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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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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The
1962 telecast featured the band playing "My Old Kentucky
Home." |
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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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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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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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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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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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Or
at least the diagram of the bases.
Baseball pitchers threw a pitch every 20 seconds in 1956. Are
they significantly slower today?
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All-conference team has more players than the rules allow |
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Baseball
could be expedited |
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Baseball records are closer to .500 than football records |
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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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BracketBusters scheduling explained |
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Circus TV; re-pairing a basketball doubleheader |
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Computerized databases empower baseball stats geeks |
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Coonelly: how to spell his name |
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Details of graphics do get noticed |
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Dizzy Dean "slood" into third |
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Fat lady has sung? Then it's over |
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Football games could be shortened |
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Game 5's winner wins 5 out of 6 series; why? |
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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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Harry Caray at Wrigley Field |
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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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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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Jubies and bummage |
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Lookalikes: Bob Brenly and Bill Cowher |
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Los Angeles sports struggle for publicity |
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"Meaningless"
games |
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Metro Conference tournament pins |
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National Hockey League schedules |
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NCAA tournament: 65 teams for 64 slots |
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Oberlin defeats Ohio State in football |
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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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Pitt Stadium |
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Playing footsponge |
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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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Sports Illustrated's cover jinx predates the magazine |
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Sputnik news pre-empted by hockey |
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Super Bowl fans travel to watch the game — in Pittsburgh |
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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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Winning
isn't everything |
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Wolfley — Craig Wolfley — with the talkeration |
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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.