George Michael 1939-2009
George Michael, a veteran sports anchor on a long-running nationally syndicated television show, died on Christmas Eve at age 70. His daughter, Michelle Allen, said Michael died Thursday morning from complications of chronic lymphocytic leukemia at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C., after a two year battle.
The sportscaster, one of the most popular media personalities in the Washington area, appeared on “The George Michael Sports Machine” from 1980 until 2007. He won a Sports Emmy for his work on the program in 1985.
The show was filmed on a set he shared with the late Tim Russert of “Meet the Press” fame. Prior to his sports beat, he was a self described “rock and roll hippie”, who worked as a sales representative for Motown from 1966-1974. He moved to New York City following that stint and went to work for WABC-AM, spinning records. He did some guest-hosting on the Howard Cosell radio show Speaking Sports before moving on to WRC-TV.
Producer Matt Glassman of NBC’s D.C. affiliate WRC-TV said, “He was a pioneer in sports broadcasting. He was a gifted interviewer, a master storyteller, and one of the hardest working journalists out there. Our hearts go out to his wife Pat and his daughter Michelle, both of whom also worked with us for many years, as well as the rest of his family.”
As his show was coming to an end in 2007, the sportscaster said, “The key to our success over the years has been our ability to find stories and present stories that you would only be able to find in magazines. We really take the time to get to know an athlete and get them to trust us enough to know that we will be fair in our story on them, even if we don’t agree with everything about them.”
View a 1999 video clip “Best of the Year 1999 George Michael’s Sports Machine” below.