l
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l do SEC basketball. When the Breeders
  Cup came along Hammond got another
  Call; f I b fd spore rs views
  tOt€inV`;§t;??;3§;g Eatgtgggggtt Ee College Athletes —j Universities are giving them books,. tuition and
ti Stuhte uteu getttug Stories) just dOing education, yes, but in monetary terms what they bring in is far more than
i httte teettut-eS_ We Wete there 3 week that can ever cover so I think there should be some way of rewarding those
` before the rage itself xxrhenever they athletes who are bringing fame and fortune to the universities. Now I don ’t
needed someone to do an interview, I have an answer of what or how they should bepaid but I see that as an
said ‘yea, I’ll do that. I know him."‘ mgquity
_ On race day, H;m¤¤<;·¤d was i¤ the Hero vs. Thug Image - Unfortuttateht that thug image is much
j 1*8}}; lI;l¥§€ ?f the fight 91;*6- I H deserved. Very few athletes are actual heroes. The idea of athletes as heroes
1 1 2* ? _‘“_€dSPO;1W“ ¤1jt<>;¤ eng sprung up in the golden age of sports when we didn ’t know as much about
i W ‘° was mule im °°“ 9 mcs 8 them. wrtttt the wrttets attr rmsw about them, they tttttttrtprttttso we tttttrrt
would be horse of the year if one horse . . .
l WGH, and mt it mother hOrS€ Wm. see their warts. Very few of them are heroes. They are human beings like
While we were there someone deliv- the rest Ofuék _ _
eted tt bouquet Ot mses tu john Henry Being Famous — Unfortunately now being famous ts the most important
Se I just hgld them He reached his thing. Even second to money, but money and fame and celebrity is what
head across and started nibbling on the drives our society, which to me is a society thats out of whack. Its OK to be
roses, which made a good shot that notorious because you ’ll be rewarded in the end. Charles Barkley was
fE€Ydf€i>l¤Y€€l 5€V€f¤l times Yhf0Ugh0¤f right when he said, ‘T’m not your role model. I ’m not your hero. "
t e ay. i
"When it came time for the last race, l
my duties officially done, I go around
to the truck to watch the Breeders Cup "My philosophy," says Hammond, worked for Tom Hammond. Next
Classic. As they come down the stretch “has always been that no one tuned in time you’re tuned to an event hes
there is all kinds of bumping. Now to hear me. I want to help them (the calling, take a minute to notice this
theres a stewards inquiry. Pandemo- viewer) enjoy the event by calling the calm sportscaster who just wants to
nium. Chaos. We’re trying to make action and giving them information but help you savor the inornent.
sense of the story. I don’t want them to necessarily notice When the event is over, he`ll
"They’re talking to the stewards on me. Some announcers feel that the head back home to Kentucky, and
the phone. The jockeys and the press viewers tune in to hear them. But I in the springtime you’ll find him in
people are crowding around. Because think there are only one or two that his garden with his wife, Sheilagh,
they knew me, the jockeys came over people tune in just because they are ("Y0u can’t do this kind of job with-
and started talking to me. I wasn’t even doing the game. john Madden is the out everyone adjusting to it," says
supposed to be interviewing anybody. I only one I can think of. Most people Hammond.) — or at the track.
ended up being right in the middle of tune in because of the event," said
these controversies? Hammond.
That experience let to other things "Even as good as Bob Costas is,
like NFL football, Olympic coverage of people will watch the Olympics
track and field which has given whether its Bob Costas doing the host-
Hammond a personal view of some of ing or not.”’
the greatest athletic feats of mankind, Hammond says his philosophy has
and more Breeders Cup assignments. served him well because his bosses at
He sold Hammond Productions, now NBC were patient. "Mainly because it
Hammond Communications Group, as took them awhile to realize what I was
other demands on his time grew. He doing and what I was accomplishing in
still does special projects and has an of- my own style. And it helped that they
fice there, but 45 of 52 weeks a year he had someone in Dick Enberg who was
is on assignment. similar. I think I fit in well with their
Hammond says the overriding man- philosophy of storytelling and journal-
date at NBC is storytelling so that the ism and not just hype and hucksterism.
viewer can see the participants as hu- "I’m lucky to be at a network that
man beings, not just athletes. He has some appreciation for my certain
defines his role as enhancing the style."
viewers appreciation of the event. Being true to himself has certainly
KENTuckY Aturvmus 9