Earlier this morning, legendary Washington television sports anchor, George Michael (Mr. "Go For It!"), died at the age of 70 after a two year battle with leukemia. Michael hit the Washington, D.C. market with a bang in 1980 and revolutionized the sports portion of the 6:00 p.m. news. In the days before wide-spread cable and satellite TV, Michael provided Washingtonians with not only great video of the local teams, but introduced many of us to NASCAR, rodeo, professional wrestling, and other off-beat sports.
After dominating the DC market, his 11:30 p.m. Sunday night "Sports Machine" show was picked up nationally by most of the NBC affiliates.
On a personal note, I had the pleasure of spending the day with Michael when I was in 8th grade during "career day". To say the least, I had the best "career day" experience of anyone at Robinson Secondary in 1982. He was a major part of my childhood while growing up in the DC area. I knew to get inside and turn on Channel 4 at 6:18 p.m. every weekday to catch Michael and the local sports.
Click here for the WRC-TV article on Michael's career and life.
What viewers most enjoyed was Michael's interaction with long-time main WRC anchor, Jim Vance. Here is an all-time classic:
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