"How to not qualify for the M-Broadcasters 'Hall of Fame"

Posted: Jul 15, 2012 at 8:03 AM [Jul 15, 2012]

 

Q:  Only three men- a trio of U-M alumni- provided the play-by-play broadcast of U-M football games over Michigan Radio WUOM since the station first aired in 1948.

 

Two are living and one is an Ann Arbor resident.  Who are these legendary broadcasters?

A:  The late Bill Flemming, an Ann Arbor native and graduate of Ann Arbor (Pioneer) High School, was the anchor of the string of U-M sports broadcasters, and advanced to the major Detroit radio market (WWJ) and later to ABC Sports.   Bill Stegath, who followed the glacier as a student on its path from Escanaba, MI to Ann Arbor, succeeded Fleming, and lives in Ann Arbor. Stegath later ably handled the half-time interview portion of the Bob Ufer broadcast of U-M football over WJR.   Tom Hemingway became the WUOM voice of Michigan football following Stegath and was the play-by-play man for the Wolverine basketball team, including during the thrilling Cazzie Russell era. WUOM no longer has the broadcast rights for U-M football and men's basketball. Hemingway resides in retirement in Tucson, AZ.
Q:  In 1962, a surprisingly-talented U-M baseball team under the tutelage of coach Don Lund, advanced to the College World Series in Omaha, NB and won the NCAA Championship.   WUOM staff sportscaster Bill Stegath traveled to Rosenblatt Stadium with the team to broadcast solo the Michigan championship game.   What unusual circumstance occurred during Stegath's baseball broadcast? 
A:  When mother nature beckoned, Stegath waited to between innings to answer his body's call.   However, when he returned to the microphone, he neglected to turn the device on and the only sound broadcast was the crowd noise picked up by the field microphone hung below in the grandstand..   A frantic call from the WUOM studios alerted Stegath to the problem. Approximately two innings had elapsed of the broadcast of crowd noise and no Stegath.