Today, we mark the sad passing of an amazing sports journalist. George Michael, a talented storyteller who manned The Sports Machine died Wenesday. Washington, DC area viewers knew him well from his nightly sportscasts at WRC-TV, channel 4. However, I got to know George through his nationally aired program TSM.
George was a talented storyteller who knew how to find a good story. He knew the questions to ask and he was never shy about his opinions. His trademark line, "Let's go to..." and then he'd name the place or the city and hit the big PLAY button on the videotape machine that was part of his set, became part of many sportscasters vernacular.
He oozed passion. How many of us can say that about our jobs? He made me realize that great storytelling isn't differentiated by news, politics or sports. Give George a political story and he'd weave an incredible narrative. It just so happened that sports was his sweet spot. Maybe that's why I liked him and his style so much.
Thanks, George. I'll always remember you.
1 comment:
I used to live in DC and Channel 4 news was the news of choice for us. There was a great interplay between the anchor, Jim Vance, the weatherman and George Michael. George loved to show WWF highlights and Vance would always say, "That's rasslin'. Wrestling is what they do in the Olympics." Another great moment is when the weatherman Bob Ryan was having a bad run of forecasting one summer. As he announces a sunny day, George is above the set with a box of fake snow falling on Ryan.
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