He died Wednesday, but he lives on.  He lives on through the listeners he touched with “Tittle to Shofner,” and “good, like Nedicks,” an old-time hot dog company that sponsored his broadcasts.  He lives on through those he taught, like Joe D’Ambrosio, the brilliant UConn radio voice, whose trademark “just the start of things,” and “crosses the white midcourt line” are really nightly tributes to the greatest radio voice of them all.  Marty Glickman, upon whom hosannas have been showered since his death Wednesday, will be remembered as the once and future voice of the football Giants and the Knicks, as a fighter for racial injustice, a mentor, teacher, friend and legend. 

     Glickman, 83 when he died, began a radio career in 1937, a year after a man named Avery Brundage pulled Glickman from the 1936 U.S. Olympic relay team, saying a victory by a Jewish athlete would be too embarrassing to the Nazis. Jesse Owens, yes, THAT Jesse Owens, became one of Glickman’s staunchest supporters.  He began broadcasting college basketball at Madison Square Garden in 1945 and the Knicks a year later. 

     New Yorkers, as only New Yorkers can, will proclaim Glickman their own. He wasn’t. They had to share him with us from 1981-85, when Marty Glickman graced Connecticut listeners on the Connecticut Radio Network, calling UConn football and basketball games. 

 A pioneer 

     “He was one of a kind,” Wayne Norman, the longtime UConn radio color commentator and former Glickman partner, was saying the other day.  Norman would speak at length about the way Glickman coached other broadcasters, and really, that’s like getting acting lessons from Olivier.  “Joe (D’Ambrosio) and I were talking about that the other day,” Norman said. “He always wanted you to do your best in trying to create the mental picture for the listener, whether through the geography on the court, or even things like momentum switches. He would say, ‘You’re there. They’re not. If you feel the momentum switch, say it.’ “

     Norman tells the story of the 1981 “Oil Capital Classic” in Tulsa, when Chuck Aleksinas (remember him?) ripped down the net while chasing a rebound. The nearest replacement net was at a nearby YMCA, causing a 40-minute delay.  “Marty breaks into trivia and succeeds in stumping his new partner, me, with questions like, ‘How far is the rim removed from the backboard?’ and ‘How wide is the pitching rubber?'” Norman said. “Then some kids start racing those remote-controlled cars and Marty starts doing play-by-play.” 

     Norman, perhaps the state’s pre-eminent UConn historian, played some Glickman cuts Thursday morning. There was the time when UConn quarterback Larry Corn somersaulted his way into the end zone to win a game against New Hampshire, and when Earl Kelley beat Syracuse on a buzzer-beater.  “And once in a while, we’d have a third man in the booth. Even Red Auerbach,” Norman said. “That’s the influence Marty had. Imagine: a Connecticut Mutual Classic game between UConn and Army. Me, Marty and Red Auerbach.” 

     Connecticut listeners got to see the world by turning on their radios. Marty Glickman’s voice, like your favorite old song, brings you back to happier times.  We leave you the way Marty Glickman left his listeners in 1992, following a Jets-Saints game: “That does it friends. Broadcasting American sports for 50 years has been a joy. My heart goes out to Dennis Byrd, Darryl Stingley and Mike Utley. Keep swinging. I’m Marty Glickman.”