RIP Greg Gumbel

[exmediahack]

Wasn't he hosting the NCAA bracket reveal show?

I think he probably did for a lot of years. I guess I just never noticed. Too focused on the brackets.

 

[exmediahack]

Rick Reilly's incredible 1988 SI story about Bryant made it pretty clear Bryant was not close with the rest of the family.

The Mourning Anchor: Bryant Gumbel is alone at the top with the memory of his late father

Rick Reilly was a forking king at his peak. This story lingered with me when I was 15 and I still think it's one of the best things I've ever read. The kicker here is incredible.

The article intrigued 13-year-old exmediahack into looking into being a news anchor. I carried some of Bryant's quirks with me.

 

[Small Town Guy]

Yeah he did the selection show until this year when he was sick.

Nice tribute by Seth Davis.

https://www.hoopshq.com/seth-davis/farewell-to-my-friend-greg-gumbel-cbs-march-madness

 

[Sam Mills 51]

Thanks to both BYH and Small Town Guy for those links. Both valuable.

I hope Bryant has toned it down a bit, if only because I held "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" in high regard and still miss it. Hope time has toned down some of Bryant's issues.

As for Greg, that's horrible but given his long broadcasting career, that he was taking leave for much of anything should have signaled to us that it was serious. Keep Pounding. RIP good sir and Thank You.

 

[Corky Ramirez up on 94th St.]

Prior to joining ESPN, he was on locally in Chicago, and had a report on Disco Demolition:

 

[nickp]

Greg Gumbel revealing the bracket every year on selection Sunday was one of my favorite times of the year

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

Ever since Bryant Gumbel couldn't take a joke from David Letterman I had considered him an asshole.

 

[MileHigh]

 

[playthrough]

Greg Gumbel revealing the bracket every year on selection Sunday was one of my favorite times of the year

You'd get an instant lesson in nicknames every time. "And Kentucky will face the No. 15 seed, South Dakota State, the Jackrabbits!"

 

[I Should Coco]

Prior to joining ESPN, he was on locally in Chicago, and had a report on Disco Demolition:

Johnny Morris and Bill Kurtis! My parents were regular WBBM Channel 2 news viewers (although I was only 7 at this time, so I would have been asleep by the time these 10 p.m. newscasts aired).

No sign of Lorelei, the blonde WLUP girl who rode around with big bad Steve Dahl in the Jeep. Not the first and certainly not the last publicity stunt of Dahl's career, but the most infamous.

 

[Typist Clerk]

Johnny Morris and Bill Kurtis! My parents were regular WBBM Channel 2 news viewers (although I was only 7 at this time, so I would have been asleep by the time these 10 p.m. newscasts aired).

No sign of Lorelei, the blonde WLUP girl who rode around with big bad Steve Dahl in the Jeep. Not the first and certainly not the last publicity stunt of Dahl's career, but the most infamous.

Plus Jim Ruddle of Channel 5 right at the start, and Chuck Henry with Greg.

 

[I Should Coco]

Plus Jim Ruddle of Channel 5 right at the start, and Chuck Henry with Greg.

There were a lot of national broadcasters who came through Chicago in that era, and through WMAQ (Channel 5/NBC) in particular.

Besides Greg Gumbel and Bill Kurtis, there were Deborah Norville and Lester Holt, both of whom worked in Chicago in the 1980s.