American television and radio personality
Bill Mazer
|
---|
Born
| Morris Mazer
November 2, 1920
|
---|
Died
| October 23, 2013
(2013-10-23)
(aged 92)
|
---|
Nationality
| American
|
---|
Alma mater
| University of Michigan
|
---|
Occupation
| Broadcaster
|
---|
Known for
| Sports Extra
, "Amazin' Mazer"
|
---|
Spouse
| Dora "Dutch" Sudarsky Mazer
|
---|
Children
| 2 daughters, 1 son
|
---|
Bill Mazer
(born
Morris Mazer
; November 2, 1920 ? October 23, 2013) was an American television and radio personality. He won numerous awards and citations, including three
National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association
's Sportscaster of the Year awards for New York from 1964 to 1966.
[1]
Considered a New York institution in sports reporting,
[2]
Mazer was inducted into the hall of fame for the Buffalo Broadcasters Association (1999),
Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame
(2000) and the
National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Museum
(1997). He is also recognized as the host of the first sports talk radio show in history that launched in March 1964 on
WNBC (AM)
.
[3]
Mazer earned the nickname "The A-Maz-In" for his deep knowledge of sports
trivia
. This was made evident while hosting his WNBC radio show in the 1960s.
[4]
[5]
Based on this, he wrote several sports trivia books, including
Bill Mazer's Amazin' Baseball Book: 150 Years of Baseball Tales & Trivia
published by
Zebra Books
in 1990.
Background
[
edit
]
Mazer's family left Kiev, emigrating before his first birthday. He grew up in
Brooklyn
,
New York
. A graduate of
Yeshiva University High School for Boys
, he received a BA at
University of Michigan
for premed
[6]
before being
drafted
. During
World War II
, he served the majority of his time in the
Armed Forces
-
Air Force
Transport Command in the
Pacific theatre
.
After returning home, he married Dora Sudarsky ("Dutch"), his pre-war sweetheart. They had three children. Their marriage lasted 50 years until Sudarsky's death from
cancer
on April 28, 1996. The
New York Knickerbockers
observed a moment of silence during their May 1, 1996 Playoff game.
[7]
Mazer never remarried.
Career
[
edit
]
Early work
[
edit
]
Mazer's broadcasting career began in 1942, broadcasting in Grand Rapids, Michigan before joining the United States Military that same year.
[8]
His career as a
sportscaster
began in
Buffalo, New York
in 1947, where he signed on as a sportscaster on
WKBW
.
[8]
In 1947, he was also the commercial announcer on the
CBS
William L. Shirer
Newscast
, as well as the commercial announcer for the
soap opera
,
When a Girl Marries
.
By 1948, he had also become the sports director for
WGR radio
and served as principal sports anchor for
WGR-TV
from the time that station signed on in 1954 through the early 1960s. Mazer dominated the airwaves in Buffalo, broadcasting the hockey and baseball Buffalo Bisons, the All-American Football Conference Buffalo Bills and Little 3 Basketball.
[9]
With years of
play-by-play
and
sports
commentary in Buffalo under his belt, Mazer arrived in
New York City
in 1964 when
WNBC (AM)
went to its first all-talk format. His show was one of the pioneer examples of the modern sports
talk show
in
America
.
After filling in for
Hugh Downs
on the
NBC
game show
Concentration
, he was given his own show,
Reach for the Stars
, in January 1967, but the show was quickly cancelled. Mazer also filled in for segments of the long-running
NBC Radio
series
Monitor
, even hosting on occasion.
[10]
National sportscasting and announcing
[
edit
]
He served as a
color commentator
and studio host, working with play-by-play announcer
Dan Kelly
on
CBS' National Hockey League
coverage from 1969 to 1970, including the
Stanley Cup playoffs
. Most memorably, he covered Game #4 of the 1970 Stanley Cup finals, famously won by the Boston Bruins on Bobby Orr's iconic overtime goal on May 10, 1970.
Golf
was another Mazer specialty on
NBC
, including the
U.S. Open
and
Bing Crosby
tournaments in the mid-1960s.
ABC
used Mazer for its regional New York football lineup in the late 1960s. Mazer also did sideline reporting for CBS coverage of the
NFL
in the late 1960s.
During the 1960s and 1970s, Mazer did much
voice-over
commercial
work, from
L&M Cigarettes
,
Kodak
,
Ford
automobiles to
Trident
chewing gum, among many others.
WNEW-TV
[
edit
]
Mazer was a sportcaster at New York's
WNEW
/
WNYW-TV
(
Metromedia
/
Fox
Channel 5) for twenty years, ending in the early 1990s. He also co-hosted the program
Sports Extra
, which originally teamed him up with
Lee Leonard
and then later with Brian Madden (1976?78), respectively.
Sports Extra
is also considered to have been the first "sports wrap-up" show of its kind.
[11]
While doing sports for
The 10 O'Clock News
on WNEW in the late 1970s and '80s, he held a daily contest where a viewer would send in a question to "stump" Bill and would win a prize if he or she did. Usually the submitted question was asked by anchorman
John Roland
.
WFAN (1988?1991; 2007) and WEVD (1992?2001)
[
edit
]
Mazer hosted a
WFAN
sports show from
Mickey Mantle
's restaurant from 1988 to 1991, and returned to the station on June 30, 2007, to host an hour-long show from 10 to 11 AM during the station's 20th anniversary celebration and reunion weekend. He was also a morning talk show host on
WEVD
, where he expanded to a comprehensive
liberal
talk format from 1992 to 2001. The show ended when WEVD was optioned to ABC's
ESPN
division and became sports station
WEPN
.
[12]
He appeared on the
cable TV
show
The
Leon Charney
Report
, as well as minor parts in movies such as
Eyewitness
,
Raging Bull
and appearing in episodes of
ESPN
SportsCentury
as an expert on sport figures including
Gordie Howe
,
Lawrence Taylor
and
Mickey Mantle
.
WVOX-AM (2001?2009)
[
edit
]
Following his departure from WEVD in 2001, Mazer launched an afternoon interview program on
WVOX
in
New Rochelle, New York
from 3?6 PM EST with his son, Arnie Mazer, serving as
producer
. His last show on
WVOX
was aired August 3, 2009, ending his tenure at the station after nearly eight years.
Death (2013)
[
edit
]
Mazer's death was reported on October 23, 2013, at the age of 92. He died at a hospital in
Danbury
,
Connecticut
.
[13]
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Sports Trivia:
- Mazer, Bill (1966).
The Sports Answer Book: from Bill Mazer's NBC Challenge round
. Grosset & Dunlap.
ISBN
0448054388
.
- Mazer, Bill (1969).
The Answer Book Of Sports
.
ISBN
0448033283
.
- Mazer, Bill (1982).
The New Answer Book of Sports: Answers to Hundreds of Questions about the World of Sports
. Grosset & Dunlap.
ISBN
0448044749
.
- Mazer, Bill; Fischler, Stan (1981).
Amazin Bill Mazer's Football Trivia Book
. Warner Books.
ISBN
0446907855
.
- Mazer, Bill; Fischler, Stan (1981).
Amazin Bill Mazer's Baseball Trivia Book
. Grand Central.
ISBN
0446917842
.
- Mazer, Bill; Fischler, Stan; Fischler, Shirley (1990).
Bill Mazer's Amazin Baseball Book: 150 Years of Tales and Trivia from Baseball's Earliest Beginnings Down to the Present Day
. Kensington Publishing Corporation.
ISBN
0821729470
.
External links
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"New York Sportscaster Awards"
.
National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association
. Archived from
the original
on September 17, 2012
. Retrieved
August 1,
2012
.
- ^
Greenfield, Jeff (October 24, 1977).
"
'The 10 O'Clock News':It's Not Pretty, but It's Good"
.
New York
. Retrieved
August 17,
2012
.
- ^
Best, Neil (June 16, 2011).
"First time, long time for Bill Mazer"
.
Newsday
. Retrieved
August 1,
2012
.
- ^
Carter, Len (July 20, 2012).
"Speaking of Sports: 25 Of The Best Sportscasting Legends"
.
Chutzpah Magazine
. Retrieved
August 2,
2012
.
- ^
Fischler, Stan (August 29, 2010).
"Mazer still 'Amazin' sportscaster"
.
Daily Freeman
. Retrieved
August 2,
2012
.
- ^
Dubner, Stephen (February 3, 1992).
"Still Amazin'
"
.
New York
. Retrieved
August 17,
2012
.
- ^
Sandomir, Richard (April 30, 1996).
"TV SPORTS;Fox Is Playing It Safe With N.H.L."
The New York Times
. Retrieved
August 17,
2012
.
- ^
a
b
Fischler, Stan (September 5, 2010).
"Mazer continues 'Amazin' career"
.
Daily Freeman
. Retrieved
August 2,
2012
.
- ^
Simon, Mitch (October 24, 2013).
"Former "Voice of the Bisons," Bill Mazer, Dies at 92"
.
ABC 7/wkbw.com
. Archived from
the original
on June 6, 2014
. Retrieved
June 4,
2014
.
- ^
"Monitor's History ? the Monitor Tribute Pages"
.
- ^
"Biography"
.
The National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Museum
. April 6, 1997. Archived from
the original
on March 14, 2012
. Retrieved
August 3,
2012
.
- ^
Blair, Jayson (26 June 2001).
"Liberal Radio Mainstay May Sell to Make Way for ESPN"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
11 November
2010
.
- ^
Goldstein, Richard (October 23, 2013).
"Bill Mazer, Sports Fixture in New York, Dies at 92"
.
The New York Times
.
|
---|
Related programs
| |
---|
Related articles
| |
---|
Commentators
| |
---|
Current figures
| Play-by-play announcers
| |
---|
Color commentators
| |
---|
|
---|
Stanley Cup Finals
| |
---|
All-Star Game
| |
---|
Lore
| Stanley Cup Winning
Overtime Goals
| |
---|
|
|
---|
|
---|
Related programs
| General coverage
| |
---|
Non-NBC outlets
| |
---|
|
---|
Related articles
|
|
---|
Commentators
| |
---|
Key figures
| Play-by-play announcer
| |
---|
Color commentators
| |
---|
Studio hosts
| |
---|
Studio analysts
| |
---|
Inside-the-Glass/Ice-level reporters
| |
---|
NHL insiders
| |
---|
|
---|
Stanley Cup Finals
|
- 1966
(Games 1, 4)
- 1973
(Games 1, 4?6)
- 1974
(Games 3, 6)
- 1975
(Games 2, 5)
- 2006
(Games 3?7)
- 2007
(Games 3?5)
- 2008
(Games 3?6)
- 2009
(Games 1?2, 5?7)
- 2010
(Games 1?2, 5?6)
- 2011
(Games 1?2, 5?7)
- 2012
(Games 1?2, 5?6)
- 2013
(Games 1, 4?6)
- 2014
(Games 1?2, 5)
- 2015
(Games 1?2, 5?6)
- 2016
(Games 1, 4?6)
- 2017
(Games 1, 4?6)
- 2018
(Games 1, 4?5)
- 2019
(Games 1, 4?7)
- 2020
(Games 1, 4?6)
- 2021
(Games 3?5)
|
---|
All-Star Game
|
|
---|
Outdoor games
|
|
---|
Culture/Lore
| |
---|
Rivalries
| |
---|
|