The Loss of a Legend

For any sports fan over the age of 40, February 20th is a day of mourning. Curt Gowdy has died. Leukemia claimed him at age 86.
For people my age, Gowdy was the voice of sports. He called the first Super Bowl in 1967. He was behind the microphone for thirteen World Series and 16 All-Star Games.
Moreover, he was the voice of NBC’s Major league Baseball "Game of the Week" for ten years. From the time I was six years old, and into my teens, Curt Gowdy was baseball. Those Saturday afternoon games were often the highlight of my week, and Gowdy’s voice was the consistent link to all of those fields of dreams. Back in the day when we only had three TV stations, and a sports junkie took what he could get, we would also watch the "American Sportsman" series. Gowdy was out there in his hunting or fishing gear, helping us learn about far away places where a guy could bond with his buddies and the Great Outdoors.
Dick Ebersol, the chairman of NBC Sports, calls Gowdy the greatest play-by-play man NBC has ever had. That’s high praise, if you think about it. It’s also quite well deserved.
He is literally a Hall of Famer. He was inducted into the broadcast wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984 and into the American Sportscaster's Hall of Fame in 1985. There’s even a state park named after him in his home state of Wyoming.

Who is the biggest name in sports broadcasting today? Jim Nantz? Al Michaels? Tim Brando? Bob Costas? The fact that we can debate that says something about Gowdy and his era. During his time, the late sixties and possibly into the eighties, he was the singular sports broadcasting superstar. He was the go-to guy for all the big events; bigger than Keith Jackson, because of Gowdy’s remarkable versatility.

I didn’t realize how much I missed him until I heard he was gone. In an era when sports broadcasting has become as much entertainment as sports (Are you listening Terry Bradshaw and Tony Kornheiser?), Gowdy’s style might not have been in vogue. I can promise you, it would have worked, anyway.
Gowdy was the best. He set the table for today’s sportscasters to do what they do. An Associated Press story quoted him as having said,
"I tried to pretend that I was sitting in the stands with a buddy watching the game poking him in the ribs when something exciting happened.” He didn’t just try. He succeeded. This buddy watched hundreds of games with him. I can assure you of that. I’m grateful that he kept me company and taught me about the game.
I hadn’t heard his voice in a while, but surely I will miss it.

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