Bill Flemming: A Giant Who Walked Softly

by , Loser with Socks

I was a bit saddened to learn of the passing of one of the original greats, sportscaster Bill Flemming. He died Tuesday in Michigan from prostate cancer at age 80.

When I was a kid back in the 70s, TV sports options paled mightily in comparison to what we can choose from today. For many of us of that era, "Wide World of Sports" was a weekend staple. I never missed it. What was great about WWoS was that it truly did span the globe, often times training its camera lenses on the offbeat and unusual. Stuff ESPN would never sniff at, unless they could package it into the X-Games or completely buy the rights to it and jam it down our throats ad nauseum.

Sure, "Wide World" covered stuff like track and field and figure skating, but when it came to the offbeat stuff, it always seemed like Bill was there to make the call. If ice skaters were jumping barrels in Sweden, he was there. Wrist-wrestling in Petaluma-Bill made the call. Ditto for logrolling, bobsledding, demolition derbies, cliff-diving in Acapulco, even Bobby Fischer's chess matches in Iceland. I can only imagine him saying to his wife, "well, honey, I gotta fly to Gdansk to cover a badminton championship. Be back Tuesday!"

If you watched ABC's coverage of Michigan-OSU during that era, you heard his voice, which was like that of a trusted uncle that was more like a friend or a grandfather that would help you tie a fishing line when your dad couldn't be bothered. You could argue that he never got the adoration that Jim McKay or Keith Jackson got (you'd probably be right). But to me, in his duties on Wide World, he was a lot like Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones; never flashy, but vital, always there, consistently providing the beat.

In addition to his football duties, his obituary said he covered 11 Olympic games and more than 600 events for WWoS, each one treated with reverence, never scoffing or making fun of it. And at the end of his pieces, it was hard to walk away and not like the sport he covered.

Happy trails, Bill.