Christian Marlowe (born September 28, 1951) is an American professional sportscaster based in Denver, Colorado. He currently is the play-by-play announcer for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association in the fall, winter and spring, and in the summer he is a play-by-play announcer for the Association of Volleyball Professionals. He is a former collegiate basketball and volleyball player and played on the US National Men's Volleyball Team. He played beach volleyball extensively and won numerous tournaments on the Open beach circuit. He also was a captain of the US men's volleyball team that won the gold medal at the 1984 Olympic Games.
Early life Marlowe was born in Los Angeles, California on September 28, 1951, and grew up in Pacific Palisades. His father, Hugh Marlowe, was an actor and starred in over 30 movies. His mother, K.T. Stevens, was also an actor, and appeared in 11 films. Marlowe's maternal grandfather was the prolific film director Sam Wood, who was a three-time Academy Award nominee.
Marlowe grew up playing volleyball on the beach. He was a two-sport standout at Palisades High School in Los Angeles, California, playing basketball and volleyball. His Palisades High volleyball teams won three Los Angeles city championships. He graduated in 1969, after being selected a high school All-American.
College career Marlowe was awarded an athletic scholarship at San Diego State University, where he played both basketball and volleyball. San Diego State competed in the Pacific Coast Athletic Association in basketball. Marlowe played guard, and was a steady and consistent performer. He was selected Pacific Coast Athletic Association "Newcomer of the Year" in his freshman year. By his senior year, he was on the PCAA All-Conference team. Marlowe lettered all four seasons at SDSU, and set a school record by playing in 114 consecutive games.
In volleyball, San Diego State competed in the 18-team Southern California Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (SCIVA). Volleyball was a new sport for the NCAA, having been first sanctioned as a championship sport in 1970, Marlowe's freshman year. The competition in college volleyball was dominated by the schools of southern California. The Aztecs of San Diego State were soon contenders for the national title, and Marlowe was one of the standouts on the team.
In his junior year of 1971–72, Marlowe's Aztecs stepped into the spotlight as one of the nation's top teams. Marlowe was a starting outside hitter and setter for the Aztecs. SDSU and UC Santa Barbara were considered the top favorites to win the national championship. 1972 was the first appearance by the Aztecs in the four team volleyball championship. At the time the format of the tournament matched the format of a USVBA tournament, and consisted of a four-team preliminary round robin to determine seeding into a subsequent single-elimination championship bracket. SDSU made the trip back to Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana where the 1972 national tournament was being held. In round robin play, the Aztecs beat Ball State 2–1 (15–8, 6–15, 15–5) and handled UCLA 2–0 (15–13, 15–7) before losing to UCSB 0-2 (13–15, 10–15). UCLA, UC Santa Barbara and SDSU all ended up with identical 2 - 1 records, but the Bruins earned the top position in the playoff seeding on the basis of points differential. The Bruins easily beat Ball State in their semi-final. In the other semi-final, SDSU was down 2 games to none before they bounced back and avenged their round robin loss, defeating UC Santa Barbara in five, 11–15, 13–15, 15–9, 15–11, 15–12 for a 3–2 win. The win set up a championship final between San Diego State and the Bruins. In the championship match SDSU jumped out 2 games to none, and with an 8–3 lead in the third appeared ready for a three-game sweep. However, the Bruins rallied back to win it, 10–15, 9–15, 15–9, 15–10, 15–7. UCLA had won their third consecutive national crown.
In his senior year, Marlowe was voted team captain. California teams still dominated the national scene, and Long Beach State was the top ranked team and the favorite to win the title. In the regional finals, San Diego State met defending national champion UCLA at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion in a rematch of the 1972 national championship match. The Bruins went up 2–0 before a three-game comeback by the Aztecs eliminated the Bruins from the tournament. After the win, Marlowe commented to a Sports Illustrated writer: "When we came back and beat UCLA in Pauley, it was like it was willed to be. It was like God came down from the mountain and was rooting for the Aztecs."
The 1973 national championship tournament was hosted by San Diego State University in San Diego, California. In preliminary round robin play held in Peterson Gym, the Aztecs beat Army 2-0 (15–1, 15–5) and Ball State 2-1 (17–19, 15–12, 15–5) before losing to Long Beach State 1-2 (15–10, 13–15, 7–15). Long Beach State ended round robin play with a perfect 3–0 record and the #1 seed. SDSU was seeded second with a 2–1 record, Ball State was third seed and Army was seeded fourth. In their semi-final, SDSU defeated Ball State 3-0 (15–5, 15–7, 15–10) while Long Beach State defeated Army 3-0 (15–5, 15–1, 15–2), setting up a championship final between San Diego State and Long Beach State. A record crowd showed up at the San Diego Sports Arena for the championship final. In what was then the largest crowd to witness a volleyball match in the U.S., more than 10,000 fans were on hand as the Aztecs lost the first game of the match 11–15. Game 2 saw the noise in the gym reach a deafening level, as the Aztecs came back to beat Long Beach State in a barn burner, 15–13. The final two games were all Aztecs, as they won them 15–8, 15–6 to give them their first national championship. With the title point the fans stormed the court to celebrate the achievement. The championship win was the first and only Division I team title ever won by San Diego State University.
The 1973 San Diego State volleyball team finished with a collegiate won-loss record of 20–5. Marlowe was selected to the All Tournament team and was made first team All-American. The 1973 San Diego State volleyball team was inducted into the SDSU hall of Fame in 2003.
Marlowe graduated from San Diego State in 1974 with a B.A. in physical education.
Following his collegiate career, Marlowe continued to play volleyball on the club level, and competed on one of the nation's best USVBA teams. He was voted Most Valuable Player at the USVBA Open Nationals in 1976 and again in 1978.
Beach career Marlowe started competing in beach tournaments in 1975. On the beach he was nicknamed "The Lion" for his intensity and the unruly blonde hair that blew about on the top of Marlowe's head. In 1976 he was a captain on the national indoor team, but the team failed to qualify for the Olympic games. Marlowe had time enough left in the summer to team with Steve Obradovich and win the largest and most coveted beach event of the day, the Manhattan Beach Open.
The following year was Marlowe's big year in the sand. He teamed with Jim Menges, whose former partner, Greg Lee, had left to pursue a career in professional basketball. The pairing of Menges and Marlowe was dynamic. Together they took a first at the Santa Barbara Open followed by another first at the Hermosa Beach Open. Marlowe then paired with Ron Von Hagen to win the Rosecrans Open. Teaming with Menges again they won at the San Diego Open before the pair finally lost a championship match to Obradovich and Gary Hooper in the finals of the Laguna Beach Open. They came back to win at the Manhattan Beach Open and grabbed another first at the Lake Tahoe Open, before finishing the year by taking the world championship at the State Beach Open held at Will Rogers State Beach.
Marlowe did not play on the beach in 1978 but returned in 1979, partnering with Fred Sturm. They had one 3rd-place finish and five others in the top five. Following 1979, he moved away from the beach to focus instead on his fledgling acting career until 1982, when he returned to the US National team.
All told Marlowe won eight open tournaments, including two highly prestigious Manhattan Beach Opens and the 1977 World Championship.
US National Team Following his graduation from college, Marlowe continued to play volleyball on indoor national club teams which competed in the Open division of the USVBA. At the 1976 USVBA Open National Championship he was voted the Most Valuable Player. Following the tournament, he was selected to play on the US National team. His teammates chose him to be their team captain. The US national team failed to qualify for the 1976 Olympic games, and Marlowe returned to California and beach volleyball.
In 1977, the program hired former player Doug Beal as head coach of the U.S. Men's National Team. He became the driving force for establishing a full-time, year-around volleyball training center. The facility opened in 1978 in Dayton, Ohio. However, California was the hot bed of volleyball talent at the time, and though the nation's top players were willing to play on the national team, many were unable to relocate to Dayton. In 1980, the US national team again failed to qualify for the Olympic games, this time held in Moscow. The United States had boycotted the games, making the failure to qualify a moot point, but it was clear the US team had to make a change. In 1981 the national team training center was moved to San Diego, California. Marlowe rejoined the National team in 1982.
In 1982, the US team was ranked 13th internationally. A collection of the top collegiate players from the California area joined Marlowe on the team, including Karch Kiraly, Dusty Dvorak, Steve Timmons, Craig Buck, Steven Salmons, Pat Powers and Doug Partie. At this point, being on the national team was a full-time job, practicing five hours a day, five days a week. Marlowe had to adjust from being an outside hitter and setter in a 6-2 system, to a full-time setter in the 5-1 system the national team was using. It was a significant adjustment, but at this point in his career it was one he had to make to play at the Olympic level. He appealed to SDSU Aztecs coach Jack Henn to help him make the transition from outside hitter to setter. "Chris and I had a little bit of a falling-out after ’73," Henn said. "But he realized he had to change positions to play in the Olympics. He could have gone off in his gold chains, but he humbled himself and asked for help." By the following year, the U.S. squad was among the world's elite teams. Coming into the 1984 Olympic games, the roster had to be cut down to 12 players. Marlowe was the last man cut.
In the late spring of 1984, the US National team went on a five match tour of the Soviet Union, whose national team was the reigning world champions. The US swept all five matches of the series. Near the end of the final match, some six weeks before the start of the Olympics, setter Rod Wilde landed on the foot of a Soviet player who had crossed under the net. Wilde suffered a broken leg. Marlowe was asked to rejoin the team. In a show of support, his teammates selected him team captain by a unanimous vote on his first day back.
The turnaround for the US National team culminated with the gold medal at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Playing at the Olympic games and winning the gold medal were lifetime achievements for Marlowe. Asked how he felt, Marlowe said "I felt like I was on Cloud 10, one notch higher than Cloud 9."