Dick Schaap
Dick Schaap | |
---|---|
Sportswriter , broadcaster, author | |
Spouses | Madeline Gottlieb (div. 1981)Trish McLeod (m. 1981) |
Children | 6; including Jeremy |
Relatives |
|
Awards | NSSA Hall of Fame (2015) |
Richard Jay Schaap
Early life and education
Born to a
He attended
Career
Schaap began work as assistant sports editor of
After spending the 1970s with
He wrote the 1968 best-seller
Death
Schaap died on December 21, 2001, at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City of complications from hip replacement surgery that September. Schaap's final regular television appearance was on the September 16 broadcast of The Sports Reporters on the Sunday after the September 11 attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C. That weekend, all major American college and professional sporting events had been cancelled, and Schaap and his panelists discussed the diminished role of sports since the tragedy.
After Schaap's death, his estate and members of his family filed a lawsuit against three physicians and Lenox Hill Hospital, alleging that his death had been caused by medical malpractice. Specifically, they alleged that, for two years before his surgery, Schaap had been given a powerful medication called amiodarone to treat an irregular heartbeat. Amiodarone can cause lung damage (known as "amiodarone pulmonary toxicity") and, according to the plaintiffs, an X-ray of Schaap's chest that had been taken before the surgery indicated that he had lung damage. Three days after the surgery, Schaap began having difficulty breathing, and he was subsequently diagnosed with acute respiratory distress syndrome. He died three months after the operation, never having left the hospital. Among other claims, the plaintiffs contended that Schaap's surgery should have been postponed, that he should have been taken off the amiodarone, and that his lungs should have been given time to heal before the performance of the surgery.
The court dismissed the claim against the hospital on the ground that the physicians were not employees of the hospital. The plaintiffs' claims against the three physicians went to trial in 2005 in Manhattan. On July 1, 2005, after nine days of deliberations, a jury found that all three physicians had been negligent, but also found that the negligence of only one of the physicians had caused Schaap's death. That physician was a cardiologist who the plaintiffs had contended was negligent by not looking at the pre-operative chest X-ray. The jury awarded the plaintiffs a total of $1.95 million in damages.[5][6][7]
Personal life
Schaap was married twice. His first wife was Madeline Gottlieb; their divorce was finalized in March 1981.[8] Schaap remarried to Trish McLeod shortly thereafter.[9] He was the father of six children—Renee, Michelle, Jeremy, Joanna, Kari and David—and had five grandchildren.[10][11][12] Schaap's younger brother was lawyer William Schaap. The jazz historian Phil Schaap was his cousin.
Around 1955, Schaap befriended
Honors
The Sports Emmy division of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences renamed their writing category "The Dick Schaap Outstanding Writing Award."[15] The 2005 Emmy Awards in this category was won by Jeremy for a SportsCenter piece called "Finding Bobby Fischer."
In 2002, Schaap was honored posthumously by the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) with the Red Smith Award. In the same year, he was also inducted into the Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame, which created a Dick Schaap Award for Outstanding Journalism.
On June 8, 2015, Schaap was inducted posthumously in the
References
- ^ "Richard Jay Schaap" Encyclopædia Britannica August 10, 2010
- ^ Fox, John W. (February 9, 1955). "Henry Armstrong Recalls a Weigh-in". Press & Sun-Bulletin. Binghamton, New York. p. 35. Retrieved March 4, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ Penner, Mike. "Dick Schaap, 67; Sports Journalist" (obituary), Los Angeles Times, Saturday, December 22, 2001.
- ^ "Rentzel, Dryer Find A Way To Super Bowl," The Associated Press, Friday, January 10, 1975.
- ^ Family of Dick Schaap Awarded $1.95 Million, The Washington Post (July 2, 2005). Retrieved on October 27, 2013.
- ^ Andrew Jacobs, Jury Awards Family $1.95 Million in Dick Schaap's Death, The New York Times (July 2, 2005). Retrieved on October 27, 2013.
- ^ Andrew Jacobs, Jury Deliberates Lawsuit Over Death of Dick Schaap, The New York Times (June 23, 2005). Retrieved on October 27, 2013.
- ^ Cohen, Claudia (March 13, 1981). "Schaaps divorce; wife foiled in alimony". New York Daily News. p. M-5. Retrieved March 4, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ Smith, Liz (April 6, 1981). "Liz Smith (column)". New York Daily News. p. 12. Retrieved March 4, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Deaths SCHAAP, DICK". The New York Times. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
- ^ "Obituary: Dick Schaap". theguardian.com. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 3, 2015.
- ^ Bobby and me | Sport | The Guardian
- ^ "Chess legend still intrigues people". Archived from the original on January 22, 2008. May 9, 2005
- ^ "35th Annual Sports Emmy Awards" (PDF). The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved November 9, 2014.
Further reading
- Introduction to The Best American Sports Writing 2000, 2000
- Associated Press Sports Editors: Dick Schaap awarded 2002 honor
- Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism obituary: Tributes: Dick Schaap
- Cornell University obituary: Richard J. "Dick" Schaap '55
- ESPN Classic: "Schaap was storyteller, collector of people," June 25, 2002
- USA Today "Talk Today" Interview, January 10, 2001