Meet The Team

Craig Roberts

Craig Roberts is the creator and host of “Sports Off Center,” which premiered on Houston’s 55 in 2004. He has worked in sports for more than three decades in California, Illinois, Indiana, Texas and Wyoming, including 28 years in Houston. Craig previously created and hosted “Sports Sunday” and anchored several coaches’ shows with Bill Yeoman, Guy Lewis, Don Chaney and Jeff Fisher.

In addition to his hosting duties on “Sports Off Center,” Craig is also a co-host of the morning drive team for 790 AM. He has done play-by-play for NCAA football and basketball games, as well as the NFL and was a track announcer at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Craig has won numerous awards including being named Sportscaster of the Year five times and becoming a member of the College Football Hall of Fame (media division).

Before becoming a sports reporter, Craig was a Corporal in the U.S. Marines. He graduated from Southern Illinois University where he played baseball and has one son who lives in Arizona and a daughter who lives in Georgia.

Mike Vance

As a writer and co-host of “Sports Off Center,” Mike Vance gets to bring his comedy and opinions to sports and current events. Mike has nearly 30 years of experience in professional show business, writing and media work and since his years at the University of Texas in Austin, has toured much of the English speaking world as a live performer and appeared on Showtime, A&E and Comedy Central.

Mike has enjoyed decades of award-winning success as a writer in the corporate arena, working with such companies as BMC Software, Chevron, Brinker International, Shell, the Lunar Planetary Institute and Service Corp International. He also has a long history of speech and joke writing for executives and sports celebrities.

In addition, Mike has numerous other projects in the works including theatrical scripts, short stories, books, poems and songs. His book of sports humor, Oilers Anonymous, was published by Gulf Publishing in 1995, and The PC Cowboy Book, a history of his musical act, followed in 2005 from Stick Cow Publishing.

Mike spent half a decade as a founding member of the acclaimed What Comedy Theatre improvisation group. In the late 1990s, he co-hosted a Houston afternoon drive radio show with Roger Gray, bringing both humor and insight to politics, current events and sports. And he previously worked as the color man for Rice baseball. His band produced two popular local albums and played for five weeks at the world famous Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland. And Mike’s freelance voice over work has won over a dozen awards.

Mike is a native Houstonian who believes in giving back to his hometown. Since 2004, he has been President of Houston Arts and Media, a non-profit organization that utilizes the creative community to produce educational and historical film, video and books. He is also on the Advisory Council of the Houston History Association.

Dave Knobler

Dave Knobler brings 15 years of television experience to Houston's 55. A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, Knobler has worked as the sideline reporter for 10 UIL Football state championship games. He was the sideline reporter for one of the most memorable state championships in recent Texas high school football history, the UIL 2002 5A-Division I State Final that saw Converse Judson rally to defeat Midland High in the final seconds of the game.

Previously, Knobler spent seven years as a host, producer and reporter on High School Xtra, a program devoted to Texas high school sports. He has also anchored, reported and produced numerous other programs for FSN Southwest and TXA-21 in Dallas. Prior to that Dave worked as a sports reporter at KNOE-TV in Monroe, La., and a sports anchor at KAVU-TV in Victoria, Texas.

Dave lives in Sugar Land, Texas, with his wife and three children.