‘A rare commodity.’ Ledford remembered fondly ahead of Hall of Fame induction.
The recent news that Cawood Ledford will be inducted posthumously into the National Sports Media Association Hall of Fame later this year prompted an immediate reaction. Something like: Huh? Wasn’t he already in that Hall of Fame?
At the start of a telephone conversation Thursday, that reaction was bounced off Dave Goren, the executive director of the NSMA.
“Well, good question,” he said. “I was a little surprised myself.”
Ledford was the radio play-by-play announcer for Kentucky basketball for 39 seasons. From Adolph Rupp in 1953 to Rick Pitino in 1992, he was — as the phrase went — the voice of Kentucky basketball. He became Kentucky basketball. He was an iconic presence who embodied a storied program.
Tom Hammond grew up listening to Ledford and then became a notable broadcaster himself for NBC and the Southeastern Conference. Of Ledford he said, “He was a rare commodity, which is even rarer these days, in that he was a local broadcaster that had a national reputation.”
Jim Host, who as a Lexington-based sports marketer helped invent March Madness, worked with schools across the country.
“Invariably, the coaches that were at those schools would always say, ‘Boy, we wish we had somebody as good as Cawood Ledford at our place,’” Host said. “I don’t know how many times I heard that all over the country. That, to me, is the ultimate (compliment).”
How did Ledford, a native of Harlan, attain such status? Hammond offered several factors:
▪ Longevity.
▪ The success of UK basketball drawing attention to his calls.
▪ Working in an era when many fewer games were televised, so radio connected fans with their favorite team.
▪ Working for WHAS, a 50,000-watt station that could be heard in more than 40 states at night.
“I grew up in Massachusetts,” Goren said, “and I knew who Cawood Ledford was.”
Ledford’s calls gave the impression that he wanted Kentucky to win. But he maintained a professional distance.
“He was a homer in the best sense of the word in that he knew who his audience was,” Hammond said. “He knew the Kentucky fans were his audience. But that didn’t color his broadcast. The fans, the listeners knew he would be honest. I can remember he’d say, ‘Well, the Cats don’t have it tonight.’ He didn’t sugarcoat that stuff.”
Ledford wasn’t a screamer, which Hammond admires.
“If you scream at every play, then how are you going to let viewers know or listeners know there’s really something to get excited about?” Hammond said. “He didn’t scream, which would have cheapened his description.”
When asked about this professionalism, Goren suggested that Ledford called games in an era when announcers worked for radio or television stations. Now, announcers work for teams, he said.
It’s hard to believe any play-by-play announcer exited more graciously than Ledford. His final UK game ended with Christian Laettner’s famous winning shot. Only 2.1 seconds earlier, Sean Woods had banked in a shot to put Kentucky ahead in overtime. The Final Four, after two seasons being ineligible for postseason play, seemed destined to happen. Then Laettner made the shot.
As he concluded the broadcast, Ledford quoted a 19th-century poet, John Greenleaf Whittier: “For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: ‘It might have been.’”
Said Hammond: “To me, that’s the ultimate in a professional, and a guy that’s not a hack. He’s well-read. He’s well-rounded. He understands life. And he’s not making this the end-all, be-all. It’s not life-threatening.”
Host, who said he has listened to the tape of that game broadcast many times, recalled Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski joined Ledford and color analyst Ralph Hacker after the game. Krzyzewski offered kind words to no-doubt grieving UK fans and congratulations to Ledford.
Actually, Ledford’s final call came the following week at the Final Four. Under the rules at the time, Ledford would call the Final Four if Kentucky was not playing. If UK advanced to the Final Four, Host would need to find another announcer.
Then-NCAA executive director Walter Byers “said something that I’ve never forgotten,” Host said. “‘Well, he’s the best in the country. I’m surprised that you just don’t make him permanent.”
Ledford, who died in 2001, will be formally inducted into the NSMA Hall of Fame at a ceremony on June 29 in Winston-Salem, N.C.
When asked about Ledford going into the Hall of Fame, Hammond said, “What took them so long?”
Ledford hasn’t been the only notable announcer not in the Hall. Johnny Most, the iconic play-by-play announcer for the Boston Celtics (“Havlicek stole the ball!”) has not been so honored. Neither have Chris Economaki nor Dick Button, announcers synonymous with auto racing and figure skating respectively.
Others to be inducted posthumously this year are play-by-play announcer Skip Caray and New York-based sportswriter Dick Young.
This year’s inductees also include Dan Patrick, Tom Verducci and Michael Wilbon.
‘Jarring’
Fran Fraschilla worked the ESPN telecast the Kansas-Kansas State game. Here’s his take on the near-fight that broke out among the players at the end of the game and spilled into the first few rows of seats.
“Like Rupp Arena, Allen Fieldhouse is one of the cathedrals of college basketball,” Fraschilla said. “My analogy is if you were on Fifth Avenue in New York, and you went into St. Patrick’s Cathedral to light a candle and say a prayer. And a brawl broke out.
“That’s how jarring it was.”
Even though the Kansas-Kansas State rivalry has the emotional intensity of Kentucky-Louisville, that’s no excuse for the near fight among players at the end, Fraschilla said. He pointed out that both coaches — Bill Self of Kansas and Bruce Weber of Kansas State — were contrite in postgame news conferences.
Fraschilla expressed gratitude that no serious injuries were inflicted on players nor spectators.
“It’s just a black cloud over two programs that have great tradition,” he said. “There’s no getting around the fact that it was ugly.”
Best point guard
UK Coach John Calipari has called Ashton Hagans the nation’s best point guard.
Auburn Coach Bruce Pearl, whose team played Iowa State on Saturday, said the Cyclones’ Tyrese Haliburton deserves consideration.
“Haliburton might be the best playmaking point guard in college basketball …,” Pearl said. “You can try to shut his water off. He’s OK with that. He just gives other guys great looks.”
Going into this weekend, Haliburton, a 6-5 sophomore, led Iowa State in scoring (15.9 points per game) and had an almost 3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio (125-46).
Snake!
Roy Roberts, who played for Kentucky in the early 1960s, grew up on a farm in Georgia. He recently recalled Adolph Rupp making a social visit to the farm while on a trip to Atlanta.
Roberts, a sophomore at the time, said that his father, James Roberts, was sitting with the lordly UK coach on the front porch.
Suddenly and dramatically, the mood changed.
“A big snake fell on Coach Rupp’s lap,” Roberts said. “It shook him up.”
It shook up Roberts, too.
“I thought I’d lose my scholarship,” Roberts said. “It scared him, for sure.”
Triple-double
Going into this past week’s games, Utah freshman Rylan Jones was one of 17 Division I players with a triple-double this season.
UK fans might recall Jones, a gutsy 6-foot guard. In the Utes’ 69-66 victory over UK in Las Vegas, he made three of four three-point shots, scored 12 points and had six assists.
Jones’ triple-double consisted of 10 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists in a game against Mississippi Valley.
Happy birthday
To Perry Stevenson. He turned 33 on Thursday. … To former Tennessee coach Kevin O’Neill. He turned 63 on Friday. … To Chris Mills. He turned 50 on Saturday. … To Tony Delk. He turns 46 on Tuesday.
