NCAA tournament: CBS honors longtime broadcaster Greg Gumbel with perfect tribute to open Selection Sunday
CBS found the perfect way to honor Greg Gumbel on Sunday to kick off the NCAA tournament.
The network kicked off its annual Selection Sunday show with a Gumbel tribute, which featured him speaking into the camera explaining why he felt the the NCAA tournament was so special. Gumbel, who spent decades as the voice of CBS's college basketball coverage, died in December. He was 78.
CBS begins the NCAA Tournament Selection Show with a tribute to Greg Gumbel. 🏀🎙️❤️ #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/TLIxRvG9g4
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 16, 2025
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After that tribute, CBS opened the show with a Rolling Stones song playing in the background. The entire production crew wore Rolling Stones shirts, too, as a way to represent Gumbel's favorite band.
Start us up! Our CBS studio crew are all wearing Rolling Stones shirts today in honor of Greg Gumbel who loved the Stones. Very much feeling his presence today! pic.twitter.com/ljiUhUTb5q
— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) March 16, 2025
Gumbel got his start as a broadcaster at WMAQ-TV in Chicago, and he then joined ESPN in 1981 and worked as an early "SportsCenter" anchor. He later spent time at MSG Network, CBS and NBC before returning to CBS to close out his career. He was the first Black person to call play-by-play in a major American sports championship when he called Super Bowl XXXV in 2001, and he covered just about every sport possible.
Gumbel retired from NFL coverage in 2022, but he remained working college basketball games with CBS until he stepped away from the 2024 tournament due to 'family health issues.' His family revealed after his death that he had been diagnosed with cancer.
While Gumbel wasn't in the studio with his colleagues to open the NCAA tournament this spring, his presence was absolutely felt.
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