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Bill Currie
- Thread starter bobes6
- Start date
(This thread really belongs in TV)
I agree, Bill was great!!!. He was not just a Sportscaster, he was (and had) a personality!!!!!. There are very few people like him left.
My thoughts go out to Bill's Family and Friends in North Carolina, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh, and everyone else who experienced a Newscast with Bill.
Stuart Greenberg
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
I agree, Bill was great!!!. He was not just a Sportscaster, he was (and had) a personality!!!!!. There are very few people like him left.
My thoughts go out to Bill's Family and Friends in North Carolina, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh, and everyone else who experienced a Newscast with Bill.
Stuart Greenberg
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Currie did a lot of radio work. His commentaries were part of Bogut's morning show on KDKA, he did afternoon sports on "60 to 6" and in his later years he hosted a Saturday evening sports talk show with Bill DiFabio and Froggy Morris on KDKA.
Well, not so fast.
Because I never really knew Currie in that mode. I knew Currie primarily as a sports talk show host, with Alan Cutler, Bob Pompiani, Bill DiFabio (I think), Howard Elsin, and Froggy Morris (and I may be forgetting someone) on KDKA's "Sports Huddle" during the mid-to-late '80s.
If you were a Pittsburgh sports fan who lived outside of the area and relied on things like nighttime radio broadcasts of Pirates games for your information before Mark Cuban made that obsolete, the show was a godsend.
It was more sports talk for entertainment than for information, mind you. Currie would play the southern bumpkin more often than not, but also had some funny lines, such as complaining about a professor at Georgia Tech who died in mid-semester when Currie was a student there.
Evidently, the professor who replaced the deceased was much tougher and flunked the entire class.
"That was a dirty trick that guy played on us. Can you imagine- to DIE on us like that?"
He actually made it seem as if a professor would take his own life in order to spite his students!
However, in those years he didn't do much research. You could tell he was commenting off the sports page. And as hockey was growing in popularity in Pittsburgh with Mario Lemieux and the Pens moved to KDKA as their flagship, the former Voice of the North Carolina Tar Heels with a thick southern accent wasn't the guy you were going to embrace for the lastest Penguins news.
To his credit, he was enough of a professional that he could still ask the right questions of his co-host. "Do the Penguins need a scorer for Lemieux or a goon more?" for instance.
At the end, however, you could tell he was winging it. The last gig I knew him to have was pinch-hitting occassionally on WJAS for Bruce Keidan's sports talk show.
A friend of mine complained to me about Currie commenting on "Ki-WAN-a" Carter.
Still, there is a lesson to be learned from Currie. He was cornspun, for sure, but still could be an engaging personality.
And frankly, there aren't that many engaging personalities left in local sports media. With a few exceptions- the TV anchors tend to be androids. The sports talk show hosts and sportswriters appearing on such programs tend to be combative and smart allecky.
While Currie liked to pick fights with his co-hosts, there was an element of fun and teasing to the barbs he'd share with Cutler- similar to the spirit of the ESPN spot where Peyton and Eli Manning are tussling with each other in the hallway behind their family's back.
It's easy to get angry at today's Pittsburgh sports media.
It's hard to get angry at a man who touted the virtues of "Goofer Dust."
Because I never really knew Currie in that mode. I knew Currie primarily as a sports talk show host, with Alan Cutler, Bob Pompiani, Bill DiFabio (I think), Howard Elsin, and Froggy Morris (and I may be forgetting someone) on KDKA's "Sports Huddle" during the mid-to-late '80s.
If you were a Pittsburgh sports fan who lived outside of the area and relied on things like nighttime radio broadcasts of Pirates games for your information before Mark Cuban made that obsolete, the show was a godsend.
It was more sports talk for entertainment than for information, mind you. Currie would play the southern bumpkin more often than not, but also had some funny lines, such as complaining about a professor at Georgia Tech who died in mid-semester when Currie was a student there.
Evidently, the professor who replaced the deceased was much tougher and flunked the entire class.
"That was a dirty trick that guy played on us. Can you imagine- to DIE on us like that?"
He actually made it seem as if a professor would take his own life in order to spite his students!
However, in those years he didn't do much research. You could tell he was commenting off the sports page. And as hockey was growing in popularity in Pittsburgh with Mario Lemieux and the Pens moved to KDKA as their flagship, the former Voice of the North Carolina Tar Heels with a thick southern accent wasn't the guy you were going to embrace for the lastest Penguins news.
To his credit, he was enough of a professional that he could still ask the right questions of his co-host. "Do the Penguins need a scorer for Lemieux or a goon more?" for instance.
At the end, however, you could tell he was winging it. The last gig I knew him to have was pinch-hitting occassionally on WJAS for Bruce Keidan's sports talk show.
A friend of mine complained to me about Currie commenting on "Ki-WAN-a" Carter.
Still, there is a lesson to be learned from Currie. He was cornspun, for sure, but still could be an engaging personality.
And frankly, there aren't that many engaging personalities left in local sports media. With a few exceptions- the TV anchors tend to be androids. The sports talk show hosts and sportswriters appearing on such programs tend to be combative and smart allecky.
While Currie liked to pick fights with his co-hosts, there was an element of fun and teasing to the barbs he'd share with Cutler- similar to the spirit of the ESPN spot where Peyton and Eli Manning are tussling with each other in the hallway behind their family's back.
It's easy to get angry at today's Pittsburgh sports media.
It's hard to get angry at a man who touted the virtues of "Goofer Dust."
Hey Bob,
Don't worry about it. The Administration reads all of the comments, if they think it should be moved, they will move it and leave a message telling us the thread has been moved. Although I have been reading comments about Bill Currie on other Boards and it seem he was in Radio also.
Stuart
Don't worry about it. The Administration reads all of the comments, if they think it should be moved, they will move it and leave a message telling us the thread has been moved. Although I have been reading comments about Bill Currie on other Boards and it seem he was in Radio also.
Stuart
Even after Bill left KDKA, his presence was still on radio commercials. Wasn't he on WPXI for a very brief spell as well?
At any rate, we'll miss S.O.B. ("Sweet Ol' Bill!")
At any rate, we'll miss S.O.B. ("Sweet Ol' Bill!")
WTAE- Agreed.
Certainly we want Myron to get better, and the good news is the last report said his condition was improving.
Hey, Gotta read that next book he was writing!
Certainly we want Myron to get better, and the good news is the last report said his condition was improving.
Hey, Gotta read that next book he was writing!
Sad to say Myron's condition is not improving. He's been in hospice care for a while now.
You're saying its gotten worse since WPXI reported he was improving?
I don't what WPXI reported or when they reported it. His condition has been unchanged for quite a while, and it's been poor. Myron has had multiple serious medical problems, and he's 79 years old.
On Feb. 6 WPXI quoted Joe Gordon as saying Myron Cope's health was improving slightly-
http://www.wpxi.com/news/15239270/detail.html
http://www.wpxi.com/news/15239270/detail.html
Put it this way: Any suggestion that Myron is on the road to recovery is misguided.
We're running out of characters guys. People like Bill and Myron leaving the stage to what and to whom? Outside of Mike Lange are there any outsized characters left in this business? Guys whose out takes left everyone else in the studio on the floor? Guys who weren't afraid to have FUN.
(note: Mark Madden does not qualify in this regard. We are not talking about ego and jacket size).
(note: Mark Madden does not qualify in this regard. We are not talking about ego and jacket size).
Sad to say, fellas...but to take a phrase from a Glenn Frey album cover: "No fun aloud".
Personality radio has been deep sixed, which is a shame.
Let's not give up on Myron just yet. He's been hanging on like this since December. He's a fighter.
Personality radio has been deep sixed, which is a shame.
Let's not give up on Myron just yet. He's been hanging on like this since December. He's a fighter.
W
WCWalker
Guest
Ken. Can you please contact me by e-mail? I have to touch base with you about something.
Thanks...
William
Thanks...
William
S
Susan Currie Smith
Guest
Bill Currie was my father, and I am very proud of his legacy as a wordsmith and legendary sportscaster. If you knew him, and would like to add your comments for us to include in his memorial service, please reply. The service will be 3/15/08 in Yelm, Washington where my sister lives who was caring for him. He lived independent until the very last day. Even though he had been sick for sometime, he always fought to go home from the hospital, and he did one last time last week. He had been doing so well, and then suddenly he was gone. Let us know your thoughts. Thanks! 
Susan, your dad came to Pittsburgh in 1971, 37 years ago. People are still talking about him. That speaks to the impact he had during his time on the air here.
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