Ernie Johnson, Clark Kellogg Kick Off March Madness with Emotional Greg Gumbel Tribute: ‘He Was So Good at What He Did'
March Madness kicked off on Thursday, March 20 with a touching tribute to beloved sportscaster Greg Gumbel whose presence and voice became synonymous with the annual college basketball tournament throughout his career.
Gumbel died from pancreatic cancer in December 2024 at the age of 78.
The renowned broadcaster was absent from last year's March Madness tournament as he dealt with the illness, and his colleagues Ernie Johnson and Clark Kellogg said they had hoped Gumbel might be back for this year's tournament.
'Just after Christmas we learned that cancer had taken his life and we were crushed,' Johnson, 68, said on Thursday night as he and his colleagues paid tribute to Gumbel the beginning of sports broadcast. 'A void was left that will never be filled. We wear his pin on our jackets, and we carry his memory in our hearts.'Johnson then turned to Kellogg, 63, at the panelists' desk and admitted: 'It's heavy in here.'
Ernie Johnson and company kick off this year's NCAA Tournament with a moving tribute to longtime host Greg Gumbel. pic.twitter.com/ktizs9RDST
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 20, 2025
Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.'It sure is,' Kellogg told Johnson, before sharing a beautiful tribute to their longtime colleague.
'It's sad and surreal that he's not in that chair and won't ever be in that chair again,' Kellogg said. 'Because he was so good at what he did and he was so good to the people he did it with and for, you the viewers, were who he sought to serve. And in doing that with class, with confidence, with consistency, with gentleness and kindness, he lifted all of us who had the privilege of being in the orbit of his colleagueship and his friendship.'
He concluded, 'While I'm sad, I'm extremely grateful to have known Greg as a colleague and a friend because he not only made everybody better but he made everybody feel good and that will never change.'
Charles Barkley then lightened the mood, recalling Gumbel's 'nerdy dad jokes' and how he'll miss hearing them. 'Man, nobody can do what he does unless two things: You're talented and people like you,' the NBA hall of famer said. 'He did it with such grace for so long. You have to be talented first and foremost, but people have to like you. And he will be missed.'
Related: Greg Gumbel, Legendary Sports Broadcaster, Dies of Cancer at 78
Gumbel joined CBS in 1989 after stints working for ESPN, WMAQ-TV in Chicago, WFAN Radio and the Madison Square Garden Network.
At CBS, Gumbel became the lead anchor for the network's Winter Olympics coverage while also serving as the host of NFL Today. The New Orleans native would later join NBC Sports, where he continued covering the Olympics and the NFL, before returning to CBS in 1998.
In his second stint with the network, the father of one was named the host of College Basketball on CBS and held the post for 26 years, becoming the voice of Selection Sunday and the March Madness tournament.
'He was beloved and respected by those of us who had the honor to call him a friend and colleague," David Berson, the president & CEO of CBS Sports, said shortly after Gumbel's death. "A tremendous broadcaster and gifted storyteller, Greg led one of the most remarkable and groundbreaking sports broadcasting careers of all time. He was a familiar and welcoming voice for fans across many sports, including the NFL and March Madness, highlighted by the Super Bowl and Final Four."
The NCAA Tournament continues Friday with the remainder of the Round of 64 games. March Madness, as it's become known in recent decades, will conclude with the championship game on April 7.
Read the original article on People
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox News
29 minutes ago
- Fox News
Scottie Scheffler 'forming himself into' becoming the next Tiger Woods, former World No 1 says
Scottie Scheffler is in a class of his own. The World No. 1 golfer is the heavy favorite to win this weekend's U.S. Open. In fact, he has the lowest odds of anybody in a major since Tiger Woods at the 2009 PGA Championship (it remains the only time Woods lost a 54-hole lead in a major). Scheffler is the only other player to be the No. 1-ranked player in the world for more than 100 consecutive weeks. Of course, Woods holds the top-two longest stretches of 281 and 264, so Scheffler has a long way to go. But if anyone in the game of golf is going to draw comparisons to the 15-time major winner among pro golfers, it's Scheffler. "Everyone's looking at Scottie right now and how consistent he is. When he doesn't win, he's in the top five. That's very difficult to do," Jason Day, a former World No. 1, said in a recent interview with Fox News Digital. Scheffler had one of the greatest seasons in PGA history last year with eight wins, including the Masters and Olympics, making an all-time record $54 million in prize money - if 2024 Scottie Scheffler were its own player, it'd be the 14th-largest career earnings ever, and he's already in second place, behind Woods. He's followed that up with three wins this year, including his third major in the PGA Championship. In 12 events played, he has nine top 10s and has yet to finish outside the top 20. Day said Woods "was a different beast." But we are "potentially, for sure" "seeing someone build himself into the next Tiger." "I know how dominant Tiger was back in the day when I first started playing, so I'm not going to say anything in terms of how far Scottie's got to go and what he has to do in his career, but we're starting to see Scottie forming himself into potential greatness and one of the best of all time," Day said. "Let's just sit back and watch it, he's great. And priorities change. You have kids, other business interests, injuries, a lot of things can happen in your life. But he seems like he's very balanced from when he's on and off the course. He's a competitive guy, he loves competing, and you can see it when he plays golf." At one point, it looked like Day would do what Scheffler is doing now. At a point, he kind of was. In 17 events from July 26, 2015, to May 15 the following year, Day won seven of those, including his lone major in the PGA Championship. He won four of his final seven starts of the 2015 season and won three of his first 10. Since then, injuries have taken a toll on Day, who is currently ranked 39th and has just two wins since 2016. He's found his form recently with some better finishes amid grinding through his injuries. Does he look at Scheffler and get jealous? "The easy answer is you can't be jealous because you're not in that position," he said. "If you put yourself in that position where you can win all the time, then it's easy to put yourself there. But I was talking to Tiger one time, talking about getting inside the top 50, and he goes, 'I have an idea for you. Play better.' You can be jealous if you're seeing someone else succeed if you're not putting in the work. But if you're putting in the work, some guys are just better than you. But if you're sitting back saying, 'That should be me,' and not putting in the work, then you've got to re-evaluate things in your life." Day will be at Oakmont this weekend, aiming to end that 10-year major drought. He catered his home to the viral Oakmont conditions, but he's also feeling pretty good. "Being No. 1 in the world, I knew how hard it was to get there, the work and effort and distractions that came with it. It's hard to sit there and say injuries have taken me out of some momentum, but a career is very long. I'm trying to get these recent injuries behind me, and if I can have some healthy years and hit the ball hard, focus on what I need to do, hopefully I'll give myself a chance to challenge some of the best in the world." Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Fox News
30 minutes ago
- Fox News
Larry Nassar victims' lead attorney criticizes USA Gymnastics trans athlete policy handling
The Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal became a sudden talking point amid the backlash against Simone Biles for defending trans athletes in women's sports. Some critics, including Biles' target in her social media rant Riley Gaines, pointed to the abuse perpetrated by Nassar while criticizing Biles' stance on trans athletes. Then on Wednesday, a USA Gymnastics spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the organization's transgender eligibility policy and resources pages were deleted from its website in May, to "assess compliance with the current legal landscape." The lead attorney for the U.S. women's gymnasts who were affected by Nassar, John Manly, weighed in on the comparisons between the Nassar abuse and biological male inclusion in women's sports. "Larry Nassar was sexually assaulting children, that's fundamentally different," Manly told Fox News Digital. However, Manly believes that the leadership at USA Gymnastics and its method of deciding to allow trans athletes in the women's category is the same type of leadership method that allowed the Nassar scandal to occur. "I think that's precisely right," Manly said. "[Female gymnasts] are in that position with that trans athlete in the locker room because of the organizations that create policies. … In that same token, Larry Nassar was created and allowed to flourish because they didn't have policies preventing precisely what he was doing. He was treating little girls in their hotels rooms alone on their beds, during the Olympics, there's no policy against it." Manly added, "Athletes are not first in this sytem, they're not. Money and medals are, and the people who run it are first." President Donald Trump signed his "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" executive order in February, but the order only applies to institutions that receive federal funding, while USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) are private entities. As a lawyer, Manly questioned the validity of the organization's recent excuse of "compliance with the current legal landscape" for deleting the policy pages. "That's a bunch of nonsense," Manly said. "That's corporate speak for 'we're concerned that the political winds have shifted and people are taking a dim view of the policy' and they don't want to become Bud Light. "The reason Larry Nassar happened, one, is because they didn't put athletes first, and two, because they slithered around and tried to cover it up, and [it's] the same thing here. Make a decision, stand out and defend it." Still, unlike Nassar, Manly believes that blame does not always fall on the trans athletes themselves, especially those who are underage. Manly, who has known Biles for several years, believes the gymnast was trying to make a similar point in her recent controversial social media rant, but it was "misunderstood." "I think it's a misunderstanding. I think what I suspect what Simone was trying to say is 'we shouldn't blame children, child athletes, for competing when these organizations allow it. But I haven't spoken to her about it… I respect Riley Gaines and obviously I respect and love Simone, and I wish it hadn't happen, but I can't speak to that," Manly said. In December 2021, Manly helped Biles and fellow U.S. women's gymnasts Aly Raisman, McKayla Maroney and Maggie Nichol secure a $380 million settlement from USA Gymnastics and USOPC over the Nassar abuse. Since then, the attorney has followed the issue's impact on the legal landscape, with an eye on Gaines' lawsuit against the NCAA for the inclusion of biological male Lia "Will" Thomas in the 2022 NCAA women's swimming championship. "I think it's really important," Manly said of Gaines' lawsuit's impact on women's sports history. "How that plays out is going to determine whether women's sports is going to continue as we know it or if it's going to change… the fact that the NCAA hasn't just owned up to it and come to a settlement with her is shocking to me." Manly says he would consider filing his own lawsuit against the USOPC if any American Olympians came to him with a legitimate case. "I'd file them to protect women, to protect female athletes, but I shouldn't have to file those cases, what should happen is the USOPC should step in and say 'were going to protect our athletes and we're going to have clarity," he said. While Manly hopes that the policies will be clear and allow fair competition in time for the Los Angeles Olympics, he says he has "no confidence," the policies will be at that point in summer 2028 if the current USOPC leadership remains in power. "I don't have any hope for anything with this board," he said. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Hamilton Spectator
an hour ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Canadian teen Summer McIntosh shatters third world swim record in five days
VICTORIA, Canada (AP) — Canadian teen Summer McIntosh has done it again. The 18-year-old made it three world records in less than a week when she broke her own 400-meter individual medley mark on Wednesday night. McIntosh won at the Canadian swimming trials in 4 minutes, 23.65 seconds to lower her previous best in one of the sport's toughest events by 0.73 seconds. Her closest rival was 12 seconds behind. 'What a week Victoria! Had so much fun in the pool this week,' McIntosh wrote on Instagram . McIntosh had already broken the world best mark in the 200 individual medley on Monday in 2:05.70, two days after shaving more than a second off the 400 freestyle record, completing the race in 3:54.18. The Toronto native also set new Canadian marks in two other events: The 200 butterfly, where she was less than half a second off a record that has stood since 2009, and the 800 freestyle, where she was also just off Katie Ledecky's world record set last month. She is scheduled to compete in those five events at the world aquatics championships in Singapore next month. McIntosh won three gold medals at the Paris Olympics last year, winning her three individual events of the 400 and 200 individual medleys and the 200 butterfly. She also won silver in the 400 free. ___ AP sports:
