WOOD TV Sports Personnel

[Doktor No]

OK, where did Marley Weirda go from Channel 8 Sports....? Seems like the reporters doors have been revolving at a high rate of speed at all of the local stations of late. You don't even notice they are gone then it's..Hey, where did so and so go?

[Doktor No]

FOUND HER. She went to Bahstahn and Channel 7. Movin on up in TV world. Good move.

[Localnewsisdead]

Marley is being replaced by Lainey Gerber: https://www.woodtv.com/about-us/wood-tv ... ey-gerber/

[Graham Wellington]

Grand Rapids is a weird sports market. It is a larger market. A lot of various sports teams. People are very supportive of those teams. That being said, those teams are ones that in the grand scheme of things, no one cares about. No major college teams. Minor league professional sports. Due to that, it probably isn't the most exciting place to be a sports anchor unless you are a lifer like Jack Doles, etc.

[Feature/writer]

Ms. Gerber is coming from a TV station in Topeka, Kansas, where the top sports stories all summer long are what the heartland's major universities are doing during their summertime football camps...

[Trophyhead]

[quote="Graham Wellington" post_id=776236 time=1708566568 user_id=14873]
Grand Rapids is a weird sports market. It is a larger market. A lot of various sports teams. People are very supportive of those teams. That being said, those teams are ones that in the grand scheme of things, no one cares about. No major college teams. Minor league professional sports. Due to that, it probably isn't the most exciting place to be a sports anchor unless you are a lifer like Jack Doles, etc.
[/quote]

I'll vouch for that. There are GR Griffins devotees, as witnessed by my occasional visits to Van Andel. The Whitecaps, I could go to a couple games a year or go a couple-few seasons without making it to LMCU Ballpark. Haven't seen a minor league basketball game since the Hoops would let you into Van Andel on a voucher from a Whopper combo, which the ticket takers would hand back to you. Now there's pro volleyball. Is there "pro" soccer at this time? Guess I can tune into WOOD TV newscasts to see about that.

[teetoppz28]

Grand Rapids is a weird sports market. It is a larger market. A lot of various sports teams. People are very supportive of those teams. That being said, those teams are ones that in the grand scheme of things, no one cares about. No major college teams. Minor league professional sports. Due to that, it probably isn't the most exciting place to be a sports anchor unless you are a lifer like Jack Doles, etc.

I'll vouch for that. There are GR Griffins devotees, as witnessed by my occasional visits to Van Andel. The Whitecaps, I could go to a couple games a year or go a couple-few seasons without making it to LMCU Ballpark. Haven't seen a minor league basketball game since the Hoops would let you into Van Andel on a voucher from a Whopper combo, which the ticket takers would hand back to you. Now there's pro volleyball. Is there "pro" soccer at this time? Guess I can tune into WOOD TV newscasts to see about that.

Once we get that new stadium built, there will be! I can't wait to finally have a pro soccer club nearby.

[BirdieKingBobo]

At one time, high school football was bigger than the Griffins and WhiteCaps combined. Not sure any more now that the Grand Rapids Press doesn't have Jane Bos, Gary Bond (miss him), Shooter McBabbitt and others.
For Mr. Doles, it was always about Family and Stability. He's done a great job at Woody TV .....

[OneBigFan]

Anytime a sports reporter at TV8 can land a job in a Top Ten market like Boston, they’re gone as they are packing. Weirda went from #91 in Champaign to #42 @TV8 and now #8 in Boston. It’s a covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots and Red Sox.

Being a sports reporter at WOOD TV8 is pretty damned close to a dead end job except for a few born in the right decade.
Al Ackerman was sports director 1954-1964
Warren Reynolds began in 1964 leaving that position to get his own weekly segment
Jack Doles became Sports Director after a time as sports reporter after Warren Reynolds.

Except for Ackerman who left and landed in Detroit for a couple decades, Reynolds and Doles have been happy covering mostly HS sports rather than moving. It’s about as low pressure as it gets so long as the Friday night HS football scores are reported accurately.

Some of TV8’s sports reporters are still with the station and left sports

[Trophyhead]

Warren, the son of Bob Reynolds (WJR Sports Director mid-20th century and beyond) did MSU football games with his Dad for a time. That was how I first became aware of him, as State, like Michigan had a variety of radio stations making their calls, not like today w/a single channel or corporation feeding a network. Cannot recall specifically which station the Reynolds' worked for, that ended and Bob wrapped it up 40 years ago with WILS. (I ran his board that year)

Don't forget Matt Winer, who was with WOOD for a while in the 90s and still has a role with NBA TV and TBS, though he got caught in the classic modern media method of talking at rather than asking something of a prickly pro player. https://x.com/Cut4/status/1712673761726447680?s=20

Best of luck to Marlee Weirda.

[MWmetalhead]

During my entire life, and I'm in my mid 40s, TV 8 has had a grand total of two Sports Directors. That's quite remarkable!

[high fidelity]

Grand Rapids is a weird sports market. It is a larger market. A lot of various sports teams. People are very supportive of those teams. That being said, those teams are ones that in the grand scheme of things, no one cares about. No major college teams. Minor league professional sports. Due to that, it probably isn't the most exciting place to be a sports anchor unless you are a lifer like Jack Doles, etc.

Very true. Lansing is a better sports market since they have MSU in their backyard.