Vale Norman May

[Ford Fairlane]

Passed away at the age of 88.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...ustralian-sports-broadcaster-dies-at-88#img-1

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

Yes just saw it on the ABC sport website. I was thinking about Norman during the swimming when the Olympics were on and I turned Basil down and Gerard Whateley and Rob Woodhouse up.

When the Olympics were a true amateur event Norman put in enormous efforts all around Oz in fund raising events. A week or two before the Sydney Olympics the ABC Sports program invited the public into the Ultimo studio for a panel discussion live on a Saturday morning for a couple of hours. After the program we got to speak to the panel, I spoke to Tim Lane, decathlon champion Peter Hatfield, Tim Gavel, Karen Tighe, Glen Mitchell and Norman May. Spoke to Norman about swimming and rugby union for about 10 minutes and yes I couldn't help but ask about his call in Moscow of the 4x100m medley relay.



http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-...orman-'nugget'-may-dies/7820584?section=sport
Legendary ABC broadcaster Norman May has died, aged 88.

It was thanks to May that the gold medal call of Australia's men's 4x100 metres medley relay team at the 1980 Moscow Olympics became an indelible moment in this country's history. "Fifteen metres from the gold medal for Australia ... 10 metres now, Brooks in front. Five metres now, four, three, two, one ... Gold! Gold to Australia! Gold!"

Apt, for a man affectionately known as "Nugget". That nickname was bestowed on him because of his stout body type as a youngster but along with the tale of that call, it grew with him in stature as the years rolled by. In his younger days May was a talented surfer, rugby player and cricketer growing up on the northern beaches of Sydney. Doing what most with considerable athletic ability do at a young age he played as much sport as he could........
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-...orman-'nugget'-may-dies/7820584?section=sport

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

This interview with Norman with Karen Tighe around the time of Bejing Olympics is a good listen as he describes his early days of broadcasting in the 1950's and 1960's. Also some nice stuff from Gerry Collins who took over calling Swimming at the Olympics for ABC but after a couple of games he came back as the special comments man.

Sound Cloud Link
Edit and there was the famous Bradman Tapes in 1988 when the Don turned 80; Bradman - The Don declares - and gave his first extensive interview - well first series of long interviews for almost 40 years.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

It wouldn't surprise me one bit if the NSW government give Norman a state funeral. His fundraising activities for the Olympics and community organisations across Sydney and NSW is legendary.

 

[Eddie Dingle]

I actually feel awful.

The commentary during the Rio Olympics was so bad I referred to Norman May, in a positive way of course, in the past tense a number of times assuming he had already passed.

The poor buggers last days couldn't have been listening to that awful channel 7 shit surely?

 

[raptalia]

Norman May was the voice of ABC TV sports coverage in the sixties and seventies. Who can ever forget his enthusiastic call of the swimming or his cricket commentary. Yet another part of my past passes on.

Thanks for the memories Norman May.

 

[1954]

RIP Norman `Gold, Gold, Gold ' May.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

A great long tribute in today's Oz to Norman from Gordon Bray who started in the Sydney office of ABC and was May's apprentice before becoming the Voice of Rugby when he took over the Rugby international calls from May in the late 1980's.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/spo...t/news-story/81259b45ba9195d944c02d7461601d60

Norman May commentated with few notes because the relevant information was already compartmentalised in his finely tuned brain.

He would often arrive at the venue just before a telecast and mischievously ask, “Hello chaps, who’s playing?” None of those in the know were ever fooled. His flippancy was a ruse, disguising diligent preparation and his sheer joy at the prospect of the contest ahead. May’s voice was cultured and crystal clear, his delivery unerringly concise. The tone sometimes verged on the melodic but the overall effect of his call was always engaging.

Norm’s enthusiasm and infectious passion for sport demanded your attention even if you had no special interest in the event he was broadcasting. That was the special charm and expertise of Norman ‘‘Nugget’’ May, a genuinely world-class sports commentator and Australia’s premier voice of television sport.

At his retirement May estimated that he’d covered more than 40 different sports over a 50-year career, but for ABC Olympic team colleague Jim Fitzmaurice, Nugget’s greatest performance was dramatically removed from any act of athletic competition.

The slaughter of 11 Israeli athletes by Palestinian terrorists at the Munich Olympics sent shockwaves around the globe. The Olympic family was numbed by the horrific events that had unfolded within the supposed sanctity of sport’s ultimate arena. “There were 80,000 people at the memorial service in the stadium as the coffins were laid out,” Fitzmaurice recalls. “You could hear a pin drop. I was sitting next to the great American sprinter Wilma Rudolph. Tears were rolling down her cheeks. In fact, everyone’s cheeks.”

Alongside, Norman commentated the service back to Australia by himself, displaying a rare and remarkable sense of timing, compassion and sensitivity. “I know everyone talks about his ‘Gold, gold, gold!’ call, but that performance without question was the most amazing commentary he did in his whole life,” says Fitzmaurice. “It summed up Norman’s special ability and grand sense of occasion.”
......
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/spo...t/news-story/81259b45ba9195d944c02d7461601d60