Jim Simpson (sportscaster)
Jim Simpson | |
---|---|
NSSA Hall of Fame (2000) |
James Shores Simpson
Career
Jim Simpson was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in nearby Chevy Chase, Maryland. He began his broadcasting career with a short-lived radio show, Hunting and Fishing with Jimmy Simpson, when he was 15.[1] He attended George Washington University and served in the Coast Guard and Navy Reserve. After several jobs in radio, he began working in television in Washington in 1949.
In the early 1950s, he shared a half-hour news program at Washington's
NBC Sports
Eventually Simpson would broadcast many sports at
In 1966, Simpson and Bill Cullen (who at the time, along with Simpson hosted a sports anthology series called NBC Sports in Action), were the between-periods co-hosts for NBC's Stanley Cup Finals broadcasts. It marked the first time that the Stanley Cup Finals were broadcast on American network television. It was also the first time that hockey games were broadcast on network television in color.[2] The CBC would follow suit the following year.
On January 15, 1967, Simpson (along with former quarterback
ESPN
In
After his sportscasting days Simpson retired to
References
- ^ a b c "Jim Simpson, versatile sportscaster who helped launch ESPN, dies at 88 - The Washington Post". The Washington Post.
- ^ Ted Damata (April 10, 1966). "Black Hawks in Colorful Color". Chicago Tribune. Tribune Publishing. p. C1.
- ^ Hagger, Jeff (January 11, 2017). "Rundown of Dick Vitale's college basketball TV partners". Classic TV Sports.
- ^ "Hall of Fame Sportscaster Jim Simpson of ESPN Early Days Dies". ESPN.com. January 13, 2016. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
- Voices of the Game by Curt Smith (Diamond Communications, Inc. 1987) ISBN 0-912083-21-2
- Bud Wilkinson: An Intimate Portrait of an American Legend by Jay Wilkinson and Gretchen Hirsch (Sagamore Publishing 1994) ISBN 1-57167-001-7
- Living a Dream by Dick Vitale (Sports Publishing 2003) ISBN 1-58261-738-4