In the wake of Jason Collins’ announcement, I guess everything is on the table when it comes to being gay in sports.

Richard Deitsch at SI.com looked at the issue from the sports media perspective. Given that there are openly gay sportswriters, it raises the question of why it hasn’t happened on the sports broadcast front.

Not surprisingly, every executive Deitsch contacted said they wouldn’t have a problem hiring a gay announcer. Indeed, it would have been much bigger news if one of them said, “No way.”

From CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus:

“It is one of those things that I don’t even think crosses people’s minds anymore when it comes to on-air broadcasters or lawyers or bankers or school administrators,” McManus said. “When I look at tapes or have someone in my office who wants to work for me

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One of the most amazing stories in sports broadcasting appears as if it is about to end.

Barry Jackson writes in the Miami Herald that Jack Ramsey, 88, will miss the rest of the playoffs to undergo a medical treatment.

Ramsay, 88, declined to discuss the nature of his medical condition. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1999 and received treatment, several years ago, for melanomas “all over my body.”

Ramsay said Thursday that the looming treatment will prevent him from working the remainder of the NBA playoffs, including The Finals, for ESPN Radio. He had been scheduled to announce Game 3 of the Heat-Bulls series on Friday. And he said he’s not planning to do broadcast work next season, barring a change of heart.

“I’m going back to Naples and will start the treatment on Monday there,” Ramsay

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Tyler Kepner in the New York Times has a terrific story on Bob Wolff. The 92-year old broadcaster is donating his collection of interviews to the Library of Congress.

And what a collection it is. Kempner writes:

Wolff has donated about 1,400 audio and video recordings, consisting of well more than 1,000 hours, to the Library of Congress, which will honor him in a ceremony next week.

Much of the material, DeAnna said, comes from an era when broadcasts were erased or not recorded at all. Wolff called some of the most memorable sports moments of the last century, including Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series and the Colts-Giants N.F.L. championship game in 1958. But the jewels of the collection are his interviews.

The subjects in Wolff’s trove range from Babe Ruth and Connie Mack to

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Sports media lost a giant today. Pat Summerall passed away at the age of 82.

There will be plenty of tributes to Summerall in the upcoming days. And memories. Here is the open from his first game working with John Madden in 1979. It wouldn’t be their last.

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I have known Cheryl Raye-Stout since forever. She has been a long-time sports radio reporter in Chicago.

Women in the lockerroom is a non-story, but that wasn’t the case back in the 80s. On her blog on WBEZ.org, Raye-Stout writes about her difficulties back then and how a young quarterback named Jim Harbaugh changed the culture for the Bears.

She writes:

The media relations person at Halas Hall announced that the locker room was open. There was a group of reporters, (very small compared to the numbers now) and I walked in the middle of the group. That is when I was greeted by angry, hurtful words and loud obnoxious screams. It was evident it was directed at me and the reporters all stepped away as I took the abuse. At that point, the Bears media person told me I

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Jack Whitaker is cleaning up in 2012.

Earlier this year, the legendary announcer/essayist received the Sports Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award. Tuesday in New York, he was among the inductees to the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame.

In both cases, there is the obvious question: What took so long? Were they going to make Whitaker, now 88, wait until he turned 100 to give him fitting recognition for an exceptional career?

Even Whitaker, ever the gentleman, couldn’t resist a jab during the ceremony Tuesday in New York.

“Thank you for giving me this award and for giving it to me in time for me to remember I got it,” Whitaker said.

Whitaker also noted the difference between then and now in covering sports.

“We used to pal around with (the athletes),” he said. “Now they’re all multi-millionaires.”

Joining Whitaker in the … Continue Reading

It truly is incredible. Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times says the official annoucement will be made today.

Shaikin wonders if Scully will make the trip to New York next year when the Dodgers play the Yankees in Yankee Stadium.

He writes:

He told a wonderful story the other night, bemoaning the relative tranquillity of the current Dodgers-Giants rivalry and pivoting adeptly to a tale involving Jackie Robinson.

The Dodgers were playing the Giants in New York, in the old Polo Grounds, and Reese and Robinson were two of the three people left in the Dodgers clubhouse. Scully was the other one.

“Pee Wee said to Jackie, ‘I’ll bet you I get more boos than you do.’ And Jackie said, ‘You gotta be kidding.’

“So Reese opened up the door as he started down the wooden steps.

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The Chicago Tribune’s Eric Zorn writes about Bob Greenberg, who died this week.

Despite going blind shortly after birth, Greenberg still pursued a career in broadcasting. He was a fixture in the Chicago press boxes and locker rooms.

And yes, as Zorn writes, Greenberg was a mix of amazing and annoying.

Greenberg lost his sight shortly after birth but never considered that a reason not to pursue a career in sports broadcasting — a particularly bravura goal given that the disabled were even more pigeonholed then than they are today.

He sat in the press box and interviewed athletes in the locker room at major Chicago sporting events for more than a decade. That he achieved his goal was a heartwarming story.

But Greenberg was not a particularly heartwarming guy. He was loud and blustery, stubborn and occasionally obnoxious. He

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I’m going to offer a blast from the past on the weekends. It could be an old video, a print interview or profile of a famous newsmaker in sportswriter, or a classic story.

Since we’re in the beginning stages of this site, I felt it was appropriate to dig up something on Howard Cosell, the one and only.

In this clip, Cosell pays a visit to David Letterman in 1985. He’s promoting his new book, “I Never Played the Game.”

Cosell is engaging, but also he’s also pretty bitter about most things. Take a look.

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