Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Stan Siegal (1933-2003) moved to Tuscaloosa at age four. He graduated from University of Alabama in 1955 with a degree in Radio and Television Communication. Sports held Siegal’s interest, so upon graduation, it was no surprise that he was hired as play-by-play announcer for Southern Mississippi University basketball.

In 1957, the United States Army called and Siegal was sent to Stuttgart, Germany, where he worked with the Counter Intelligence Corps. Following that tour, Siegal returned to Alabama where his broadcasting career began at WBRC radio in Birmingham (Taft Broadcasting). Soon after starting work at the radio station, Siegal was named sports director. Returning to Tuscaloosa in 1960, Siegal worked in sales and sports for WTBC radio. A year later, he became the play-by-play announcer for University of Alabama basketball (1961-1967). When Paul “Bear” Bryant returned to coach at UA, Siegal was named color commentator for Crimson Tide football where he worked with the legendary John Forney (1965-1968).

Siegal moved into television in 1967, and for the next 12 years he served as general manager at WCFT in Tuscaloosa. During this time he hired many young people desiring a career in television and many of Alabama’s announcers today credit Stan with giving their career a start. In 1982, he moved to Clarksburg, West Virginia, where he became vice president and general manager of WBOY (Imes Communications). By 1990, he was named group manager for the four Imes television stations: WMUR (Manchester, New Hampshire), WCBI (Columbus, Mississippi), KDBC (El Paso, Texas), and WBOY, leading the stations to a financially stable group.

After serving as general manager at the El Paso station, Siegal again returned to Tuscaloosa in 1995.Moving back to his beloved hometown to retire was not his priority. Siegal quickly returned to radio with a call-in sports program on WTBC radio, and participated on the broadcast team for UA basketball and baseball telecasts on the Alabama Cable Network (ACN) sports network. When University of Alabama purchased WVUA-TV, Siegal served as the station’s first general manager and led the station to financial stability.

Siegal was named Alabama Sportscaster of the Year in 1966, and served on the Board of Visitors for the University of Alabama College of Communication and Information Sciences. Later this year, he will be inducted into their Hall of Fame.