RIP Jeff Blatnick

Did he talk about Karelin and Gardner? Would've liked to hear his thoughts. Looking back, maybe because of how out of shape Gardner got just a few years after the win, it seems more amazing than it did at the time.

 

55? God, life is so short and fleeting, and so precious.

RIP.

 

Blatnick is actually the guy who is credited with popularizing the use of the term Mixed Martial Arts. Dave Meltzer, who was a good friend of Jeff's, wrote a nice piece about him.

http://www.mmafighting.com/2012/10/24/3550680/whenever-you-hear-the-term-mixed-martial-arts-you-jeff-blatnick

 

RIP to a great Olympian, commentator and one of the men who helped make the sport of mixed martial arts what it is today.

 

It was more about him, his struggle with cancer and the gold. I remember being stunned that they only gave me 22 inches to write the story. It was one of the cooler assignments I had early in my career, because we targeted a shitload of Olympic heroes and then cast a wide net to see who we could get and then another writer and I were sent out on a few trips. I was the No. 2 writer on the series and I had Blatnick, Eruzione, the Mahre Brothers, Mia Hamm, Teresa Edwards and a few others. The lead writer got Carl Lewis and Mark Spitz and a few others. I remember we got most of the big names we targeted, but we could not get Bruce Jenner.

Of the profiles I did, Blatnick was my favorite, in part because I knew nothing about him going in and he just came across as so genuine.

 

You got the better end of that deal, in my opinion...

 

Interviewed Jenner once. He was pleasant but reminded me of being like Rick Barry.