George Michael, Sportscaster, Is Dead

[liberal N proud]

Source: New York Times

Filed at 11:49 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- George Michael, a mainstay on the Washington, D.C., sports television scene for decades who reached a national audience with ''The George Michael Sports Machine'' highlights show, has died. He was 70 years old.

Michael's daughter, Michelle Allen, said Michael died Thursday morning from complications of chronic lymphocytic leukemia at Sibley Memorial Hospital.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/12/24/sports/AP-US-Obit-Michael.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

[FLAprogressive]

1. RIP

[avaistheone1]

2. RIP

[DebbieCDC]

3. Wow, I watched him for years on Channel 4 when I lived in DC

Sorry to hear this. RIP George -- maybe he and Glenn Brenner (another local DC sportscaster - he passed away very young) are watching sports together somewhere in the afterlife.

[Bitwit1234]

4. Yep he really could let go with the sports. My son caught

him every day. He watched him when we lived near DC.

[EFerrari]

5. Lester Rodney, too.

Crusading Sports Journalist Lester Rodney, 98, Dies

And the influential sports writer Lester Rodney has died at the age of ninety-eight. From 1936 to 1958, he worked as sports editor of the Daily Worker, the newspaper of the US Communist Party. Rodney campaigned to allow African Americans to play Major League Baseball. The sportswriter Dave Zirin said of Rodney, “He crusaded against baseball’s color line when almost every other journalist pretended it didn’t exist.” -- DemocracyNow!

[Kahuna]

6. Is he the caster who coined, 'the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat?'

RIP, Mr. Michaels.

[liberal N proud]

7. Actually I think Jim McKay who coined that wit ABC Wide World of Sports

Jim died in June 2008

Michaels was the supercharged host of a sports extras show that was syndicated for many years.


Here is an interesting story about the agony of defeat...

Who's the "agony of defeat" guy from "The Wide World of Sports"?
Topher
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Dear Topher:
In the hierarchy of skiing accidents, there are spills, there are falls, and there are catastrophic wipeouts. "The agony of defeat" was definitely a catastrophic wipeout. For years, ABC's "Wide World of Sports" showcased the crash during its introduction:

Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport! The thrill of victory...and the agony of defeat! The human drama of athletic competition! This is ABC's Wide World of Sports!
The agonized athlete was a Slovene ski jumper by the name of Vinko Bogataj. A respected jumper and a fierce competitor, Bogataj's fate took a turn for the worse at the World Ski Flying Championships in 1970. Midway through his third run, Bogataj felt he was going too fast and tried to slow down. Unfortunately, he lost his balance and tumbled spectacularly over the side of the ramp. Bogataj suffered only a concussion, though apparently he never again jumped with quite the same "abandon." Understandable, if you ask us.

An interesting side note: Bogataj lived behind the Iron Curtain. As a result, he had no idea how infamous his crash had become in the United States. So it was with great confusion that he accepted an invitation to attend ABC's "Wide World of Sports" anniversary show. Once there, he found himself hounded by fans (including Muhammad Ali) who wanted to shake hands with "the agony of defeat." We call that a minor victory.

http://ask.yahoo.com/20060213.html

[Kahuna]

10. Riiiight. Thanks for the info.

[nyy1998]

8. RIP

I don't really know anything about this. But watching ESPN this morning, they credited the creation of Sportscenter to him, so this man must've been a great pioneer for creating a national-based sports show

[Patsy Stone]

9. RIP, George.

I used to love watching the Sports Machine while I was going to school in DC.

[jus_the_facts]

11. RIP George...I always enjoyed Sports Machine. n/t

[devilgrrl]

12. Wow! RIP!

:-(

[SalmonChantedEvening]

13. RIP George

He was a DJ here in Philly when I was a teenager, on WFIL.

So sad. Condolences to his family and friends.