Sports
Watching,
Reporting, Televising, etc.
T.
Buckingham Thomas physics Oberlin WOBC Richwood Tom Thomas Chyron
Infinit Pittsburgh
I
never participated in sports (except as the navigator in road
rallies), but I've been around them all my life. Here are most
of the relevant articles. To search for specific names or
events that might be listed elsewhere, use this utility:
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1930 |
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My mother's career in the basketball-crazed Class of 1931 at BHS. |
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1940 |
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My
father won $22 at Churchill Downs in 1942. Twenty years later,
the telecast featured the band playing "My Old Kentucky
Home." |
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1950 |
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As a boy, I watch modified stock cars race at the local fairgrounds and make my own set of flags. |
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1960 |
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Scoreboards, from the huge one at the L.A. Coliseum to the antiquated one at the Richwood gym, inspire my playful experimentation. |
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A freshman manager's brief report on what football players do while the bands perform. |
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Half an inning with the legendary broadcaster. |
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Introductions
and imaginative commercials for my mock radio broadcasts of
basketball. |
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The long trip home in January 1964; also, later trips with the L.A. Lakers. |
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Playing fields for football, track, etc., plus a downhill racer. |
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High-school fans don't like to hear their kids criticized. |
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The gym's too small; try on the wall! |
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The annual track and field event as I remember it from 1965. |
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A movie being filmed at a nearby NFL game features Walter Matthau and "Stop Action" instant replay. |
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Starting with a basketball broadcast on December 1, 1965, I soon become WOBC's sports director. |
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Correspondence and scripts for our new weekly radio feature. |
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Planning the 1966 college-football broadcast season. |
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This Volkswagen ran unopposed in our Richwood Prep Rally and still had trouble winning. |
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When Penn State's football team visited Syracuse in 1969, I was there in Archbold Stadium. |
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1970 |
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A
motor sport for nerds: driving down a road, navigating to the
nearest 0.01 minute. |
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From home movies: country roads in Kentucky, and a 1972 visit to a baseball game at the Astrodome. |
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I take my movie camera to the start of a Scioto Sports Car Club rally and to a checkpoint. 85 images. |
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If gasoline rationing keeps us from driving our cars in rallies, maybe we could rally on foot. |
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WJM-TV's fictional newscaster invents a method for betting on football that actually works. |
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Collaborating with a radio reporter and attempting to interview a hockey coach. |
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1980 |
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Falling
asleep to the 1981 Pirates on radio. |
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Hanging out at the Pan Am Games, occasionally running off to work telecasts elsewhere. |
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The 1988 Summer Olympics in Korea. |
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More than two dozen video frames from 1989-90 Pirates baseball telecasts, including commercials. |
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1990 |
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Correlating baseball statistics with winning. |
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A "quiet" week on Lake Pontchartrain. |
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2000 |
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I work in sports television, but not as an announcer. |
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Miscellany from the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. |
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Reshuffling the majors gives small-market teams a chance in the new Saturn League. |
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A graphical representation of one season's race in a baseball division. |
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When sports figures speak, not all reporters write down their words the same way. |
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The statistic doesn't actually have to be relevant; it just needs to seem that way. |
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Baseball pitchers threw a pitch every 20 seconds in 1956. Are they significantly slower today? |
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When toddlers play baseball, they're never charged with errors or passed balls. Are the majors headed that way? |
Or
at least the diagram of the bases.
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All-conference team has more players than the rules allow |
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Barmes and Barajas have the worst OBP |
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Baseball
could be expedited |
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Baseball from a front-seat row (in a parked car) |
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Baseball needs a halftime for postseason games |
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Baseball pitches total 1,500,000 in a broadcaster's career |
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Baseball records are closer to .500 than football records |
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Baseball runs scoring “with two outs” |
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Baseball's new rules, proposed by Mike Kobik |
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Basketball uniform numbering conventions |
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Batting the pitcher eighth? Doesn't matter much |
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Belmont Stakes favorite Big Brown explains why he finished last |
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Bowls, bowls, and more bowls — with strange names |
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BracketBusters scheduling explained |
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Circus TV; re-pairing a basketball doubleheader |
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"City of Champions" endures a three-week holiday slump |
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College football: 11 games on TV at the same time |
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Competitors, to a sports franchise, are not the other teams |
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Computerized databases empower baseball stats geeks |
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Conference championship playoff doesn't require extra game |
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Daytona 500: filling in what the telecast left out |
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Details of graphics do get noticed |
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Dizzy Dean "slood" into third |
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"Excited" is the attitude claimed by all sports interviewees |
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Fat lady has sung? Then it's over |
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Feast-or-famine games: Pittsburgh Pirates 62%, Cardinals 32% |
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Football games could be shortened |
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Football stands travel up and down the sidelines |
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Game 5's winner wins 5 out of 6 series; why? |
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Half-games in the standings: why divide by two? |
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Half-point solution to tied games |
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Half
the time, you're a miserable failure |
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"Hands" statue: Counsell or Kiner? |
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Harry Caray at Wrigley Field |
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Hockey: charting the season on the Ice Cube Road |
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Hockey: home ice is not necessarily an advantage |
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Hockey: not my favorite, but still here |
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Hockey teams need 93 points to make the playoffs. True? |
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Hooing Heath Miller |
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I am who I am, said God. It is what it is, say we. |
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Implosion clears the way for a new arena |
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"Incredible" plays are not actually beyond belief |
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Jubies and bummage |
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"Length" is now an attribute of a basketball player |
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Lookalikes: Bob Brenly and Bill Cowher |
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Los Angeles sports struggle for publicity |
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Manti Te'o, with a fake girlfriend, is gullible? Of course; he's religious |
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Mario Lemieux's new statue ought to be colorized |
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"Meaningless"
games |
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Metro Conference tournament pins |
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Milestone afternoon homers by A-Rod and Maris |
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Minor-league baseball telecasts go away, attendance drops |
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National Hockey League schedules |
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Naming rights: Sun Life Stadium |
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NCAA tournament: 65 teams for 64 slots |
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NCAA tournament: 96-team field might require 32 play-in games |
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NCAA tournament: broadcast TV not airing games in many home markets |
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NCAA tournament: lowest seeds tend to be conference champs |
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NCAA tournament: simply wait and fill out a 16-team "brackette" |
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No-hitter: I finally televise one! |
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Oberlin defeats Ohio State in football |
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Ohio State loses to Cincinnati in 1961 and 1962 NCAA finals |
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Olympics 2008: how to discourage dissent |
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Passer
efficiency rating "perfection" |
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Pi and Michael Phelps |
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Pirates briefly lead, then implode; TV crew remains jolly |
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Pirates' best starters have league's worst ERAs |
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Pitt Stadium |
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Pittsburgh baseball nadir in 1890, before they became Pirates |
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Playing footsponge |
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Playoff probabilities calculated for the 2009 Steelers |
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"Redskins" could mean something other than a racial slur |
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Relief pitchers usually get themselves into trouble |
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Reporting games from your team's perspective |
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Ripken's night off from The Streak |
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Rooker's unintentional walk home from Philadelphia |
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Slanging |
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Spelling
tips: |
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Sports Illustrated's cover jinx predates the magazine |
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Sputnik news pre-empted by hockey |
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State of Origin Rugby League Football Tournament |
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Statues to freeze great moments in sports |
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Steve Blass is a funny guy |
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Super Bowl fans travel to watch the game — in Pittsburgh |
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Uniform numbers for teams with over 100 players; camouflage numbers |
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Upsets? I've televised a couple of the biggest |
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Using the definite article for stadia |
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U.S. Open cameraman |
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Watching the Buckeyes on tape in 1962 |
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West Virginia moves much farther west, leaving its hated rivals behind |
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Winning
isn't everything |
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Winter baseball in Washington, PA |
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Winter “sports” that could be in the Olympics |
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Wolfley — Craig Wolfley — with the talkeration |
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World Series? Why is it "World"? |
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WPIAL football championships involve eight teams in one day |
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GREAT MOMENTS IN SPORTS HISTORY On August 7, 1963, while playing shuffleboard against myself in the basement, I scored a net 41 points on a single shot!
I knocked Red out of the 7-point zone, with my Black disk stopping in the zone. That's a 14-point gain for Black. The Red disk continued on, ricocheted off the nearby basement wall (which was in play according to my ground rules), and knocked Black out of the "10 OFF," stopping in that zone itself. That's another 20 points. Finally, the Black disk slid into the 7-point zone for another 7 points for Black. |
There
were two disks already in scoring position: a Red in the 7-point
zone, and a Black in the "10 OFF"
zone (minus 10 points). It was Black's turn to shoot, and I
wanted to knock both of those disks away.