RIP Keith Jackson

My boss had two colossal screwups in print while I was on vacation. So he's one up on you already.

 

I read a couple books about sports television, one by Jim Spence who was a lieutenant to Arledge, and another by someone I forgot. People were scared of Jackson. There were passages in the book about Jackson being an ex-Marine and very proud man. I read those as code for Jackson could be difficult.

When Arledge put Gifford on MNF Jackson found out about it from reporters trying to get a quote while he was doing an NBA game in Milwaukee. Arledge had not contacted him. The story in one book was that Jackson flew back to New York and went in to see Arledge. At the meeting Arledge said he tried to contact Jackson. Jackson pulled out all of his telephone messages from reporters trying to reach him at the hotel and said "Where is mine".

Jackson could get away with that because he had been hired out of Seattle by the GM at the local station in Los Angeles, Elton Rule. Rule became the President of ABC and was Arledge's boss and Jackson's professional godfather. When Gifford took over Rule interceded to make sure that Jackson got better assignments and that is when Schenkel started to get pushed out.

 

“I rode to church with my grandparents in a horse and buggy, and you could possibly capsulize my life this way: In my 50th year, I played golf with guys who had walked on the moon.
“When I was about 4 years old, my father shot my grandfather and killed him. The bullet went through my mother’s cheek. And just missed me.
“To this day, I don’t know why. Not four people know about this. But I don’t think I can write a book without revealing it. Because the point of the book is don’t sing me your sad songs that I can’t do this and I can’t do that. You can do anything you want.
“I don’t know what caused it. I have never asked what caused it. I never had a relationship with my father. He went to prison.”

My God. Incredible this never seemed to go public. Also, I always wondered why Jackson, went to college in Pullman. WSU is a fine school but not many kids from rural Georgia enroll. He must have wanted to get as far away as possible.

 

I think he was stationed on the West Coast when he was discharged from the Corps.

 

People who follow college football know who Ron Higgins is. Worked for years in Memphis and is now at NOLA.com/The Times Picayune.

He was also a 22-year-old ABC Sports production assistant who was standing on the sideline for the 1978 Gator Bowl. He saw the Woody Hayes punch and relayed it to the booth.

Jackson apparently didn't believe him and thus didn't report it.

Rest in peace, Keith Jackson, but now will you believe me?

 

An I-told-you-so 40 years after the fact? A self-promotional waste of bandwidth.

 

I'd agree ... if it were anyone besides Higgins.

 

Well, his original "I told you so" was only 17 days after the fact.