Sports broadcaster, Greg Gumbel, widely renowned for calling some of the biggest college and basketball games on popular US media networks, died on Friday (Dec 27) at his Florida residence, aged 78. Mr Gumbel’s death was confirmed by his family in a social media post released by CBS Sports, where he had worked since 1989. As per reports, he had been diagnosed with cancer.

With a career spanning more than 50 years, Mr Gumbel was a pioneering voice in sports broadcasting. He was also the first Black commentator to call play-by-play of a major sports championship when he worked on Super Bowl XXXV for CBS.

“He leaves behind a legacy of love, inspiration and dedication to over 50 extraordinary years in the sports broadcast industry; and his iconic voice will never be forgotten,” his wife Marcy Gumbel and daughter Michelle Gumbel said in a statement.

A statement from CBS Sports on the passing of Greg Gumbel pic.twitter.com/Bp4ixu7mWB

— CBS Sports PR (@CBSSportsGang) December 27, 2024

Reactions pour in

David Berson, president and CEO of CBS Sports paid a glowing tribute to Mr Gumbel who worked with the network across two stints.

“A tremendous broadcaster and gifted storyteller, Greg led one of the most remarkable and groundbreaking sports broadcasting careers of all time,” said Mr Berson.

Social media users also recounted some fond memories of Mr Gumbel and lamented that they would not be able to hear the booming voice in the commentary box again.

“Selection Sundays will never be the same again! RIP Mr Gumbel,” said one user, while another added: “Had absolutely no idea how hard this would hit me.”

A third commented: “So incredibly sad. So many March Madness memories of him. On a side note, I had no idea he was 78. Dude looked 20 years younger.”

RIP @NFLonCBS @CBSSportsNet _ @cbsncaatourney best voice of all time Greg Gumbel_I’m so glad watching him call greatest games ever he always be voice CBS sports his legacy be around forever thank for great 50 years you truly be miss RIP Sport ICON pic.twitter.com/1AU3fqnXhj

— James F Roets Jr (@f_roets93142) December 28, 2024

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Mr Gumbel was born on May 3, 1946, in New Orleans but grew up in Chicago and graduated from Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, in 1967 with a degree in English. He got his first gig as an announcer in the early 1970s at Channel 5 where he was tasked with broadcasting a high school basketball game every Saturday.

His career soared in the 1980s when he started covering the National Basketball Association before calling his first NFL match in 1988. During his decades-long career, he won local Emmy Awards and was the recipient of the 2007 Pat Summerall Award for excellence in sports broadcasting.

Liverpool Football Club’s (LFC) annual staff Christmas party at the city’s Anglican cathedral on Thursday (Oct 12) had to be shut down prematurely after authorities discovered drug paraphernalia in the restrooms. The team from Merseyside had rented the cathedral, one of the most iconic landmarks in the city, for a party for about 500 staff members, according to a report in the New York Times (NYT). Neither head coach Arne Slot, nor the players were present at the venue at the time of the incident.

After an unrelated medical emergency at the venue, officials carried out searches at the venue which led to the discovery of suspected drug paraphernalia in the toilets. The emergency saw a staff member receive medical treatment after collapsing but it is believed to be not related to the drug discovery.

After the discovery, the club officials decided to call off the party with 30 minutes remaining before the bars were scheduled to be closed. The club also issued a statement, saying it did not condone the presence of illicit substances.

“We do not condone or tolerate the use of illegal substances at any of our sites or events. We thank the events team at the venue for their swift action and professional response to the medical emergency which was unrelated,” the club said.

“The member of staff is recovering well,” it added.

Social media posts by Liverpool’s Vice President of Communications, Craig Evans, showed the venue fully decked up with the club’s badge, featuring the mythical Liver bird projected high onto the chapel windows while the hall was floodlit with a streak of red light.

The @LFC staff Christmas party is underway at the amazing @LivCathedral. pic.twitter.com/0AR35Vsray

— Craig Evans (@CraigEvans_LFC) December 12, 2024

Liverpool’s strong start to the campaign

Liverpool under Mr Slot have started the season in brilliant fashion. The Reds are currently top of the Premier League as well as the Champions League table and look certain to go the distance in cup competition as well. The team has only lost a single match this season so far while beating the likes of Manchester City, Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen.

Mr Slot, who took over from legendary Jurgen Klopp in the summer, has quickly implemented his style of play that oscillates between the heavy metal style of the German as well as the possession control of Manchester City boss, Pep Guardiola.

Cameron Green lauded star batter Virat Kohli for playing a “vintage” innings to keep RCB in the race. File
| Photo Credit: AP

Cameron Green lauded star batter Virat Kohli for playing a “vintage” innings to keep Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the race to the IPL playoffs.

Kohli made full use of the three reprieves, including one on zero, to make a 47-ball 92 that set the tone for their 60-run win over Punjab Kings in a must-win match here on May 9.

“He played the vintage Virat that we all know. It was a beautiful watch from the other end. That’s the beauty of having Virat in your team, as opposition you can’t give him that many chances,” said Green in the post-match press meet.

The Australian all-rounder, who helped himself to a 27-ball 46, said Kohli was trying to be aggressive and the drops did not affect him.

“He’s always going to make you hurt, especially if you drop him three or four times. Early in his innings, he was trying to be really aggressive. I think he looked like after a couple of dropped catches, he didn’t have much to lose,” added Green.

The Bengaluru side still need to win their remaining two matches against Delhi Capitals and Chennai Super Kings at home to remain in the mix for playoffs.

Green said the team has done well to win four matches on the bounce after a string of defeats.

“Yeah, I think what we’ve done really well is just look at the next game. I think obviously at the start of the tournament you can always look further at what’s coming up, where are we on the table.”

“But I think that’s the beauty of where we were at (now), we kind of were pushed into a corner and all we could really do was focus on the next game,” he added

Meanwhile, Punjab Kings assistant coach Brad Haddin blamed the dropped catches for his side’s defeat.

The Kings let-off Kohli and Green more than once and they bruised them with quickfire knocks as RCB posted a tall 241 for seven.

In reply, PBKS could only manage 181 before getting bundled out.

“100 percent we lost the match because of dropped catches. If we look through the game, we dropped two guys on a duck, and both of them scored big runs. That was where the game was lost.

“There was not too much difference in the batting and bowling of both teams. The catches we put down cost us the game,” said Haddin.

 Young pacer Harshit Rana feels Kolkata Knight Riders are reaping the rewards by following the winning template set by two-time IPL winner. File picture
| Photo Credit: Deepak K R

Young pacer Harshit Rana feels Kolkata Knight Riders are reaping the rewards by following the winning template set by two-time IPL winner and current mentor Gautam Gambhir as they continued their sensational run to grab the top position in the IPL points table.

Gambhir had led KKR to the IPL crown twice with the team also qualifying for the playoffs five times during his stint from 2011 to 2017. He had also guided KKR to the finals of the now-defunct Champions League T20 in 2014.

However, in the last seven years, KKR could reach the playoffs only twice.

Gambhir’s return to the KKR camp as a mentor this year turned things around as the Kolkata-based franchise moved to the top of the table with 16 points following a dominating 98-run over Lucknow Super Giants – 8th win in 11 games – on May 6

“Not only this match, this entire season we have been focussing a lot on the style of cricket that Gautam Gambhir wants us to play. He has a lot of knowledge on how to turn games in our favour and it helps us a lot in the middle,” Rana said during the press conference.

“Like today he gave the bowlers a free hand, to find the length to bowl depending on the wicket, and not to try too many things,” he added.

Rana (3/24 in 3.1 overs) played a crucial role in the win by taking three wickets while defending a target of 235.

“KKR read the wicket very well. The areas we had to bowl, we targeted the right places,” Rana said.

IPL’s biggest buy Mitchell Starc has proved expensive this season but Rana said the team management is not at all bothered about his economy rate and has faith on the Australian speedstar.

“We have not cared even for a bit on how expensive Mitchell Starc has been in IPL 2024. He have full faith in him and he won us the last game and we have no doubts on him whatsoever.

“He has such a great influence on the younger players, he has such a huge wealth of knowledge,” Rana said.

Rana said his dream is to play for India and is focussing on his performance.

“My aim is to play for India but whatever franchise I play for I try to give my best on the day of the match. I will be selected based on my performance and performance alone,” Rana said.

We’d our plans but everything went Narine’s way: Naveen

It was yet another sparkling fifty by Sunil Narine (81 off 39) which helped KKR post a massive 235 for six and LSG fast bowler Naveen Ul Haq conceded that all their plans failed against the star West Indian allrounder.

“I think he played quite well. We had a plan of bowling bouncers and yorkers and mixing it up and not being predictable against him. We did that but he played quite a brilliant innings to be honest,” he said.

“It wasn’t like he was slogging and everything was going top edge or anything like slicing the ball. He was properly middling it and that’s the case like from the beginning of the season.

“He’s been middling it. Everything going his way. So yeah, it was a great knock by him.” The Afghan seamer said LSG could have produced a better show with the bat but they can’t dwell on defeat too much as they need to focus on the next game.

“The amount of games that we have played in Lucknow, I think this was the best wicket to bat on. We did not do the things in the chase that we did – say in the game at Chepauk, where the target was very high. It was not like bad or anything, there was nothing for the bowlers,” Naveen said.

“Pressure is always there on whatever score you are chasing. Every team has a bad day, and we cannot keep focusing on that, we have to move on.”

Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Heinrich Klaasen plays a shot during the match against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League 2024, at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on April 25, 2024.
| Photo Credit: ANI

The Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), which is having one of its more fruitful seasons in the cash-rich domestic league with five wins from eight matches, entered the IPL record books for the most number of sixes hit in a single season, at 100. The feat was achieved during the clash with the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on April 25.

Though the Sunrisers went down to Bengaluru on April 25, tasting only their third defeat this IPL season, they posted the unique record for clearing the fence the most times in a single season. The Sunrisers have lit up the ongoing 17th season of the gilded, cash-rich domestic T20 league with their batting fireworks, with the likes of Aussie dasher Travis Head and his opening partner Abhishek Sharma, and Heinrich Klaasen, who has emerged as the team’s middle-order bulwark this season, flattening rival attacks with their ferocious assaults. The Hyderabad-based franchise achieved the landmark of striking 100 sixes in just their eighth match in the ongoing IPL season.Even in the 2022 season, the Sunrisers raised hopes of achieving the landmark but fell agonisingly short at 97 sixes.

Earlier, on April 25, the RCB won the toss and elected to bat first. Skipper Faf Du Plessis (25) and Virat Kohli got the team off to a blazing start in the powerplay. After a slowdown in scoring post-powerplay, Rajat Patidar (50) injected fresh impetus into the RCB’s innings.Virat was dismissed for 51 in 43 balls, with four boundaries and a six, failing to capitalise on his fine start during the powerplay. Despite some quick wickets, cameos from Cameron Green (37*) and Swapnil Singh (12*) took RCB to 206/7 in their 20 overs. Jaydev Unadkat (3/30) and T Natrajan (2/39) were the top bowlers for SRH.

Pat Cummins and Mayank Markande took a wicket each. In the run-chase, SRH kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Except for Abhishek Sharma (31), none of the previous heroes for SRH, be it Travis Head, Heinrich Klaasen, or Nitish Reddy made an impact. Skipper Cummins (31) and Shahbaz Ahmed (40) did put up a fight, but SRH was skittled out for 171 in their 20 overs. Green (2/12) and Karn Sharma (2/29) were the top bowlers for RCB. Swapnil Singh also took two wickets for 40 runs. Will Jacks and Yash Dayal also got a wicket each. RCB is at the bottom of the points table with two wins, seven losses and four points. SRH is at the third spot with five wins, three losses and 10 points.