeen who taught at Rota High School in the early 1970s before he moved to Saipan where he played, coached and organized sports events, including his favorite, baseball.
He said he will probably never forget the game-winning home run that Elmer Sablan hit many, many years ago.
“I still like baseball. I’ll still go out there for the baseball. I’ll watch for sure,” Coldeen said.
Looking back, he said, what he loved the most was watching kids growing up in sports, seeing them develop their skills and talents.
One such athlete is MMA fighter Frank “The Crank” Camacho.
“When you see them go through everything, that was really cool,” Coldeen said, adding that he still remembers watching a then-12-year-old Jericho Cruz playing at a Garapan basketball court. Cruz, 31, is now a professional basketball player.
But Coldeen said he is not going anywhere. He will still be on island.
“I’m the CNMI’s biggest fan OK? I’ll be here. I’ll be our biggest fan — I’ll be the CNMI’s number one cheerleader,” he added.
His message to CNMI parents: “Take care of your kids. This place can be a magical place for growing up. Kids have the opportunities that adults can provide for them. So I ask parents and families and volunteers to help enrich all of our kids in sports. It’s a great opportunity for growth and development, physical fitness and health. You give them that field of dreams. If you build it they will come and you can see what, for example, the local soccer [organization] has done. And they even put a great facility out there. And now they’ve got hundreds of kids playing every Saturday. That is a field of dream.
“So whenever you have a chance, please volunteer in any kind of sports as a coach or even just helping out in any way possible — just give the kids here a chance to have an enriched childhood so they’ll have more fond memories of growing up here.”
Coldeen said the people of the CNMI are all wonderful.
“This is a thing on an island. People come and go and sometimes things start and stop because of one person. That one person can have a greater impact here than, let’s say, if you go to a big city or in the states. Here, people have the ability to affect change at the micro level — at the most fundamental grassroots level. That’s one thing I like about this place. Any one person can make a difference in another person’s life or even children’s lives by what they do.”
One thing Coldeen is most proud of was getting the Capital Hill ballfield funded by the Legislature. He remembers working with then-Rep. Frank Aldan.
“I played basketball [in that area] every day during the 80s. And I took my kids there to play and so I had this vision. And I worked with the Legislature to get that funded,” Coldeen said.
“A family ballpark — that’s the vision. And so now there’s a basketball court, a volleyball court, a tennis court and a playground. I’m so proud of that, having helped getting that,” he said.
Coldeen also expressed his deep appreciation to KSPN2 and to its president, Chris Nelson, “for giving me this platform.”
Coldeen is likewise grateful to his KSPN team, adding, “They’re the best.”
