The Golden Voice of the Gophers

Hall of Fame radio broadcaster, Ray Christensen, passed away this week. He was the voice of the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers for 50 years.

Christensen, who served in Europe with the U.S. Army in WWII, graduated from Minnesota in 1949. He had started his radio career at KUOM in 1946. Two years after graduating, the University hired Christensen to call play-by-play for Gopher football. In 1963, Christensen joined WCCO Radio.

Ray Christensen would go on to call 510 Gopher football games and 1309 Gopher Men’s basketball games over his five decade career with Minnesota. He also called hockey games, golf, Minnesota Viking and Twins games over the course of his career. He retired in 2001, but returned for the first game in the new TCF Bank Stadium on campus in 2009.

Ray Christensen was 92.