NBC Sports Broadcaster Dan Hicks Dies at 64 After Acute Illness
Photo: NBC NewsNBC Sports broadcaster Dan Hicks, the network's lead voice for the PGA Tour and the Olympics, died Wednesday at age 64 after an acute illness, his wife, ESPN host Hannah Storm, announced Thursday. Storm said the family was heartbroken by his sudden and unexpected death and called him a devoted husband of over 30 years and father of three daughters. No exact cause has been disclosed. Hicks joined NBC in 1992 and became its lead broadcaster in 2000. He called 26 years of the PGA Tour, 16 Olympics beginning with Barcelona in 1992, and seven seasons of Notre Dame football, and was scheduled to call Saturday's Notre Dame-Boston College game. NBC Sports president Rick Cordella and executive producers Sam Flood and Molly Solomon called him an exceptional storyteller and colleague. On Thursday, during Prime Video's Giants-Commanders broadcast, Al Michaels, 82, grew emotional paying tribute, calling Hicks genial and compassionate and crediting him and Rowdy Gaines with making Olympic swimming calls an art form. Scott Van Pelt also voiced support for Storm.
Left-leaning outlets NBC News and the Los Angeles Times treat the story as a career obituary. NBC News, in a segment with Tom Llamas, looks back at his legacy. The Times calls him a "legend," opens with golf, the Olympics and Notre Dame as career pillars and his wife of 32 years and daughters as life pillars, and quotes Storm and the NBC executives. Right-leaning Breitbart is similar, with Storm's longer statement, his 2000 promotion and his understated call of Tiger Woods's 2008 Torrey Pines win. The Daily Mail instead leads with Michaels choking up, names Mike Tirico in its headline, uses "shock death," and adds that he is a Tucson native and called NFL games for NBC from 1992 to 1998. Both sides agree on the date, age, illness and Storm's statement. The left excerpts do not mention Michaels's tribute, while the Daily Mail makes it the main story. Alternative outlets Awful Announcing and Yahoo Sports also focus on the Michaels and Van Pelt tributes.
How the sides differ Left sources stress Hicks's career legacy and family; right sources split between a Breitbart obituary and a Daily Mail focus on Al Michaels's emotional on-air tribute.
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- Los Angeles TimesPaywallDan Hicks, NBC sportscasting legend and husband of ESPN anchor Hannah Storm, unexpectedly dies at 64
NBC News and the Los Angeles Times present a career retrospective, featuring Hannah Storm's statement, NBC Sports executives' praise, Hicks's golf, Olympics and Notre Dame work, and his family life.
Awful Announcing and Yahoo Sports focus on colleagues' tributes, especially Al Michaels choking up on Thursday Night Football and Scott Van Pelt's supportive words for Hannah Storm.
- BreitbartDan Hicks, Longtime voice of PGA Tour and Olympics, Passes Away at 64
- New York PostAl Michaels choked up remembering Dan Hicks on ‘TNF’ following sudden death
Breitbart runs a traditional obituary with Storm's full statement and Hicks's famous calls, while the Daily Mail leads with Michaels's emotional tribute and mentions Mike Tirico and the undisclosed cause of death.