Nine’s delightfully chirpy sports broadcaster Ken Sutcliffe announced his retirement from the news desk yesterday, after a 50-year career that probably involved him forcibly watching at least 30-something Ironman championships, which itself deserves a round of applause (that’s a lot of Trevor Hendy).
As a kid growing up in the ’90s, permanently fixed to my couch, my TV dial and a stack of Nutella sandwiches, Sutcliffe remains a significant figure in my own sports-lovin’ history.
Up Next
More Entertainment Videos
Sports broadcast legend to retire
Channel Nine’s Ken Sutcliffe has announced his retirement after 50 years on Australian television. Vision: Nine News
I mean, if I had to quickly jot down a personal Mount Rushmore of local TV sports presenters, he’s right in there (probably in the shady Teddy Roosevelt spot).
In no particular order: Don Lane (NFL), Bill Woods (NBA), Les Murray and Johnny Warren (futbol, as my people call it), and Ken Sutcliffe (everything else).
His stint as co-host of that golden era (say, circa 1989 to 1995) of Wide World Of Sports was appointment Saturday noon viewing. Ok, maybe not “appointment” viewing – I’d switch over to Saved By The Bell around 1.30pm, whenever WWOS had some extended segment about Nick Farr-Jones tragically missing the first XV at Newington College or whatever – but “essentially flickable” at least.
Here was this jittery little guy with a sweet tan, endlessly excitable about all matter of sports, trading discussion about Hulk Hogan’s latest battle from behind a glass coffee table with Max Walker, his late laconic co-host who, mercifully, never went on about cricket for too long. They were an endlessly likeable and professional duo.
Wide World Of Sports was a formative sporting education in those pre-web days, when anything that wasn’t footy (NRL), footy (AFL) or cricket was casually dismissed to the shadows, when a tiny copy of the NBA divisional standings printed in the back of the newspaper every other week was a huge win.
Where else could a lazy kid get a glimpse of the gleaming tassels of the Ultimate Warrior or the hilarious antics of Mr Fuji? Where else could a nine-year-old recoil at Riddick Bowe’s lumbering right cross? Did pay-per-view even exist in the early ’90s? And would birthday money cover it?
I’m pretty sure WWOS also regularly aired segments on insane things like log-rolling and Strongman challenges, memories now useful for Tuesday Trivia Nights if nothing else.
Also, Sutcliffe’s regular live crosses to Ken Callander at the local track helped fuel a pre-pubescent gambling addiction. You’d be surprised by: a) how much birthday money multiplies with $1 each-way bets and 50c quinellas, as long as you ignore everything under triple-digit odds, and b) the looks a primary-schooler gets when they board the bus with a racing form and red pen – but hey, that’s another story.
Clearly, I’m not alone in my goofy reminiscences. Yesterday’s announcement raked in a touching handful of solemn tidings and tributes to the great commentator.
“I always admired his calmness, friendliness and humbleness – will truly miss the quiet gentleman of sports commentary,” wrote commenter Peter of Epping.
I can’t put it any better myself.
