The Voice You’ve Heard for Decades: Lynn Roberts’ Lifelong Impact on Louisiana Sports
by Robin Fambrough // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
You may not know his name, but if you attend high school sports events – particularly in the New Orleans area – you’ve probably seen Lynn Roberts face or heard his voice.
In an era where the decline of multi-sport athletes is bemoaned, Roberts is the officiating version of multi-sports, with decades on the high school and college levels.
Starting Thursday, Roberts once again will be an announcer at the LHSAA State Track & Field meet at LSU. It will be his 47th LHSAA outdoor meet.
And it all started with a teenager who wanted to make a little money before his first semester of college.
“You know, baseball was one of my childhood loves,” Roberts said. “And umpiring was a way to stay involved in the game. It was six bucks a game. I had a couple of friends doing it.
“But the truth is, I’ve never done anything in my life that I did not want to be good at. So, I worked at it, and I learned.”
As impressive as that LHSAA track meet number is, it is part of a remarkable body of work.
The 73-year-old Roberts was honored by the Louisiana High School Officials Association for 50 years as a high school basketball official on social media earlier this spring. He has 51 years as a baseball umpire, a career that began before the LHSAA began overseeing baseball umpires.
Add 35 years as a volleyball official and five as a softball umpire for good measure. Roberts has also officiated basketball, volleyball, and baseball on the collegiate level. And yes, he’s worked 34 LHSAA indoor track meets, and 27 LHSAA cross country meets too.
“Lynn is just one of those guys,” New Orleans Volleyball Officials Association coordinator David Dufrene said. “He not only knows the rules of the sports he calls, he can apply them and explain them very well. Not everyone can do that. He handles his business and makes sure it’s a fair-played game regardless of who the teams are.
“With that said, he probably knows very little about lacrosse, but I could put him on a field as an official, and he would be fine. He knows how to handle himself and how to handle people during a game – coaches, players, and fans.”
Like Dufrene, Lee Sanders, the assistant executive director who coordinates officials for the LHSAA, says Roberts’s work and experience are invaluable even as the LHSOA seeks a much-needed infusion of younger officials.
“Lynn is in a select category in that he has been an official in multiple sports for many years and has done it at a very high level,” Sanders said. “He’s called on the high school and college levels. He’s got institutional knowledge that is so important.
“That knowledge he has and ability to explain and interpret rules is second to none, which also puts him in a unique position.”
A former track coach and assistant football coach at John Ehret, Roberts had other coaching stops. He was also a school administrator before retiring as an educator.
Roberts is a fixture at LSU track meets and recently ran the Crescent City Classic before heading to Baton Rouge for a college meet. Indoor track meets and cross country are part of the process, too.
While the games and rules are at the heart of what Roberts does, so are the stories. So many stories. Like coming out of the stands to be an announcer.
“You know how the track thing started,” Roberts asked. “Mike (Boyer) was announcing, and he needed a bathroom break. So, it was ‘Here, take the microphone.’ ”
A partnership with Boyer, who was honored for 50 years of announcing LHSAA track meets, was born. They research facts and rotate announcing heats and results, blending in records and national rankings. They highlight athletes as they attempt records.
Boyer first met Roberts when he was a young track coach at Catholic High of Pointe Coupee, and Roberts was starting out at Central Catholic of Morgan City.
“You know Lynn, he’s very passionate about whatever he does,” Boyer said. “At track meets, we both have our laptops and are looking up national marks and records.
“When there are slow times during early field events, he’ll call up a video from a basketball game off this site for officials. The person asks if this was the right call. He’ll review it and send a thoughtful answer.”
One thing that rivals Roberts’s attention to detail and passion for sports/officiating is his storytelling.
If you saw the tirade by UConn coach Geno Auriemma at the NCAA Women’s Final Four, Roberts offers a personal footnote. He recalls ejecting Auriemma twice back when the Huskies used to make yearly trips south before nonconference games decades ago.
“Afterward, Geno would say, ‘I deserved that,’ ” Roberts said.
In an art-imitates-life moment, Roberts played a basketball official in the New Orleans-filmed movie “Hurricane Season,” which starred Forest Whitaker.
There are times when the ordinary becomes a master class in game management.
“I was behind the plate, and this one coach is frustrated,” Roberts recalls. “His team falls behind, and it’s not going well. A few players were called out on strikes, and he says, ‘You’ve been wanting to get out of here since the second inning.
“I say nothing. The game changes. One inning, the other team makes a few errors, and there are a bunch of walks. It’s a long inning, and that team loses. Afterward, the same coach says, ‘Good job.’ ”
Though Roberts takes criticisms/comments by fans and coaches in stride, he understands why those things prompt many officials to quit. He recalls counseling a young official in a subvarsity basketball game on ways to tune out heckling fans.
“Being an official is not for everybody,” Roberts said. “It’s tough these days with all the distractions. It takes time and work to be good at it.
“My biggest regret is time I’ve lost with my family, even though it has made it possible for us to do things; we love like trips to Disney. But it’s so rewarding.”