R. I. P. Bill Flemming

There are certain voices, songs and smells that I think back on fondly. They have added so much to the texture and fiber of who I am and how I turned out. When you are born the second son by eight years, you pay attention more, you want to impress your brother, make some kind of connection, spend some quality guy time together. College Football and ABC's "Wide World Of Sports" filled that niche every Saturday morning. We actually did something together, I wasn't the dumb kid brother and it made me feel special when he would turn around and point out some miniscule piece of crap on the broadcast. He was sharing it with me. Me. No, I didn't know that the receiver from Georgia Tech is the same guy that had his head cut off and then sewn on backwards....really? BWAH HAH HA HA HA.

Those Saturday mornings Chris Schenkel, Chris Economackie, Ray Scott, Bill Flemming, Lindsay Nelson, Jim McKay and others filled my world with the pasion and excitement only great broadcasters can bring to the table. Whether it was covering the Notre Dame game or hanging out on the ski jumps, or covering the high diving championships somewhere in Acalpulco or wherever, when I hear old tapes of these guys, I immediately take about 45 years off my life, for them, I am eternally grateful.

Bill Flemming died at 80 today, and according to the obit, hung around and played golf the last few years of his life. Good for him. Man, add one more to the list of the people I would like to talk to in heaven. What a voice.

Bill Flemming, 80, a pioneer tele­vision broadcaster who helped shape ABC Sports, has died.
The part-time Marco Island resident passed away Friday after a long bat­tle with prostate cancer in Michigan.
Flemming was in the home of millions in covering 11 Olympic Games and more than 600 varied events for the multi-award-win­ning "ABC’s Wide World of Sports.''
Flemming made Marco Island his vacation home in 1977, when he wasn’t traveling around the globe. Marco Island became his second home in 1998, spending seven months a year on Marco and the remainder at his summer cottage in Good Hart, Mich.
Ara Parseghian, part-time Marco resident and famed Notre Dame football coach, calls Flemm­ing a good friend.
"Bill broadcast some of my games clear back to when I was (coaching) at Northwestern (in Chicago) and games at Notre Dame," Parseghian said. "When I joined ABC we did a number of games together, with me doing color and Bill doing the broad­casting. We got along exception­ally well, there were no egos in the way.
"He first used my condo when he visited Marco before he bought his own."
By his colleagues, Flemming was considered the most versatile His extensive play-by-play coverage of college football was renowned, but what pleased him as much was an interview with Bobby Fisher during his historic chess match with Boris Spassky in Ice­land in 1972.
"My dad was really proud of his interview with Bobby Fisher," daughter Lindy said. "He spent weeks getting the interview."
Lindy, a video producer for corporate and non-profit organiza­tions, said that what she learned from her father was the importance of preparation, profession­alism, dedication and enthusi­asm.
"Enthusiasm was a big word for him," she said. "He con­ducted great interviews because he made everyone feel special and they would open up to his warm style."
Lindy recalls her dad being the first to interview Peggy Fleming after she won the gold medal in skating in the 1968 Olympic Games.
"He was just so thrilled for her. It was an emotional interview," she said.
Lindy said her dad was low key, "enjoying Marco Island and playing golf with his buddies at Island Country Club."
"He was good friends with Jack Nicklaus," she added.
Flemming’s passion for sports began early when his Ann Arbor High School football team won the state championship in 1943. He entered Michigan as a pre-med student , but switched his career path to broadcasting after winning a campus-wide speech contest.
He got his first big break when he joined NBC’s Detroit affiliate, WWJT-TV, in 1953. By the next year he headed the station’s sports department. His first net­work appearance was on NBC’s "Today'' show, which led to a chance to help with the telecast of the 1957 U.S. Open. He moved to the newly-formed ABC Sports, joining Wide World of Sports in 1961.
He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Barbara, daughter Lindy and son-in-law Phil Andrews, their two grandchildren and son William. A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 10, at First Presbyterian Church of Harbor Springs in Michigan.