cherylsteele
02-20-2006, 10:04 PM
MIAMI (Reuters) - Curt Gowdy, one of the best known voices to a generation of U.S. sports fans and a longtime broadcaster for the Boston Red Sox, died on Monday at 86.
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The Red Sox announced Gowdy's death in a statement on its Web site, saying he succumbed to leukemia at his winter home in Palm Beach, Florida.
Known as "the Voice of the Red Sox" from 1951 to 1965, Gowdy went on to become a national sportscaster working for all four major television networks in a variety of sports from baseball to the Super Bowl to the Olympics.
"He was one of the greatest sports broadcasters in history and, more importantly, an even better man," NBC Universal Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol said in a statement.
"For many years, he literally carried NBC Sports on his back as the signature voice for both Major League Baseball and the NFL."
Gowdy announced 16 World Series, 12 Rose Bowls, nine Super Bowls, 16 baseball All-Star Games, eight Olympic Games and 24 NCAA Final Fours of U.S. collegiate basketball.
He enjoyed a 10-year run as play-by-play commentator for NBC's Major League Baseball Game of the Week and called the play-by-play for every World Series and All-Star Game from 1966 to 1975. He also served as the lead play-by-play commentator for NBC's NFL coverage, which included broadcasting seven Super Bowls for NBC.
Gowdy also was host and producer of the Emmy award-winning "The American Sportsman" television series.
He was enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984. He also earned the George Foster Peabody Award for excellence in broadcasting in 1970, becoming the first sportscaster to receive the honor. He also received 13 Emmys, six of them for "The American Sportsman."
"He had a great voice but he wasn't a hotshot," former Boston Red Sox star Johnny Pesky told the Major League Baseball Web site, www.MLB.com.
"Some guys get so big and think people listen to them because they're the thing. He was nothing like that. "
If this was already posted I am sorry...I didn't see a post anywhere about this.
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The Red Sox announced Gowdy's death in a statement on its Web site, saying he succumbed to leukemia at his winter home in Palm Beach, Florida.
Known as "the Voice of the Red Sox" from 1951 to 1965, Gowdy went on to become a national sportscaster working for all four major television networks in a variety of sports from baseball to the Super Bowl to the Olympics.
"He was one of the greatest sports broadcasters in history and, more importantly, an even better man," NBC Universal Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol said in a statement.
"For many years, he literally carried NBC Sports on his back as the signature voice for both Major League Baseball and the NFL."
Gowdy announced 16 World Series, 12 Rose Bowls, nine Super Bowls, 16 baseball All-Star Games, eight Olympic Games and 24 NCAA Final Fours of U.S. collegiate basketball.
He enjoyed a 10-year run as play-by-play commentator for NBC's Major League Baseball Game of the Week and called the play-by-play for every World Series and All-Star Game from 1966 to 1975. He also served as the lead play-by-play commentator for NBC's NFL coverage, which included broadcasting seven Super Bowls for NBC.
Gowdy also was host and producer of the Emmy award-winning "The American Sportsman" television series.
He was enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984. He also earned the George Foster Peabody Award for excellence in broadcasting in 1970, becoming the first sportscaster to receive the honor. He also received 13 Emmys, six of them for "The American Sportsman."
"He had a great voice but he wasn't a hotshot," former Boston Red Sox star Johnny Pesky told the Major League Baseball Web site, www.MLB.com.
"Some guys get so big and think people listen to them because they're the thing. He was nothing like that. "
If this was already posted I am sorry...I didn't see a post anywhere about this.