Marty Glickman Inducted in 1992
Marty Glickman
Martin Irving Glickman (August 14, 1917 – January 3, 2001) was a radio announcer who was famous for his broadcasts of the New York Knicks basketball games and the football games of the New York Giants and the New York Jets. Glickman was a noted track and field athlete and football star at Syracuse University. He was a member of the U.S. team at the 1936 Summer Olympic Games held in Berlin, Germany. The unexplained, last-minute decision to remove Glickman and Sam Stoller—a fellow Jewish American athlete—from the 400-meter relay at the 1936 Olympics, where they were replaced by Jesse Owens and Ralph Metcalfe, who easily won the gold medal, has been widely viewed as an American effort to avoid embarrassing or offending Adolf Hitler, then the Chancellor of Germany, who had been directing anti-Jewish discriminatory policies since 1933. Glickman would later talk and write extensively about the controversial decision. James L. Freedman has produced a documentary film, Glickman, that was broadcast nationally in the United States on HBO in 2013
Glickman was a longtime mentor of broadcasters. His most famous protégé, Marv Albert, eventually called radio broadcasts of the Knicks, Giants, and Rangers. He also helped the careers of the acclaimed sportscaster's Spencer Ross and Johnny Most. In 1991, Glickman himself became a member of the Curt Gowdy wing of the Basketball Hall of Fame; he was the second person selected for the announcers' award, following Gowdy himself in 1990. Quarterback Jim Kelly relied on Glickman's advice when he transitioned to a broadcast career for a brief period in the late 1990s.
Glickman joined the radio station WHN in 1939 and was its sports director by 1943. When the New York Knickerbockers were formed in 1946, Glickman was their radio announcer. Later, he was the National Basketball Association's first TV announcer. Glickman was also the first announcer for the New York Nets before the ABA-NBA merger when they played in their first home, the Island Garden in Nassau County. Many feel he became the voice of the New York Nets as a favor to Lou Carnesecca, who left a successful stint as the basketball coach of St. John's University to be the first coach of the New York Nets.
Glickman was a longtime mentor of broadcasters. His most famous protégé, Marv Albert, eventually called radio broadcasts of the Knicks, Giants, and Rangers. He also helped the careers of the acclaimed sportscaster's Spencer Ross and Johnny Most. In 1991, Glickman himself became a member of the Curt Gowdy wing of the Basketball Hall of Fame; he was the second person selected for the announcers' award, following Gowdy himself in 1990. Quarterback Jim Kelly relied on Glickman's advice when he transitioned to a broadcast career for a brief period in the late 1990s.
Glickman joined the radio station WHN in 1939 and was its sports director by 1943. When the New York Knickerbockers were formed in 1946, Glickman was their radio announcer. Later, he was the National Basketball Association's first TV announcer. Glickman was also the first announcer for the New York Nets before the ABA-NBA merger when they played in their first home, the Island Garden in Nassau County. Many feel he became the voice of the New York Nets as a favor to Lou Carnesecca, who left a successful stint as the basketball coach of St. John's University to be the first coach of the New York Nets.