As the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament continues, media members and sports fans continue to remember and honor the legacy of CBS Sports broadcaster Greg Gumbel, who passed away last December following a battle with cancer. Gumbel was an established part of tournament coverage as a studio host and revealed the 68-team bracket, but he was not on the air last year due to what was described as “family health issues.” Adam Zucker filled in for Gumbel on the Selection Sunday program last year and revealed the brackets again earlier in the month, during which the team at CBS Sports and TNT Sports shared their memories of Gumbel on the airwaves.
Zucker continues to work as a studio host this year alongside Ernie Johnson, and he is mindful of the legacy Gumbel has established and the vacancy without him.
“It’s, of course, more sad now that he’s not here anymore,” Zucker said, appearing on a YouTube show with Damon Amendolara on Sunday night. “I filled in for him last year and I would get texts from him, and a lot of us don’t have true closure with his passing.”
For example, Zucker explained of the texts that he received as Gumbel urging him to continue speaking even if the teams do not appear on the screen in enough time, along with remembering that there are delays to on-screen reactions.
“For all of us just in our hearts, he was just the soul of the place and he was so kind and joyful and funny,” said Zucker. “We know what he would want to see, we know how he would want us to do the job, and that’s what we do.”
During his Monday morning program on SiriusXM Mad Dog Sports Radio, Amendolara talked about some of the nostalgia he feels thinking back to when he would hear Gumbel announce the tournament brackets. Co-host Mike Babchik subsequently discussed how he felt it was better when the tournament was only televised on one channel and that hearing Gumbel felt like NFL RedZone before it existed.
“Whenever I hear him, you almost get excited because that’s what his voice was all about, and then holding the coverage down for so many years and doing such a great job,” Babchik said. “Greg Gumbel had such a great way about him. Obviously it’s a serious job being that spot – Selection Sunday, breaking down the brackets and coming back from halftime – but also he was so loose in his role that made it actually very comfortable to watch. He was one of a kind, he was fantastic at it, and yes, it’s different without Greg Gumbel being there.”
Babchik added that watching Zucker become emotional as the network aired a piece about Gumbel underscored how close he was with the crew and helping out everyone. In fact, he characterized Gumbel as being a great team player who, despite being the captain, never made things about himself. Amendolara concurred with that sentiment and reflected on the tribute the network had for Gumbel.
“Everybody had a salute – Clark Kellogg, Ian Eagle, [Charles] Barkley, Zucker obviously,” Amendolara said. “Everybody was very deeply affected by his passing, so it was nice to catch up with Adam on my YouTube show last night and just talk to him about that because it’s so obvious that we’re removed a cornerstone piece of March Madness for the last 30 some-odd years, but not [an] easy role to fill, but Adam’s doing a fantastic job in doing so.”
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