Broadcasting

Marty Glickman was so deeply connected with basketball as was Foster Hewitt with the NHL

In the early years of basketball, baseball, football and hockey on radio there were noted stars. Marty Glickman on basketball, Foster Hewitt on hockey, Red Barber on baseball and Ted Husing on football. When TV surfaced in the 40s and 50s, the world would change.

Names like Lindsey Nelson, Mel Allen, Jack Buck and Jack Brickhouse sparkled. Along with other names, fans wouldn’t let go. Not every game was carried on convenient TV.

When he arrived in St. Louis, Marty Glickman remembers running into the colorful Harry Caray, who was voicing the Cardinals and Browns for the listeners in St. Louis. Son Skip, and grandson Chip would follow. Chris, a great-grandchild of Harry, is currently on-air with A’s.

At its launch, the NBA (then the BAA), the play-by-play was being perfected by Marty Glickman in New York. The games, were carried on WHN Radio. College broadcasts preceded the Knicks.

The game grew up beginning on November 7, 1946. It was also coincidentally the 24th birthday of the great jazzman, Al Hirt. Glickman made music of his own on-air calling basketball, equal rhythmically and his beat.

Marty Glickman’s presentation was rapid-fire. It produced an infectious tension. Marty himself would say that he felt exhausted when the game ended. When the ball passed around the court, Marty would often give location only, sacrificing names. In other words, a sequence may sound something like this, “Carl Braun has it in the right corner, back of the key it’s moved, now into the left corner to Vandeweghe.”

Marty’s explanation makes sense. When watching a game from the stands or on television later for that matter today, fans are conscious of a gorgeous pass, the shooter, or the rebounder. On routine movement of the ball around the perimeter, ball movement and rhythm were paramount, not each player who might have touched it for a fleeting second. Location first, name second.

It’s radio. During the closing moments of the first half when a team was holding for a final shot, the point guard was dribbling the ball at the middle of the floor, and the players were standing around. Marty simply said, “Hobbs dribbles in place. The players aren’t moving, the clock is!” One memorable Glickman description was, “Hobbs dribbles along the right sideline with those silky hands and supple wrists while his teammates are milling and weaving in and out of the lane.” Brilliantly done.

The New York metropolitan area adopted Glickman’s basketball immediately. In 1920 the best sign of acceptance in the marketplace was an attendance test. Some 10,000 fans turned out at an Armory to witness New York University defeat City College.

St. John’s, CCNY, Manhattan, and New York University flowed into Madison Square Garden. On December 29, 1934, when a doubleheader was introduced by Ned Irish. Initially a sportswriter and later a Garden executive, Irish promoted the twin-bill featuring St. John’s against Westminster and NYU facing Notre Dame.

It was an instant success, drawing 16,138 fans at Old-Garden. Irish’s eight doubleheaders that headlined the 1934-35 campaign averaged some 12,000 in attendance. The New York teams started prospering and so did interest in the game. Between prizefights, and college football, baseball owned New York. In 1946, think Lindsey Nelson, Jack Buck, Jerry Coleman, Howard Cosell, Marty Glickman, Mike Gorman, Merle Harmon, Chick Hearn. Keith Jackson, Johnny Most, Phil Rizzuto, Chuck Thompson and Jack Whitaker.

The New York college sports scene was dominated by basketball. It prevailed nicely, until the point-shaving scandals of the 1950s. It rattled the pro game’s growth in its popularity.

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“The respect I had for him on the field goes without saying, but getting to know him off the field – getting to know him at the seminars; spending time with him on the phone; Just kind of shooting the sh*t a little bit about what to expect on the job, I’ve really enjoyed getting to know him, so that’s been a fun experience,” said Olsen in August of Barrett Media.

Moreover, with Olsen’s demotion came a significant pay-cut which lowered his salary from $10 million to $3 million, according to The New York Post. Olsen reportedly has two years remaining on his contract with FOX Sports.

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When you have only two pre-gamers, not placed next for next year others too. He was crushed terribly by fans. That is the fact! Was he there for catching attendance. He has a more powering voice than you. assess. A cocky loser. The duo of Shaquille O’Neil and Kenny Smith were eyepopping. Shaq never sounded inspiring or drew much attention.

He lost it the other night, after it appeared he wouldn’t be renewed after using the F’ word. You would think that Kenny’s actions will hurt him too. He himself, it appears handled his action,

Kenny Smith is also an excellent teacher and viewers will miss him.

 

 

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David J. Halberstam

David is a 40-year + industry veteran who served as play-by-play announcer for St. John's University basketball in New York and as radio play-by-play voice of the Miami Heat in South Florida. He is the author of Sports on New York Radio: A Play-by-Play History and The Fundamentals of Sports Media and Sponsorship Sales: Developing New Accounts.

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