My latest National Sports Journalism Center column is on Glickman, the upcoming HBO documentary on Marty Glickman. I had a chance to talk to the film’s producer, James Freedman, who worked for Glickman when he was 17.
For those of you who never heard of his story and his obstacles with Anti-Semitism, read on. And I highly recommend you watch this film.
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When I was coming up as a sports journalist in Chicago during the 80s, I only had a vague notion of Marty Glickman. I always had heard he was an iconic, trend-setting pioneer in sports broadcasting.
Yet in the days before cable and satellite radio, I had no real idea of why New Yorkers held him in the same reverence as they do in Los Angeles for Vin Scully, or why he was considered one of the most influential announcers ever to sit behind a mic.
A new documentary, Glickman (HBO, Monday, 9 p.m. ET), provides the answers. The film’s producer, James L. Freedman, who was a producer on Glickman’s WNEW radio show when he only was 17, wanted to give a true legend the national exposure his life deserved.
“When I moved to the West Coast, I was stunned nobody ever heard of him,” Freedman said. “If you grew up in New England during the latter part of the 20th Century, he was part of the soundtrack of your life. His story was so remarkable, I want people to learn about Marty Glickman from this film.”
Indeed, Glickman lived a truly incredible life. He gained notoriety first as an athlete. He was an accomplished sprinter, earning a spot on the 1936 U.S. Olympic team, and a star football player at Syracuse. None other than Jim Brown, a pretty fair running back Syracuse, praised his play for the Orangeman in the film.
Glickman eventually went into broadcasting. He basically invented the play-by-play template for basketball with his work on college games and the Knicks. He also was a memorable radio voice for the New York Giants and later the Jets. Along the way, his style and hands-on mentoring had a direct and profound impact on Marv Albert, Bob Costas, Mike Breen, Charlie Steiner and countless others.
However, Glickman had to overcome several obstacles due to Anti-Semitism. He and fellow Jewish sprinter, Sam Stoller, were knocked of the 400-meter relay team during Adolf Hitler’s Games in Berlin. While it never was stated, it is clear top U.S. officials didn’t want to offend the dictator with the possibility of Jews winning a gold medal.
Later when the NBA signed a national TV contract with NBC in the early 60s, a deal Glickman helped arrange, he was passed over to be the lead voice. Again, it seems likely that being Glickman being Jewish was a factor in the decision.
Yet the film shows that Glickman didn’t let Anti-Semitism suffocate him. Instead, he marched on.
“To me, the heart of the film is what happens to an 18-year-old when he faces racism?” Freedman said. “Not only did he not allow it to beat him, he used sports as a vehicle to transcend all the racism he faced.”
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And there’s more in the entire post at NSJC.