Voting Station

Dick Schaap

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Sportscaster

The Resume

    (September 27, 1931-December 21, 2001)
    Born in Brooklyn, New York
    Graduated Cornell University (1955) and the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism (1959)
    Host of ESPN's 'The Sports Reporters' (1988-2001)
    Also hosted 'Schaap One on One' on ESPN Classic
    Editor of SPORT Magazine (mid '70s)
    Correspondent with 'NBC Nightly News' and 'The Today Show' (1970s)
    Correspondent with 'ABC World News Tonight' and '20/20' (1980s)
    Author of 34 books, including the 2001 autobiography 'Dick Schaap as Told to Dick Schaap: 50 years of Headlines, Deadlines and Punchlines'
    Died in New York City's New Lenox Hill Hospital of a respiratory infection after hip replacement surgery at age 67
    Inducted into the Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame (2002), which introduced the annual Dick Schaap Award for Outstanding Journalism

Why he might be annoying:

    As a lacrosse goalie for Cornell, he stated his greatest moment was a 1955 game against Syracuse, stopping three of seven goals by football legend Jim Brown (though Syracuse won 13-12).
    The native New Yorker was a fanatic Green Bay Packers fan.
    His son Jeremy became an ESPN correspondent (nepotism).
    In 2000 he ended his friendship with Bobby Knight after Knight had a verbal scrap with his son and said 'You have a long way to go to be like your dad, and you should remember that.'
    He also trashed his friendship with Bobby Fischer by quoting that Fischer 'did not have a sane bone left in his body.'
    The infection that ended his life lasted three months and when told the outlook was bleak he simply stated, 'That sucks!'

Why he might not be annoying:

    He thrived in different media - books, magazines, newspapers, TV and cable.
    As a one time theatre critic, he said he was the only guy he knew who had a vote for both the Tony and Heisman Trophy Awards.
    He won six Emmys - four for sports and two for news, including one for a poignant interview with Sid Caesar about overcoming his addictions.
    He maintained a friendship with Muhammad Ali from the 1960s until his death.
    Several of his books were bestsellers, including biographies on folks he admired such as Robert F. Kennedy, Vince Lombardi, George Steinbrenner, Joe Namath and Bo Jackson.
    Notoriously private Jackson went so far as to say 'I only have two friends in the media. Dick Schaap is one of them. And I can't remember the other one.'
    At a 2001 book signing, when someone brought up that his autobio was his 34th book, he quipped 'That's six more than I've read.'
    After his death his son Jeremy lamented, 'He was just as good at 500 words as he was at 15,000. He could write a column and a book and everything in between. I miss him in so many ways, as a father, as a journalist and as a fan.'

Credit: Scar Tactics


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 26 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 97 Votes: 52.58% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 15 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 59 Votes: 50.85% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 12 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 41 Votes: 68.29% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 29 Votes: 79.31% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 19 Votes: 31.58% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 12 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 26 Votes: 53.85% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 44 Votes: 79.55% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 63 Votes: 46.03% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 18 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 72 Votes: 72.22% Annoying