| Words Those of us among the living have really got to watch our words. Obviously, we can say whatever we want. Free country, etc. But we’ve got to remember that what we say has a life of its own, and is repeated and re-purposed and syndicated and Googled and copied and just may end up at a time and place that you wouldn’t want them to be. Take, for instance, what Boston Red Sox president Larry Lucchino said earlier this week about endlessly-scooping sports columnist Will McDonough. McDonough described Lucchino, who lives in La Jolla, California, as “the invisible director” of the team. To someone like McDonough and his South Boston readers, a person who lives in La Jolla, California, may as well be invisible. Jersey, for that matter. In return, Lucchino dismissively referred to the legendary McDonough as “this football writer in Boston” on a Boston morning drive sports radio show and suggested that he “stick to football”, according to the New York Times. Of course, no one should ever trust anything a New Yorker writes about someone from Boston when it comes to sports. But that’s another story. Thing is, McDonough’s not sticking to anything anymore. He died the other day. Easy does it, everybody. Will McDonough, 67, Columnist Who Covered Every Super Bowl, Is Dead January 11, 2003 By RICHARD SANDOMIR Will McDonough, a powerful voice of sports journalism at The Boston Globe since 1960, died Thursday at his home in Hingham, Mass. The cause of death was not determined. He was 67. Mr. McDonough had a mild heart attack last month followed by an angioplasty. Hours before his death, he had a stress test that revealed no problems, said Georgia Peirce, a spokeswoman for Massachusetts General Hospital. Mr. McDonough specialized in football and covered every Super Bowl. He found a national platform for his news about the National Football League when he augmented his newspaper work by joining the Sunday morning N.F.L. programs on CBS, from 1986 to 1989, and on NBC, from 1990 to 1998. Working with experienced announcers like Brent Musburger and Bob Costas, Mr. McDonough stood out because of his craggy looks, raw delivery and South Boston accent. Although the Globe preferred that he break all his news in his column — and not on television — it recognized that it would rather have him six days a week than not at all. He is survived by his wife, Denise; three sons, Sean, an announcer for the Red Sox and for ABC Sports, Terry and Ryan; and two daughters, Cara and Erin. Mr. McDonough worked at The Globe while in the co-op program at Northeastern University. After he graduated in 1959, he worked at a Waltham, Mass., newspaper, then returned to The Globe in 1960. He retired from The Globe in July 2001, but continued to write a weekly column. In his last column, which ran last Saturday, he called Larry Lucchino, the president of the Boston Red Sox, “the invisible director” of the team for living in La Jolla, Calif. Mr. Lucchino told Mr. McDonough to stick to football. Copyright 2003 New York Times (Registration required) |
GoogObits: Words (Will McDonough, 67, Columnist Who Covered Every Super Bowl, Is Dead)
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