Jack Fleming remembered as a broadcasting perfectionist
Sunday, January 07, 2001
By Paul Zeise, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Woody O'Hara sat in front of a microphone in the studios of the Mountaineer Sports Network Thursday afternoon to talk on the air about longtime partner Jack Fleming, who died the night before.

Jack Fleming was the voice of the Mountaineers since 1947. "He wanted
things done right all the time and he wasn't afraid to tell you when you
screwed up. But his bark was much worse than his bite. He loved people,"
said Tony Caridi, who replaced Fleming as the play-by-play man for West
Virginia football and basketball. (Associated Press)

As O'Hara began speaking, he paused for a minute. He could hear Fleming's voice in his head tell him, "Get that damn gum out of your mouth before you go on the air."

It was one of the many lessons that O'Hara, who still is the color commentator for West Virginia basketball and football, learned from Fleming, who he called the "best play-by-play man ever."

"Not chewing gum on the air was one of Jack's cardinal rules, and here I was breaking it while paying tribute to him," O'Hara said. "But I can tell you, he was such a professional and a perfectionist, that he made all of us who worked around him that much better. The greatest tribute I can give him is that I've always tried to emulate him because he was the best.

"But I lost more than a mentor, I've lost a true friend."

O'Hara spent 28 years as the color commentator while Fleming called the action for the Mountaineers. Like so many others, he was a fan of Fleming's work.

"I think Jerry West said it best," said Mike Parsons, West Virginia assistant athletic director and the executive producer of the Mountaineer Sports Network. "[West] was on one of our talk shows and called Jack 'an artist with words'. That says it all because among Jack's many talents, the one that stands out the most was his ability to tell the story and paint a picture of what is happening on the field."

Fleming, 77, died at his home Wednesday night (Jan 3, 2001).

A 1942 graduate of Morgantown High School, Fleming became the "voice of the Mountaineers" in 1947 when he began broadcasting West Virginia basketball and football games. He broadcast games for the Mountaineers for more than 42 years, retiring in 1996. From 1965-93, Fleming was the play-by-play man for the Pittsburgh Steelers. His most famous call is that of the "Immaculate Reception" in 1972.

Fleming also broadcast games for the Chicago Bulls in the pre-Michael Jordan era and called games for the Pittsburgh Rens of the ABA.

The fact he was in demand as a broadcaster says something about Fleming's abilities. But working for so many different teams in different locations made for some nervous moments.

Often, Fleming would call a game in West Virginia and then have to fly somewhere else, sometimes to the West Coast, to call a Steelers game the next day.

"Sometimes it would be a half hour to kickoff and Jack wouldn't be there," said Joe Gordon, the Steelers' former public relations director. "We'd all be nervous and scrambling around to find a backup plan, and then with about 10 minutes until he was scheduled to go on air, he'd show up and sit down like nothing was wrong. But he always made it and he always did a first-class job. He never let anything slip."

"Almost every time we'd be on the charter with engines rolling and I'd be at the door waiting for Jack," West Virginia Athletic Director Ed Pastilong said. "And then we'd have to figure out a way to get him out of some small towns or whatever and get him to where the Steelers were the next day. He was amazing though, because he loved that existence and thrived on the pressure of getting from place to place and he never missed a beat on the air. There was a peace about him once the microphone got turned on."

Although Fleming's career officially began at West Virginia University, O'Hara said it actually started when Fleming was a patient at a U.S. Army hospital in White Sulfer Springs, W.Va. A veteran of World War II, Fleming was a navigator in the U.S. Army Air Corps and was shot down over France. He parachuted into a tree where he was rescued by a group of women.

"His career actually almost was over before it started because he tore up his mouth in that incident," O'Hara said. "But while he was recuperating in the hospital, he began to do daily sports reports over the intercoms for the other service people in the hospital at the time."

Fleming was a perfectionist and enjoyed a good meal. Actually, he enjoyed dessert.

"I think he was an ice cream guy," Parsons said with a laugh. "And there were some days that I'd turn in his expenses for reimbursement and the tab for the food would raise an eyebrow or two from my superiors."

Tony Caridi replaced Fleming as the play-by-play man for West Virginia basketball and football, but he knew him well. Caridi worked as a spotter for Fleming for 11 years.

"He cherished the dining process more than anyone I ever met," Caridi said. "He wasn't into those quick bites you usually are forced into when you're on the road. He always wanted a sit-down meal at a restaurant that began with shrimp cocktail and ended with a big dessert and perhaps a drink of wine. That's just how he was.

"But that was also how he was about broadcasting ... he wanted things done right all the time and he wasn't afraid to tell you when you screwed up. But his bark was much worse than his bite. He loved people."

One of the biggest tests of Fleming's patience came in 1970 when he was teamed up with Myron Cope on the broadcasts of the Steelers games. Cope was a magazine writer at the time and had no formal training in radio. He would often ramble on about a play while Fleming was trying to call the action. According to Cope, that irritated Fleming to no end, but the two eventually grew into one of the longest and best partnerships in NFL history.

"He'd snap at me a lot back then, and we always had this by play between us," said Cope, who is expected to speak at the service today. "But it was always great fun and we were very close friends. But it wasn't limited to the booth. Sometimes on charters I'd be trying to sleep and here he was eating these four-course meals and keeping me awake. I'd tell him to keep quiet, and he'd point out the window at the wing and say 'Why don't you take your nap out there.' "

Pastilong said Fleming, although more famous nationally for his calls during Steelers games, was always a proud West Virginian and became an icon throughout the state.

"There is somewhere close to one million people in West Virginia, and Jack probably touched every one of them in one way or another," Pastilong said. "Our fans loved him because he was such a homer, but he was very proud of his West Virginia roots and that's who he was. And, truthfully, many West Virginians love the Steelers, and a big reason for that is their familiarity with Jack."

Copyright �1997-2001 PG Publishing Co., Inc. All Rights Reserved

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Fall, 1999
Through His Eyes
by Jeff Jenkins
MSN SportsNet

A stellar career that has spanned six decades was recognized when Jack Fleming was presented the Chris Schenkel Award by the College Football Hall of Fame.

Jack Fleming, forever the "Voice of the Mountaineers," sat down literally thousands of times to write his scene setter. Fleming would play out in his mind, and then through his pen, the significance of a particular game for his beloved Mountaineers.

It's how he would begin each broadcast. It's how he would invite the residents of the Mountain State into Mountaineer Field or the Coliseum or to some road venue like those in Olean, N.Y., or College Park, Md.

Many of us can still hear him today, "Grab your radio ... tune it in just right ... it's time for the Gold and Blue to give it their best shot on this beautiful Saturday afternoon ... the hills of West Virginia resound with the sound of Mountaineer football ... the West Virginia University Mountaineers are on the air."

From that point, beginning in 1947, until his retirement just a few years ago, Fleming had residents throughout the state on the edge of their seats. He brought us into the huddle and onto the bench for so many years. Truly, Jack Fleming is one of a kind and it's not surprising that those associated with the College Football Hall of Fame have honored him with this year's Chris Schenkel Award.

In true Jack Fleming style, this has all surprised him. "It came out of the blue," Fleming says. "I still haven't figured it out, but I'm grateful."

Fleming grew up in Morgantown, just a few blocks from old Mountaineer Field. "My mother and I used to look out the window and see the fans heading into the stadium for football games," says Fleming in a moment of reflection, "and that had an impression on me."

Fleming speaks fondly of his childhood, which was influenced by one of the greatest Mountaineers of all-time, Ira Errett "Rat" Rodgers. Fleming's father, Leo, and "Rodg" were close friends and would get together regularly to play a friendly game of cards.

"Rodg gave me my first football; it was white," Fleming recalls. He said the white balls were used at night. Hearing Fleming talk today about that gift is like being there when the All-America back handed it over; isn't it ironic that "Rodg" also is enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame where the Chris Schenkel Award was presented?

With all of this Gold and Blue influence it would be easy to believe that Fleming always wanted to be a play-by-play man, right? Wrong.

Fleming tried engineering in college, but writing was his first love. "I wanted to be a foreign correspondent, so I took as much journalism as I could, but then the war came along," his trailing voice creating a picture of young men heading to Europe and other theaters of conflict to defend their country during World War II.

Fleming would do more than his share as a navigator on a B-17 bomber. He participated in 23 bombing raids over Europe with a few close calls, but none as close as September 10, 1944. "We lost an engine over France and the pilot ordered us out," according to Fleming. He remembers that he had a quick debate with another crew member about who would jump first and Fleming won the debate, but Fleming ended up jumping out before the bombardier because he didn't have his parachute on correctly.

Fleming landed in a grape vineyard in the beautiful French countryside. He suffered broken ribs and a mouth injury, which hospitalized him for several weeks. What would appear to be bad luck for most turned out to be a blessing for Fleming.

He developed a rare form of hepatitis and was sent back to the states to further recover. Ashford General Hospital (The Greenbrier Hotel) in White Sulphur Springs was the unlikely place for the birth of Fleming's famed broadcast career.

"One of the nurses there, Irene Spitz, was from Morgantown and she knew me," Fleming continues. "She asked me if I would go around with her to different wards and cheer the guys up with quiz shows."

Fleming jumped at the offer. He would give away cigarettes, candy and shaving cream and even read the news over the hospital PA system. Yes, it was a humble start to an award winning broadcast career, but it created a spark that had grown into a flame by the time Fleming returned to Morgantown following his war duty. Another female friend talked him into applying for a job at WAJR radio. He did and got the job.

It wasn't long before Fleming was part of a two-man crew broadcasting Mountaineer games. His first sidekick was Sid Goldburg in 1945 and then play-by-play man Charlie Snowden returned from his time overseas the next year. Fleming was the color man during those early years, but that changed in 1947 when he did the play-by-play on the WVU-Otterbein football game. Fleming still remembers the score, "59 to nothing, West Virginia."

Fleming's description of Mountaineer football and basketball was popular right from the start. The one-station broadcast had grown to 18 network affiliates by the early 1950s. There were regular listeners in Wheeling, Beckley, Bluefield, Clarksburg, Charleston and many other less populated areas. Fleming was becoming the "Voice of the Mountaineers."

He had simple broadcasting goals. "I always considered it a challenge to create the picture. I tried not to lose sight of that," he says. Fleming developed words and phrases familiar to all Mountaineer fans. Who else said "Holy smokes" or "where angels fear to tread" or "touchdown, West Virginia" like Fleming?

West Virginia needed heroes after World War II and Fleming helped create them. He told us about the brute strength of Sam Huff and Chuck Howley, the antics of Hot Rod Hundley, the dominance of Mark Workman and the greatness of Jerry West. Fleming followed West to the 1960 Olympics in Rome, where he taped each USA basketball game and sent them back to Morgantown for broadcast.

West is just one of many favorites Fleming has had over the years. Fleming says, "West wanted the ball when the chips were down. He played both ends of the floor. He could dribble, pass and rebound and boy, could he shoot it."

Fleming also believes West carries himself well today as the executive vice president of the Los Angeles Lakers. "He has changed from Zeke from Cabin Creek into this multi-faceted executive." Fleming concludes West has never lost his West Virginia warmth.

Fleming's career also included more than 30 years as the play-by-play voice of the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was behind the mike for all four of the Black and Gold's Super Bowl wins. Fleming's face lights up when he talks about the glory years. He respected Steelers owner Art Rooney and speaks warmly of well-known players Rocky Bleier and Terry Bradshaw.

Fleming recalls he was scheduled to do an interview with Bradshaw just before the team left Pittsburgh for one of the Super Bowls. Bradshaw was in a meeting and Fleming waited. Finally the flamboyant signal-caller showed up. "He took me into Mr. Rooney's office," Fleming says with a chuckle. "He sat in Mr. Rooney's chair, put his feet on his desk, lit up one of Mr. Rooney's cigars and did the interview. Unbelievable."

Doing both the Mountaineers and Steelers took its toll on Fleming, but it was always West Virginia first and then the Steelers. Just imagine how many times Fleming did a Mountaineer football or basketball game, drove to the airport and caught the last flight out to the place where the Steelers were playing the next day. It would wear most out after just a few times, but Fleming did it for more than 30 years!

You can hear the sadness in Jack Fleming's voice when he realizes he can't share this award with his father. Leo Fleming died more than 10 years ago, but his memory remains close to his son's heart. "He was the wind underneath my wings," Fleming says. "I really admired him and my admiration continues to grow as the years pass by."

Father and son would often argue about who should be the most proud of the other. Fleming says his father was proud of him, but "I felt I was getting all of the credit and he was the one that should have."

Leo Fleming, at times, worked three jobs to make ends meet. His son talks proudly of his work ethic and his father's impressive athletic career as a half-back on strong Parkersburg High teams in 1918 and 1919.

What's next for Jack Fleming? He plans to write a book during the next year; he hopes it will be out by the fall of 2000. Fleming has enough interesting Mountaineer stories to fill several volumes. He is also doing daily commentaries on the Mountaineer Sports Network.

Fleming would end each Mountaineer broadcast with his familiar phrase, "So long to Mountaineer fans, everywhere." When it comes down to it, Jack Fleming himself was a fan and he had the gift and opportunity to come into our homes, our cars, our trucks or our places of business for 47 years. Fleming has more friends than he could ever count.

It was always a labor of love for him and even now, as a recipient of the Chris Schenkel Award, it's the little things he still considers important. "It would gratify me the most when I would hear from a blind person. They often thanked me for creating a picture. That's what it was all about."

Copyright MSN 1999, all rights reserved.

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