Sportscaster Greg Gumbel dies from cancer at age 78

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Sportscaster Greg Gumbel dies from cancer at age 78

2024-12-28 09:33 Last Updated At：09:40

Greg Gumbel, a longtime CBS sportscaster who broke barriers during his career calling some of the biggest sporting events, has died from cancer, according to a statement from family released by the network on Friday.

“He leaves behind a legacy of love, inspiration and dedication to over 50 extraordinary years in the sports broadcast industry; and his iconic voice will never be forgotten,” his wife Marcy Gumbel and daughter Michelle Gumbel said in a statement.

In March, Gumbel missed his first NCAA Tournament since 1997 due to what he said at the time were family health issues.

Gumbel was the studio host for CBS since returning to the network from NBC in 1998. Gumbel signed an extension with CBS last year that allowed him to continue hosting college basketball while stepping back from NFL announcing duties.

In 2001, he announced Super Bowl 35 for CBS, becoming the first Black announcer in the U.S. to call play-by-play of a major sports championship.

David Berson, president and CEO of CBS Sports, described Gumbel as someone who broke barriers and set standards for others during his years as a voice for fans in sports, including in the NFL and March Madness.

“A tremendous broadcaster and gifted storyteller, Greg led one of the most remarkable and groundbreaking sports broadcasting careers of all time," said Berson.

Gumbel had two stints at CBS, leaving the network for NBC when it lost football in 1994 and returning when it regained the contract in 1998.

He hosted CBS’ coverage of the 1992 and 1994 Winter Olympics and called Major League Baseball games during its four-year run broadcasting the national pastime. In 1995, he hosted the World Figure Skating Championships and the following year hosted NBC’s daytime coverage of the Olympic Summer Games in Atlanta.

But it was football and basketball where he was best known and made his biggest impact. Gumbel hosted CBS’ NFL studio show, “The NFL Today” from 1990 to 1993 and again in 2004-05.

Earlier this year, Gumbel recalled replacing Brent Musburger as host of “The NFL Today” in 1990, describing it as intimidating and daunting.

“The fact that I got to sit in the same chair and do the same thing or try to do the same thing that he did was an incredible honor," he said.

Gumbel also called NFL games as the network’s lead play-by-play announcer from 1998 to 2003, including Super Bowl 35 and 38. He returned to the NFL booth in 2005, leaving that role after the 2022 season.

“Like all who knew and loved him, I too am saddened by his death, yet also so very grateful to have known him in my life,” Clark Kellogg, a CBS Sports college basketball game and studio analyst, said in a statement. “What a gift to be touched by such a good man and partner.”

Gumbel was the older brother of Bryant Gumbel, the host of NBC’s “Today” show and “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” on HBO. Bryant Gumbel received a lifetime achievement award at the Sports Emmys in 2003.

Greg Gumbel grew up in Chicago and graduated from Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, in 1967 with a degree in English. He had plans to become an English teacher, but after his brother got into sportscasting, he auditioned at WMAQ-TV, an NBC affiliate in Chicago in 1973, according to the book "You Are Looking Live!: How The NFL Today Revolutionized Sports Broadcasting." He was soon offered a position as weekend sports anchor.

“I’m kind of surprised I got the job. I certainly wasn’t anyone who was polished," he said in the book. "By my own reckoning, it took me a good year to start to feel comfortable in front of a camera."

Gumbel also worked for ESPN and the Madison Square Garden network.

James Brown, who currently hosts “The NFL Today," described Gumbel on Friday as “Mr. Versatility and also very telegenic.”

“It was my pleasure to call him a friend and one who could do anything that was given to him in the wake of an assignment,” he added.

Gumbel won local Emmy Awards during his long career and was the recipient of the 2007 Pat Summerall Award for excellence in sports broadcasting.

Outside of his career as a sportscaster, he was affiliated with the March of Dimes for three decades, including as a member of its board of trustees. He also was a member of the Sports Council for St Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital for 16 years.

Associated Press reporter Mike Sisak contributed.

Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who instituted economic reforms, cremated in New Delhi

2024-12-28 21:35 Last Updated At：21:40

NEW DELHI (AP) — Manmohan Singh, the former Indian prime minister widely regarded as the architect of the country’s economic reform program, was cremated after a state funeral on Saturday as politicians and the public mourned his death.

The veteran leader, who was also credited for a landmark nuclear deal with the United States, died late Thursday at age 92.

Singh’s body was taken Saturday morning to the headquarters of his Congress party in New Delhi, where party leaders and activists paid tributes to him and chanted “Manmohan Singh lives forever.”

Abhishek Bishnoi, a party leader, said Singh's death was big loss for the country. “He used to speak little, but his talent and his actions spoke louder than his words,” he said.

Later, Singh’s body was transported to a crematorium ground for his last rites as soldiers beat drums.

Government officials, politicians and family members paid their last respects to Singh, whose casket was adorned with flowers and wrapped in the Indian flag. Security personnel honored him with a ceremonial gun salute.

Indian President Draupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who called Singh one of the country's “most distinguished leaders,” and several Cabinet ministers participated in the funeral ceremony.

Singh’s body was then transferred to a pyre and cremated as religious hymns played.

Authorities declared a seven-day mourning period and canceled all cultural and entertainment events during that time. Government buildings across India are flying the national flag at half-staff.

A mild-mannered technocrat, Singh was prime minister for 10 years and leader of the Congress party in Parliament’s upper house, earning a reputation as a man of great personal integrity. He was chosen to be prime minister in 2004 by Sonia Gandhi, the widow of assassinated Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Singh was reelected in 2009, but his second term was clouded by financial scandals and corruption charges over the organization of the 2010 Commonwealth Games. This led to the Congress party’s crushing defeat in 2014 national elections by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party under the leadership of Narendra Modi.

Singh adopted a low profile after relinquishing the post of prime minister.

As finance minister, Singh in 1991 instituted reforms that moved India away from a socialist-patterned economy and toward a capitalist model in the face of a huge balance of payments deficit, skirting a potential economic crisis.

Singh was the first Sikh to hold the country’s top post and made a public apology in Parliament for the 1984 Sikh Massacre in which some 3,000 Sikhs were killed after then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards.

In a move hailed as one of his biggest achievements apart from economic reforms, Singh ended India’s nuclear isolation by signing a deal with the U.S. that gave India access to American nuclear technology.

But the deal hurt his coalition government, with Communist allies withdrawing their support and criticism of the agreement growing within India in 2008 when it was finalized.

U.S. President Joe Biden in a condolence statement called Singh a true statesman and a dedicated public servant who “charted pathbreaking progress that will continue to strengthen our nations — and the world — for generations to come.”

“The unprecedented level of cooperation between the United States and India today would not have been possible without the prime minister’s strategic vision and political courage,” Biden said.