The Fastest Kid on the Block: The Marty Glickman Story

Sporting News, The, Jan 13, 1997 by Steve Gietschier

Marty Glickman has lived an exciting life, first as a world-class athlete and then as the first former athlete to carve out a career as a play-by-play announcer. Now retired, he has written a spirited, gracious autobiography.

Glickman grew up in New York City and went to Syracuse University where he played football and ran track. As a football player he was good enough to be named to the Jewish All-America team. As a sprinter, he earned a spot on the 1936 Olympic team.

The 100-meter final at the Olympic Trials had a disputed result. Glickman finished perhaps as high as third, but he was placed fifth. That still should have given him a chance to run in the 4x100 relay, but when the American team got to Berlin, Glickman and Sam Stoller, another Jew, were told by their coaches that they had been replaced.

This blatant anti-Semitism, engineered by Olympic president Avery Brundage, could have fractured Ghckman's life. But it didn't. He returned to Syracuse, continued to play football and began broadcasting a weekly program on a local radio station. After graduation, he cast his lot with radio and later television.

He did indoor track, boxing, college basketball and hockey for the Rangers and New York Americans. He recreated baseball games and was the first voice of the Knicks.

Glickman's book is a joyful ride down broadcasting's memory lane, especially for readers in the New York area who heard his work. It is remarkably free of bile and laden with good stories. And there are plenty of tips, too, for the next generation of broadcasters to heed.