Curse? What curse?
I was prepared to make an emergency phone call to Bob Costas, next year’s Damon Runyon Award winner from the Denver Press Club.
I was tempted to say, “Bob, don’t do it!”
The death Thursday of CBS newsman Ed Bradley brings to three the number of Runyon recipients who have died since being honored by the DPC “for outstanding contributions to journalism.” Mike Royko and Herb Caen also passed away.
Hence, “The Curse.”
But considering that Costas will become the lucky 13th Runyon Award winner on June 22, that’s not such a bad average, especially when you note that the recipients aren’t exactly, well, “youthful.”
Winners include Jimmy Breslin, Ted Turner, Molly Ivins, Seymour Hersh and, this year, George Will. All were inhaling and exhaling last time I checked.
Yes, Breslin suffered a brain aneurysm and Ivins was diagnosed with breast cancer. That makes it worrisome but not a curse. Don’t you worry, Bob. Really.
Orange Christmas
A stocking stuffer, even if they’re vertically striped.
“Broncos: The Complete History,” a two-DVD set ($26.95), is out from NFL Network, which, I am convinced, will soon control everything NFL.
At 90 minutes, “Broncos” is long but not long enough for Broncos die-hards. From those hideous striped sox to Lou Saban’s “half a loaf” to the Super Bowls, it’s all here in living black and white – and color.
Shannon Sharpe, a regular on CBS’s “The NFL Today” who still refers to the Broncos as “we,” has been around town touting “Broncos.” Things have changed since he arrived, talking, with the Broncos in 1990. “Everything gets captured. There are so many microphones and cameras. They didn’t have 25 cameras like they do now.”
Still, it’s surprising how much Broncos history there is on film. The most stirring memory for me was the voice of late play-by-play man Bob Martin, whose colorful and precise calls have never been matched.
Weather front
It’s not asking too much.
Reader Frances Newton wondered if Kathy Sabine could stop standing in front of the temperatures for Hawaii and Alaska on her KUSA-Channel 9 weathercasts. Newton has friends in those places.
“When you’re as tall as I am you’re going to cover something,” said Sabine.
Nevertheless, the temps in question now appear superimposed on northern Mexico. This is good, as long as no one wants to know what’s happening in Guadalajara.
Around the dial
“Mike Nelson’s 7 Wonders of Colorado” on KMGH-Channel 7 going around the state where few have gone before. It runs on the 6 a.m. newscast through Friday. … KBDI-Channel 12 celebrating Native American Heritage Month with six programs, including Peter Boyles’ “The Native American Community” (8:30 p.m. Wednesday). … Quotable: “That’s the trouble with this paper, too much grammar. Let’s can the grammar and get out a live sheet.” Harry Tammen, co-founder of The Denver Post
Dick Kreck’s column appears Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. He may be reached at 303-954-1456 or dkreck@denverpost.com.
