Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Dick Button, Figure Skating s Often Critical, Always Paionate Voice

24/11/2015

There is perhaps no athlete more entwined in the legacy of his sport - and more responsible for its popularity and success - than Dick Button. To track the history of figure skating over the past three quarters of a century is to follow the career trajectory of Button, from two-time Olympic gold medalist in 1948 and 1952 to expert commentator to the definitive voice of the sport for more than 50 years.

No other figure skater embodies the sport as much as Dick Button. He is, and always will be, the godfather of this sport, says NBC Sports figure skating analyst and Olympic gold medalist Tara Lipinski. Using his wit, passion, and unfiltered honesty, Dick drew in ever-increasing television audiences whether they were new viewers or dedicated fans. [He] raised the profile of the sport to unprecedented heights showing that figure skating encompasses athleticism, grace, and sometimes, drama.

Button first entered the broadcast booth in 1960, as an expert commentator for CBS's coverage of the Olympic Winter Games in Squaw Valley. CBS had just purchased the national broadcast rights to the Olympic Games - for $50,000 - and needed an expert to work alongside host Bud Palmer who could explain, for example, the difference between an Axel and a Salchow.

I had no idea what I was doing. I had no idea what an expert commentator or television broadcaster was supposed to do. I learned, recalls Button. I was paid $2,000 to go to Squaw Valley and I spent $3,000 on telephone calls back to New York asking everybody, what did you like? What didn't you like? What did you think could be clearer? What did you think was too much? And people told me, and that helped formulate where I was going and what I was doing. I had to learn by doing.

With no precedent to follow, Button not only learned how to be an expert figure skating commentator - he pioneered the role. Thinking that viewers might find it more interesting to hear of a move before it happened, he tracked down skaters and coaches to determine the order of their moves. And after realizing that competitors could not be relied on to repeat the order of their moves with 100% accuracy, he began to watch each program in practice and take copious notes.

A wearer of many hats, Button also served as a TV producer, buying and selling television rights to skating competitions (in later years, he would go on to create several made-for-television competitions like the World Professional Figure Skating Championships). Following the 1961 plane crash that claimed the lives of the U.S. Figure Skating Team and resulted in the cancellation of the 1961 World Figure Skating Championships, Button prevailed upon ABC Sports legendary executive Roone Arledge to include the 1962 Championships in Wide World of Sports.

Thus began Button's decades-long career as a figure-skating analyst for ABC Sports' annual coverage of the U.S. and World Figure Skating Championships; he also served in the same role for almost every Winter Olympic Games (regardless of network) until 2010. Throughout his tenure, Button was well-known for his passion for the sport, his biting wit, his flamboyant and creative turns of phrase, and his honest criticism of each and every skater's performance.

Famed coach Frank Carroll once said, You don't know what it's like until you have been dissected by Dick Button on national television, and while many of the sport's top competitors would agree, most would argue that Button's critique pushed them to do better.

When I was competing, he was always the man. He was the voice, says Scott Hamilton, NBC Sports figure skating analyst and Olympic gold medalist, who shared the booth with Button during the 2006 Winter Games in Torino. I figured out pretty soon that Dick had no interest in diminishing our time on the ice or inhibiting our respect from the general public. He was up there not to be a cheerleader, but to be an analyst, and so his criticisms were to me very inspiring and very informative.

Basically, laughs Hamilton, I spent the last five years of my amateur career doing everything in my power to shut him up.

Of course, Button's career in figure skating didn't begin in 1960. There's a reason why those in the industry are quick to deem him the godfather of figure skating. During his amateur skating career, he achieved several notable firsts for the sport: he was the first skater to land a double axel and a triple jump in competition, and invented the flying camel spin (which was renamed the Button Camel).

[I] just always looked for more challenges within the framework of the sport, says Button. That was why I kept doing more and more difficult jumps instead of being much more creative and working on differences in the creative side of the sports, which I didn't learn about until much later.

Button's love affair with skating began on Crystal Lake, located in his hometown of Englewood, NJ. Born in 1929, Button was just six years old when his older brothers George and Jack took him out on the ice for the first time. Whether it was the crisp wintry air, the music struggling to be heard from a nearby loudspeaker, or the feeling of flying one gets when one first sets skate to ice, Button was hooked. He would train with Gustave Lussi in Lake Placid, NY, and enter his first competition - the 1943 Middle Atlantic States Novice Championship - at age 13.

His amateur career would last for the next nine years, during which time he earned five consecutive World Championship gold medals (1948 through 1952) and back-to-back Olympic gold medals (1948 St. Moritz and 1952 Oslo). He is also the only American to have won the European Championship, taking the title in 1948.

During his illustrious career, he would make waves by donning a white mess jacket when all black was the traditional outfit
LINK: http://sportsvideo.org/main/blog/2015/11/24/sports-broadcasting-hall-o...
See more stories from svg

Most recent headlines

13/03/2025

Evolving EO/IR Technology For All-Domain Airborne Law Enforcement

Every time airborne law enforcement (ALE) teams fly, they expect their equipment to perform. Whether airborne units are conducting support for ground teams, bor...

13/03/2025

Craft Interview: Jamie McCombs, Audio Consultant / Sr. Audio

Sunday February 9 saw the annual return of the US' biggest television event, the Super Bowl LIX. Jamie McCombs, Fox Sports Audio Consultant / Sr. Audio capt...

13/03/2025

Craft Interview: Paul Sandweiss, Production Sound Mixer/Audio Director

On Sunday March 2, stars across the film industry gathered at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles for the 97th Academy Awards. Production Sound Mixer Paul Sandweis...

13/03/2025

Riedel To Showcase New StageLink Smart Edge Devices At 2025 NAB Show

WUPPERTAL, Germany Riedel Communications will feature its new StageLink family of smart edge devices, Smart Audio and Mixing Engine (SAME) and Virtual Smart Pan...

13/03/2025

TAG Video Systems and Harmonic Partner to Deliver Enhanced Real-Time Monitoring for VOS360 Streaming Workflows at the 2025 NAB Show

TAG Video Systems and Harmonic Partner to Deliver Enhanced Real-Time Monitoring ...

13/03/2025

DigitalGlue Invites NAB Visitors to Experience New Features in Managed Storage Platform that Empowers Video Teams to Scale Effortlessly

DigitalGlue Invites NAB Visitors to Experience New Features in Managed Storage P...

13/03/2025

FOR-A America Theme - Connecting the Present, Building the Future - Comes to Life at NAB 2025 Exhibition

FOR-A America Theme - Connecting the Present, Building the Future - Comes to Lif...

13/03/2025

Ajit Pai Appointed President of CTIA

CTIA, the wireless industry association, has named former FCC Chairman Aji Pai as its President and Chief Executive Officer, effective April 1. He replaces Mere...

13/03/2025

NAB: FCC's 60 Minutes Investigation Is Unconstitutional, Invalid

he National Association of Broadcasters is urging the FCC to end its investigation of that controversial CBS interview with Kamala Harris stating there is no ...

13/03/2025

CBS Miami to Launch AR Coverage of Weather and Sports for March Madness

MIAMI CBS News & Stations continues to expand its use of augmented and virtual reality technologies with the planned launch of an augmented reality/virtual real...

13/03/2025

Meet the co-founder and chief customer success & innovation officer

Srividhya Srinivasan, co-founder and chief customer success & innovation Officer at Amagi, tells TVBEurope how staying ahead of the latest trends is essential f...

13/03/2025

FCC Chairman Carr Launches Massive Deregulation Initiative

WASHINGTON FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced that the agency has launched a massive, new deregulatory initiative that could potentially subject virtually all ...

13/03/2025

SDVI Integrates Rally With Spectra Vail

SUNNYVALE, Calif. SDVI has announced that it has integrated its Rally media supply chain management platform with the Spectra Vail multi-cloud data management s...

13/03/2025

FCC Approves Gray's Acquisition of KXLT

ATLANTA Gray Media has announced that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has granted a waiver of its local ownership rules to permit Gray Media to acqu...

13/03/2025

NAB Show 2025 Exhibitor Insight: Blackmagic Design

TV Tech: What do you anticipate will be the most significant technology trends at the 2025 NAB Show?...

13/03/2025

Watch Student Naomi Soleils Folk Pop Performance on The Voice

Watch Student Naomi Soleils Folk Pop Performance on The Voice The songwriting major sang Stars by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals during the blind auditions. ...

13/03/2025

The ICG Marketing Survey 2025

We asked the questions, analysed the answers and now we're excited to share the results of the fifth edition of the ICG Marketing Survey. Our 2025 survey p...

13/03/2025

Harmonic Amps Up Video Streaming Efficiency with New Origin Capabilities

SAN JOSE, Calif. - March 13, 2025 Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced a breakthrough in video streaming innovation with the launch of new origin capabilitie...

13/03/2025

Haivision Showcases Mission-Critical Video Solutions at SOF Week 2025

Haivision Showcases Mission-Critical Video Solutions at SOF Week 2025 Haivision's video wall systems, ISR technology, and DoDIN APL-certified video distri...

13/03/2025

FOR-A America Theme Connecting the Present, Building the Future Comes to Life at NAB 2025 Exhibition

Company Leads the Way with New Software-Based Production Platform, 12G Switcher,...

13/03/2025

2025-03-13

A new Apple Immersive concert experience, Metallica, is coming to Apple Vision Pro this Friday, March 14. Filmed in Mexico City during the sold-out second-year ...

13/03/2025

Italia 90 Republic of Ireland Squad, Riverdance, Cian Ducrot & B*Witched on Friday's Late Late Show

Here is your host, Patrick Kielty! Shake your Shamrocks, Patrick Kielty will be...

13/03/2025

RT Celebrating all things Irish this St. Patrick's Weekend

This St. Patrick's weekend, RT invites you to celebrate all things Irish, showcasing the very best of Irish sport, entertainment and live coverage from the...

13/03/2025

GTC 2025 - Announcements and Live Updates

What's next in AI is at GTC 2025. Not only the technology, but the people and ideas that are pushing AI forward - creating new opportunities, novel solution...

13/03/2025

T-Mobile, Thales and SIMPL ease IoT deployments with a flexible and secure connectivity solution

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn By combining T-Mobile's robust network, Thal...

13/03/2025

Relive the Magic as GeForce NOW Brings More Blizzard Gaming to the Cloud

Bundle up - GeForce NOW is bringing a flurry of Blizzard titles to its ever-expanding library. Prepare to weather epic gameplay in the cloud, tackling the genr...

13/03/2025

Gaming Goodness: NVIDIA Reveals Latest Neural Rendering and AI Advancements Supercharging Game Development at GDC 2025

AI is leveling up the world's most beloved games, as the latest advancements...

13/03/2025

Drop It Like It's Mod: Breathing New Life Into Classic Games With AI in NVIDIA RTX Remix

PC game modding is massive, with over 5 billion mods downloaded annually. Mods p...

12/03/2025

Como o Impacto Cultural e Financeiro da Indstria Musical Define Seu Sucesso em 2025

O Spotify acaba de lan ar o relat rio Loud & Clear deste ano, uma vis o transpar...

12/03/2025

Cmo el impacto cultural y financiero de la industria musical define su xito en 2025

Spotify acaba de presentar el informe Loud & Clear de este a o, una mirada trans...

12/03/2025

Nourish Mind, Body, and Soul This Ramadan With Spotify

Ramadan, a period of profound spiritual significance for Muslims worldwide, is a time for fasting, prayer, reflection, and community. Enrich your experience thi...

12/03/2025

How the Music Industry's Cultural and Financial Impact Define Its Success in 2025

Spotify has just unveiled this year's Loud & Clear report, a transparent loo...

12/03/2025

FAST now transcends back catalog content

More than 70% of FAST programming has been produced since 2010, according to new Gracenote report NEW YORK March 12, 2025 Gracenote, the content data busin...

12/03/2025

Viamedia Adopts ShowSeeker Pilot To Streamline Ad Workflows

GEONA, Nev. Independent digital and linear advertising rep firm Viamedia will adopt cloud-based ShowSeeker Pilot as its primary ad campaign and order management...

12/03/2025

Mediagenix Appoints Wael Yasin as Sales Director Central Europe

BRUSSELS Mediagenix has announced that Wael Yasin has joined the company as sales director Central Europe....

12/03/2025

Omdia: Global Online Consumer Expenditure to Hit $6.6 Trillion by 2029

LONDON A new study highlights opportunities for shoppable TV and the massive impact online consumer spending is having on the economy, with Omdia predicting tha...

12/03/2025

Comcast Technology Solutions Upgrades to Interra Systems BATON Version 9

CUPERTINO, Calif. Interra Systems has announced that Comcast Technology Solutions has integrated recent updates to BATON Version 9 into its operations....

12/03/2025

Nevion announces new 400G addition to its eMerge SDN media fabric offering

Nevion announces new 400G addition to its eMerge SDN media fabric offering Brie Clayton March 12, 2025 0 Comments High-capacity switch enhances existi...

12/03/2025

DaVinci Resolve Studio Delivers Cinematic Sound for Adam Bol

DaVinci Resolve Studio Delivers Cinematic Sound for Adam Bol Brie Clayton March 12, 2025 0 Comments Feature film relies on DaVinci Resolve Studio for ...

12/03/2025

SVT Leverages Ateliere Live to Pioneer 100% Software-Defined Production at Rally Sweden 2025

SVT Leverages Ateliere Live to Pioneer 100% Software-Defined Production at Rally...

12/03/2025

Berklee Awards Fenway Neighborhood Improvement Grant to Four Organizations

Berklee Awards Fenway Neighborhood Improvement Grant to Four Organizations A total of $17,000 will be distributed among the Boston-based nonprofits. By Madd...

12/03/2025

Offering a broad umbrella for IP standards

TVBEuropes Jenny Priestley sits down with new SMPTE president Richard Welsh to discuss his aims for the organisation going forward, its efforts to attract a you...

12/03/2025

Warner Bros Belgium takes a new approach to its post production workflows

The new process has significantly enhanced operational efficiencies, with automation freeing up creators to concentrate on higher value tasks By Matthew Corrig...

12/03/2025

Another VFX company suspends operations

Jellyfish Pictures, which has offices in London and Sheffield, said it has been battling hard in the face of strong headwinds over the last 12 months By Jenny ...

12/03/2025

Bitcentral to Showcase AI-Powered Innovations for Smarter...

Visit Booth #W2213 to Experience the Latest in AI-Driven Content Discovery and Workflow Automation Bitcentral, a leader in media workflow solutions, is set to ...

12/03/2025

Jeff Lilly Named WGN-TV Director Of Technology

CHICAGO Jeff Lilly has been named WGN-TV director of technology effective March 17, 2025, according to Ric Harris, WGN-TV vice president and general manager....

12/03/2025

Survey: Consumers Want More Shoppable TV Experiences

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. A new study from LG Ad Solutions indicates that consumers want more features that would allow them to shop for products on the connected T...

12/03/2025

IP Showcase To Focus On IP, Broadcast Tech Convergence at 2025 NAB Show

BOTHELL, Wash. The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA) and the Video Services Forum (VSF) will once again present...

12/03/2025

Comcast Boosts Internet Speeds for More Than 20 Million Customers

PHILADELPHIA Comcast announced that it has upgraded Xfinity Internet speeds for more than 20 million customers for no additional cost....

12/03/2025

Create with Maxon: Cinema 4D Fundamentals Workshop - March 12-14

Create with Maxon: Cinema 4D Fundamentals Workshop - March 12-14 Brie Clayton March 11, 2025 0 Comments Makin' Waffles with Elly Wade During Marc...