Curt Gowdy
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Curt Gowdy (born July 31, 1919, in Green River, Wyoming) is a former American sportscaster.
Well-known as the longtime "voice" of the Boston Red Sox, Gowdy made his broadcasting debut in 1944 in Cheyenne, Wyoming in a high school football game. His distinctive play-by-play style during his subsequent broadcasts of baseball and basketball in Oklahoma City earned him a chance with the New York Yankees and Mel Allen in 1949. In 1951 Gowdy became lead announcer for the Red Sox, a position he held for the next 15 years.
Gowdy's numerous network television assignments, first for ABC and later for NBC and CBS, ran a wide range of sports. He called play-by-play for AFL, NFL and collegiate football. He covered the American Football League throughout its ten-year reign. He was part of ABC-TV's lead team (with Paul Christman) for AFL broadcasts in 1960, and still a top play-by-play announcer (with Al DeRogatis) for NBC-TV when the NFL merged with the AFL in 1969. He also covered Major League Baseball; the National Basketball Association; 13 World Series and 16 baseball All-Star Games; Super Bowls, Rose Bowls, Olympic Games and NCAA Final Fours for all three networks; and hosted ABC's long-running American Sportsman series.
In 1970 Gowdy became the first sportscaster to receive the George Foster Peabody Award. He was the 1984 recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award from the Baseball Hall of Fame, was given a lifetime achievement Emmy in 1992, and was selected to the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 1995. As a contributor, Gowdy is a member of the American Football League Hall of Fame.
See also
External links
- Baseball Hall of Fame - Frick Award recipient (http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers_and_honorees/frick_bios/gowdy_curt.htm)
- Gowdy's citation in the American Football League Hall of Fame (http://www.conigliofamily.com/AFLcontributors.htm#GowdyText)