In 1961, Tacoma civic leader Bob Corcoran, along with businessman Frank Karwoski, opened a sports supply store in Lakewood. The store later moved to a 6th Avenue location. Joining Corcoran in the enterprise as Vice-President of the company, Tacoma-Seattle TV and radio sportscaster Bob Robertson. Vic Cozzetti was sales manager at the operation.
During the mid-1960s, Corcoran would broadcast little league slow pitch baseball on Channel 13 from Tacoma’s Heidelberg Park and regional college basketball on Channel 11 with Doug McArthur.
For a period of time, Corcoran had a midday talk show on 1360 KMO each weekday.
In 1964, Bob Robertson was calling play-by-play for the PCL Tacoma Giants on Channel 11. In December, Robertson, Corcoran, McArthur, along with John Jarstad, signed on to broadcast 13 University of Puget Sound and Pacific Lutheran University basketball games on KTNT 11. The company was Corcoran’s Pacific Northwest Sports Productions.
In 1964, Corcoran and Vic Cozzetti would broadcast a series of college baseball games from the University of Puget Sound over KTVW 13.
Corcoran was a booster of the Tyees of Tacoma, a local group playing just for the fun of it. Community donations supported the team and Corcoran, though having no official tie to the Tyees, helped out with supplying uniforms.
Corcoran’s sports supply store was one of the many sponsors of the yearly Tacoma Salmon Bake at Point Defiance, buying ad space in the newspaper and brochures.
March 10, 2025 at QZVX
John Fortmeyer says:
One correction— the title of Vic’s show was “Horse Cents” — reflecting its focus on that day’s $$$ winnings at Longacres race track.
March 10, 2025 at QZVX
John Fortmeyer says:
During the several years after KTVW owner J. Elroy McCaw’s death in 1969, when Channel 13’s finances, technical quality, etc. were SO SO bad that the station was practically unwatchable, Vic Cozzetti hosted an evening horse-racing report show called “Horse Sense.” I’m sure Vic was a nice fellow, because he seemed friendly and obviously loved doing his reports, but he had perhaps the worst on-air camera presence I ever saw on Seattle-Tacoma television. He was not a natural for television! When Don Wolfstone of Blaidon Mutual Investors bought KTVW around 1972 , he said it had become possibly the worst TV station in the nation, and his company did what it could in an ill-fated attempt to improve things.