The legendary Marv Albert will cap an award-winning 2014 when he receives the Marty Glickman Award for Leadership in Sports next month in Manhattan.
“[Glickman] was the Voice of New York sports,” Albert told The Rumble. “He kind of took me under his wing. He’d be a great teacher, he would critique, encourage … and just to be around him to see the way he handled things and how he was with people was inspiring to me. He was like a second father to me.”
Albert will be presented the Marty by Bob Costas, a fellow Syracuse University graduate. Glickman, Syracuse Class of 1939, was a mentor for Albert.
“I was a researcher for him, I was a statistician, then I ended up producing stuff,” Albert recalled. “He was at WCBS at the time, and I ended up filling in for him on Knick games, and then filling in for him on his daily sports show.”
The rest is history.
“My style at first was kind of similar in the way Marty handled the geography of the court,” Albert said. “He’d hear things that no one else would, and he would critique, which was very helpful. He did it in a very nice way, and was very encouraging.”
Albert was honored Monday night at in Salisbury, N.C., for his election to the 55th National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame. El Marveloso joined a list that includes Vin Scully, Jack Buck, Dick Enberg, Al Michaels, Chick Hearn, Ronald Reagan and his presenter, Costas. Part of the ceremony included a taped David Letterman “Top 10” list.
“It was definitely an honor,” Marv said.
So is it possible for a young boy to turn down the television audio on Knicks and Rangers games and announce them on a tape recorder given him by his parents for his 10th birthday for a fictitious radio station — WMPA — that bears his initials and become a Hall of Famer?
Yessssss!
“My brothers [Al and Steve] and I would even announce ping pong games in our basement,” Albert said. “Two of us would play, one of us would announce. It got a little tough because Al would throw his racket up against a wall when he lost a point.”
Albert would bring WMPA to the stands at Ebbetts Field.
“They were kind of puzzled, basically,” Albert recalled.
From WMPA to WMARTY.
Yankees bring back HOPE
The Yankees kick off HOPE Week on Monday by bringing together representatives from all 25 prior HOPE Week days for a reunion at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.
The gathering will celebrate the five-year anniversary of the award-winning initiative, the brainstorm of media relations director Jason Zillo. Brian Cashman, Mariano Rivera, David Cone and Ivan Nova and General Partner/Vice Chairperson Jennifer Steinbrenner Swindal will attend the event. There will be a brief speaking program, during which attendees will recount their favorite HOPE Week memories and describe what they have been involved with over the year or years.
The Yankees have made $10,000 donations to not-for-profit organizations on each of the previous 25 HOPE WEEK days since its inception in 2009.
Long before 9/11 and the outpouring of support for the police and fire departments, there was Rusty Staub.
For over 30 years, the former Mets legend has been raising money for first responders through his charity, the New York Police & Fire Widows’ and Children’s Benefit Fund.
On June 25, before the Mets play the A’s, Staub will be at it again, hosting the 30th annual Game & Family Day. The event is a tradition that started at Shea Stadium and has continued to Citi Field, giving the families of fallen first responders a chance to come together and enjoy a day at the ballpark, while meeting current and former Mets players.
“I was sitting around in my restaurant one day in 1984 and I got word that a policeman with three kids had been killed in the line of duty and the youngest was 5 years old,” Staub recalled. “I just thought that instead of sitting around, it was time to do something.”
Staub, who lost an uncle in the line of duty, has done more than something in the three decades of charity fundraising, generating over $150 million for the police and fire departments, mostly through his events at the ballpark and a dinner he holds every year in Manhattan.
“It’s the least we can do for the families of the people who put their lives on the line for us every day,” Staub said. “We have to take care of the kids.”
To make a donation to the fund, or purchase tickets to the 30th Annual Game & Family Day, visit http://www.answerthecall.org.
Bambino golf event ready to swing away
Babe Ruth’s granddaughter, Linda Ruth Tosetti, will award the trophy to the winner of Wednesday’s fifth annual Bambino Invitational Golf Tournament at Leewood Golf Club in Eastchester.
Ruth, an avid golfer, was a member of Leewood Golf Club. A pair of trophies he won as a member of Leewood is included in his display at the Baseball Hall of Fame. It was the only club he belonged to in New York.
The event is open to the Metropolitan area’s top professionals and amateurs.
MSG’s Cervasio to emcee women-in-sports event
MSG Network’s Tina Cervasio, a WISE (Women in Sports and Events) NYC Metro Chapter member and a New Jersey steering committee member, will serve as emcee when the national organization launches WISE/R, a unique, day-long symposium on Monday at the Marriott Marquis Hotel. WISE/R is designed to equip women with the professional development skills to succeed in the business of sports.
Experts and business leaders participating include Yankees Senior Vice President Jean Afterman, Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman and ESPN CFO Christine Driessen. For more information on WISE/R visit https://www.etouches.com/ehome/index.php?eventid=89120x%x%