boxing

A Lifetime of Sports Memories: TVs Warner Wolf

Bill Thompson

TV sportscasters, just like the athletes they covered, come and go.

But a few established themselves as stars, remaining popular for years, even decades.

Meet televisions Warner Wolf. He actually started on the radio in 1961, before moving to TV in 1965 in his hometown Washington DC.

By 1976 he had moved on to New York City, were he further cemented his reputation as a sportscasting star.

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Get your copy of Warner wolf’s book

Along the way Warner Wolf popularized two catch phrases: “Gimme a break!” and “Let’s go to the videotape.”

Eventually Wolf wrote two books, each titled after one of those catchphrases. I met him in 2000 on publication of Let’s Go To The Videotape.

Be sure and stick around for his predictions, and see how many of them actually came true.

So here now, from 2000, Warner Wolf.

Warner wolf levt TV in 2016. He’s 87 now, and can be heard weekly on New York’s WOR radio.

The Heavyweight Bout That Transformed America

Bill Thompson

It was 1938, on the eve of the start of World War II. And a 24-year-old American boxer, the son of Alabama sharecroppers, was about to alter the course of our history.

That young man was Joe Louis – full name Joe Louis Barrow, more widely known by the nickname “The Brown Bomber.”

On June 22 at Yankee Stadium in New York, Joe Louis took on German boxer Max Schmeling in a much-anticipated rematch. Schmeling won their first bout, in 1936. But this one would be all Louis.

He knocked out Schmeling in the first round.

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Get your copy of Joe Louis Barrow’s book

But along the way, according to his son, Joe Louis Barrow Jr, the Brown Bomber transformed the way America saw African Americans.

And that is why Barrow Jr. called his 1988 book about his father Joe Louis: 50 Years an American Hero. I got a few minutes with him that fall when he was on a book tour.

So here now, from 1988, Joe Louis Barrow Jr.

Joe Louis died in 1981 at age 66. Max Schmeling helped pay for his funeral, and Louis was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

The Champ’s :Life Lesspms: George Foreman’s Guide to Life

Bill Thompson

Sooner or later life will knock you to the canvas. The key is knowing how to get back up and keep fighting .

So maybe it pays to listen to somebody who has been knocked down and has gotten back up many times in his life.

Former heavyweight boxing champ George Foreman knows a thing or two about being knocked down and getting back up.

Get your copy of George Foreman’s book

And in 2003 he wrote down many of the life lessons he’s learned, in a book he called George Foreman’s Guide to Life.

I met him when he was on a book tour.

So here now, from 2003, George Foreman.

George Foreman will be 76 next month. And he and his wife will celebrate their 40th anniversary in 2025.