Don Wittman
{{Short description|Canadian sportscaster (1936–2008)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Don Wittman
| image = Wittman_2002.jpg
| caption = Wittman broadcasting the 2002 Winter Olympics
| birth_name = Donald Rae Wittman{{cite web | url=http://www.passagesmb.com/obituary_details.cfm?ObitID=130465 | publisher=Passages | title=Obituary: Donald Rae Wittman | access-date=2008-01-22 | date=20 January 2008 }}
| birth_date = October 9, 1936
| birth_place = Herbert, Saskatchewan, Canada
| death_date = {{death date and age|2008|1|19|1936|4|10}}
| death_place = Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
| other_names = Witt
| known_for =
| occupation = CBC sportscaster
}}
Donald Rae Wittman (October 9, 1936 – January 19, 2008) was a Canadian sportscaster.
Early life and education
Born in Herbert, Saskatchewan, Wittman attended the University of Saskatchewan and got his start in the field of broadcasting as a news reporter with CFQC radio in Saskatoon in 1955.{{cite web |url=http://www.cbc.ca/programguide/personality/index.jsp?personality=Wittman,+Don&program=CBC+Sports |title=Don Wittman - CBC Sports |work=CBC Personalities |publisher=CBC |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070209110539/http://www.cbc.ca/programguide/personality/index.jsp?personality=Wittman,+Don&program=CBC+Sports |archive-date=2007-02-09 }}
Career
Wittman began his long association with CBC Sports on January 1, 1961. He joined CBWT's supper-hour news program 24Hours in 1970 as sports anchor alternating with Bob Picken. He also worked on Winnipeg Jets television and radio broadcasts.{{Cite web |title=A Broadcasting Icon Lost |url=http://hockey-blog-in-canada.blogspot.com/2008/01/broadcasting-icon-lost.html |access-date=2024-02-19}}
During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Wittman hosted Western Express, a half-hour weekly program broadcast in Western Canada that consisted of lottery ticket drawings for the lottery of the same name. The series format included Wittman co-hosting with media and community personalities from towns and cities across the region and conducting interviews between ticket drawings. (Western Express later changed its name to The Western and converted to a scratch-card lottery format).{{YouTube|title=Don Wittman - Western Express |id=bgwhNa02iTk}}
File:Connollystraße 31 - Gebäude.jpg
During the Munich massacre crisis at the 1972 Summer Olympics, Wittman and Bob Moir crawled through a hole in a fence to access the Olympic Village and give live reports, while posing as medical staff on the 1972 Canadian Olympic team.{{cite news|title=Wittman: The don of TV sportscasters is a class act beyond words|last=Keyser|first=Tom|date=November 18, 1995|newspaper=Calgary Herald|location=Calgary, Alberta|page=47 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101693912/1972-olympics/}}{{free access}}{{cite news|title=Witness to terror|last=King|first=Randall|date=March 16, 2001|newspaper=Winnipeg Sun|location=Winnipeg, Manitoba|page=25|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101681716/1972-olympics/}}{{free access}} Wittman and Moir were {{Convert|50|m}} away from the Israeli Olympic team building, and could see the nine hostages sitting in a circle, guarded by the Palestinian terrorist group Black September. They filed radio reports to the CBC, and remained on location all day until the hostages were loaded onto a bus.{{cite news|title=Munich massacre changed the way we view Games|last=Rud|first=Jeff|date=August 27, 1994|newspaper=Times Colonist|location=Victoria, British Columbia|page=11|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101681003/moir-1972/}}{{free access}}
In a 1994 interview, Moir discussed the decision to sneak into the Olympic Village by saying,
{{blockquote|"We were young and stupid, I guess. [Wittman] and I have always done things like that. We always went after the story."}}
As a sportscaster, Wittman covered many sports including athletics, baseball, basketball, golf, and was most known as a commentator and announcer for the CBC's CFL coverage, on Hockey Night in Canada, and for major Canadian and international curling tournaments.
Famous events covered by Wittman include Donovan Bailey's 100m sprint world record at the 1996 Summer Olympics and the infamous brawl between Canada and the Soviet Union at the 1987 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.{{Cite web |title=The Canada-USSR brawl at the 1987 world junior hockey tournament |url=https://www.cbc.ca/archives/the-canada-ussr-brawl-at-the-1987-world-junior-hockey-tournament-1.4964469 |website=CBC News}}
Death
On January 19, 2008, Wittman died as a result of cancer in a Winnipeg hospital surrounded by his family.{{cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/sports/cbc-sports-don-wittman-dies-1.697474 |title=CBC Sports' Don Wittman dies |publisher=CBC Sports |date=2008-01-19}}{{Cite news |last=Houston |first=William |date=2008-01-19 |title=CBC broadcaster Don Wittman dies |language=en-CA |work=The Globe and Mail |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/cbc-broadcaster-don-wittman-dies/article1051027/ |access-date=2023-09-18}} He was seventy-one years old, survived by his wife, Judy, two daughters, Karen and Kristen and a son, David.
Awards
Wittman won two ACTRA awards, was named Broadcaster of the Year by Sports Media Canada in 2002,{{cite web |url=http://www.sportsmediacanada.com/caster.html |title= Don Wittman, CBC Winnipeg – 2002 – Award for Outstanding Sports Broadcasting |access-date=2007-12-15 |publisher=Sports Media Canada |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080123180550/http://www.sportsmediacanada.com/caster.html |archive-date = 2008-01-23}} and named to the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame in 2003.{{cite web |url=http://www.curling.ca/fan_central/hall_of_fame/inductees.asp |title=Inductees |access-date=2007-12-15 |work=Canadian Curling Hall of Fame |publisher=Canadian Curling Association |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071005023308/http://www.curling.ca/fan_central/hall_of_fame/inductees.asp |archive-date = 2007-10-05}}{{cite news |title=CBC's Wittman to join curling hall of fame |url=https://www.cbc.ca/sports/cbc-s-wittman-to-join-curling-hall-of-fame-1.366919 |publisher=CBC Sports |date=2003-03-06 |access-date=2007-12-15 }} He was inducted into the CBC Sports Hall of Fame in January 2008.{{cite news |first=Gordon Jr. |last=Sinclair |title=Sports icon Don Wittman faces the battle of his life |url=http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/subscriber/columnists/top3/story/4093839p-4691880c.html |publisher=Winnipeg Free Press |date=2007-12-15 |access-date=2007-12-15 }} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}{{Cite web |date=January 8, 2008 |title=CBC Sports' Don Wittman retires |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/cbc-sports-don-wittman-retires-1.747436 |access-date=September 18, 2023 |website=CBC News}} Wittman is an "Honoured Member" of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1990.
References
{{Reflist}}
Further listening
- {{cite web |url=http://archives.cbc.ca/IDCC-1-41-1289-7675/sports/olympics_cbc/ |title=Munich 1972: Encounter with terror |date=1984-08-01 |work=CBC Archives |publisher=CBC Radio}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20120311114648/http://www.mbhockeyhalloffame.ca/honoured/media.html?category=16&id=293 Don Wittman's biography] at [https://web.archive.org/web/20141004060054/http://www.mbhockeyhalloffame.ca/index.html Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame]
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{{succession box | title=CBC Television Lead Curling announcer | before=None | years=1961–1968 | after=Don Chevrier}}
{{succession box | title=CBC Television Lead Curling announcer | before= Don Chevrier| years=1983–2006 | after=Bruce Rainnie}}
{{succession box|before=Bob Cole| title=Stanley Cup Finals Canadian network television play-by-play announcer | years=1985–1986 (Wittman called games in Edmonton in 1985 and games Calgary in 1986 on CBC| after=Bob Cole}}
{{s-end}}
{{Hockey Night in Canada}}
{{Commissioner's Award winners}}
{{Canadian Football Hall of Fame members}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wittman, Don}}
Category:Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees
Category:Canadian Football League announcers
Category:Canadian Screen Award winning sportscasters
Category:Canadian television sportscasters
Category:CBC Television people
Category:Deaths from cancer in Manitoba
Category:National Hockey League broadcasters
Category:Olympic Games broadcasters
Category:People from Rural Municipality Excelsior No. 166, Saskatchewan
Category:Sportspeople from Saskatchewan
Category:Track and field broadcasters
Category:University of Saskatchewan alumni