It's A Very Simple Game! The Life and Times of Charley Eckman - Hardcover

Eckman, Charley; Neil, Fred

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1880325152 ISBN 13: 9781880325155

Publisher: Fred Neil Associates, 1995

Synopsis

The Unique Charley Eckman, The Babe Ruth of Basketball Referees, NBA Coach and Sportscaster. Charley was the funniest man to make a living in sports. This book not only tells the story from Charley's viewpoint but retells the stories that have made his listeners laugh aloud.

Charley Eckman became a professional basketball referee at age 16. Top rated in the Basketball Association of America and its successor professional league, the National Basketball Association (NBA), he officiated in the first NBA All Star Game in Boston. Later, he stepped off center court to fire up players and fans alike, stirring excitement as the winning coach of one of the All Star games.

Eckman is the only one ever to go from basketball referee to professional basketball coach. As coach of the Pistons, he led his team to two Conference Championships and tied for second in his third year. He brought George Yardley off the Piston bench and made him a regular. Yardley entered the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1996.

He returned to officiating in the powerful Atlantic Coast Conference and other college conferences. He was a regular at major tournaments, including the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) and the National College Athletic Association (NCAA).

In the 1960s, Eckman launched a new career as an award-winning sportscaster. Starting with WCBM and then WFBR, he spent 23 years regaling sports fans with stories and insights on the world of sports competition. A popular figure wherever he appeared, his frequent speaking engagements won raves. He was also a legendary figure at thoroughbred race tracks throughout the Mid-Atlantic States.

Eckman was featured three times in Sports Illustrated, and also in the Saturday Evening Post, Sport Magazine, and Newsweek.

Charley was married 53 years to the former Wilma Howard. They had four children, three grandchildren, and one great grandchild. Charley succumbed to cancer on July 3, 1995.:

About this title

From the Back Cover

Tom Clancy, (from the Foreword by the best selling author)

"... In an area of human enterprise where reality has long since been overtaken by high-flown rhetoric pontificated out by people who've never played the game or coached a game, Charley's oral history of American sports is rather like a cold shower after a hot afternoon. And that's why I recommend it." Billy Packer, CBS Basketball Analyst

"When I read the book, I laughed and I cried. There will never be another Charley Eckman." Dean Smith, Head Basketball Coach, University of North Carolina "Eckman's book brought back memories and a lot of laughs. Charley was a truly great referee... You didn't really get to know Eckman... you experienced him and Charley is worth experiencing through his book."

Art Donovan, Professional Football Hall of Famer, Baltimore Colts

"Cholly was really `one of kind'. When they made him, he broke the mold! I thoroughly enjoyed his company. With this book, everybody can enjoy his great stories."

Frank Deford, nationally celebrated sportswriter and broadcaster, CNN/SI

"Charley Eckman was totally original. This book is a wonderful reflection of his charms."

Larry Brown, Head Coach, NBA Indiana Pacers

"As a referee, Charley kept us loose and laughing on the court. His book had me laughing again!"

Boog Powell, former Oriole All-Star First Baseman

"The book is very funny and a heart warming experience. I loved it."

Bill Brill, Basketball America

"As you read this book about one of America's great characters, understand before television, before the sports world adopted basketball, Charley Eckman understood the entertainment factor. That he was an original, never again to be duplicated and on display here in many Eckman stories, can only be considered our loss."

From the Inside Flap

Charley Eckman became a professional basketball referee at age 16. Top rated in the Basketball Association of America and its successor professional league, the National Basketball Association (NBA), he officiated in the first NBA All Star Game in Boston. Later, he stepped off center court to fire up players and fans alike, stirring excitement as the winning coach of one of the All Star games.

Eckman is the only one ever to go from basketball referee to professional basketball coach. As coach of the Pistons, he led his team to two Conference Championships and tied for second in his third year. He brought George Yardley off the Piston bench and made him a regular. Yardley entered the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1996.

He returned to officiating in the powerful Atlantic Coast Conference and other college conferences. He was a regular at major tournaments, including the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) and the National College Athletic Association (NCAA).

In the 1960s, Eckman launched a new career as an award-winning sportscaster. Starting with WCBM and then WFBR, he spent 23 years regaling sports fans with stories and insights on the world of sports competition. A popular figure wherever he appeared, his frequent speaking engagements won raves. He was also a legendary figure at thoroughbred race tracks throughout the Mid-Atlantic States.

Eckman was featured three times in Sports Illustrated, and also in the Saturday Evening Post, Sport Magazine, and Newsweek.

Charley was married 53 years to the former Wilma Howard. They had four children, three grandchildren, and one great grandchild. Charley succumbed to cancer on July 3, 1995.: Fred Neil produced the Baltimore Colt Football play-by-play broadcasts as News and Sports Director for WCBM. In addition, he produced, wrote, and shared the mike as co-host of shows with such sports luminaries as Johnny Unitas, Jimmy Orr, Ordell Braase, and Tom Matte of the Colts and Brooks Robinson of the Baltimore Orioles. Fred was also responsible for bringing Charley Eckman into radio as a regular and paired him with Art Donovan on the funniest sports program on the air, "Mayhem of 33rd Street."

Neil served as Press Officer for Mayor of Baltimore William Donald Schaefer, later elected Governor of Maryland. Fred went on to become Executive Director of the Maryland Mile Association of Tracks before serving as General Manager of the Baltimore Banners of World Team Tennis, the pro tennis team where he was Jimmy Connors' "boss."

Fred is the only person to have served as president of the Baltimore Sports Reporters, Baltimore Press Reporters and the Maryland Press Club. Awarded numerous peer-judged media awards while in broadcasting, he also won honors as the Public Affairs Officer for the Division of Rehabilitation Service, Maryland State Department of Education were he has served since 1980. A prolific author, he has penned countless publications and newsletters.

A frequent guest speaker, he was honored in 1996 with the Governor's Committee on the Employment of People with Disabilities Print Media Award and the Golden Mike Award symbolic of induction into the Maryland Broadcasting Hall of Fame from the Golden Radio Buffs.

Married to the former Dawn Fischer, he has three children from a previous marriage

AUTHCOMMENTS; From Fred Neil, Co-author: This book is misnamed. The time should have been the Life and Laughter of Charley Eckman. He was the greatest basketball referee of his era. He astonished the sports world by coaching the Pistons to two Western Titles and a tie for a third (he had no coaching experience) , and then regaled Marylanders with his sometimes outrageous or controversial sportscasts.

He was called a character, but often characters are eccentric losers. Except at the race track, Charley was no loser. He was successful at nearly everything he did. If he wasn't successful, his ventures fueled a new lot of laugh a loud stories.

With the admission of George Yardley, in 1998, to the Basketball Hall of Fame and Fred Zollner's admission in 1999, one the of greats, Charley Eckman is still missing. Fred hired Charley. Charley took George off the bench and gave him his pro basketball opportunity, Our books provides a little history and a lot of laughs. Enjoy!

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chapter One The Quintessential Charles Markwood Eckman Eckman: "Let me tell you why I thought I could coach. I am working the game in Rochester one night between the Rochester Royals and the Minneapolis Lakers at Edgerton Park Arena... the place held about 4500 people. The Royals are behind by one point with about 20 seconds to play on the clock and a time out is called. Rochester has the ball. They have to win this game. Lester Harrison was the owner, the coach, the general manager and he sold tickets, too. I'm listening to the huddle to see who's goin'a get the ball. Lester asks, `What are we going to do?' Well, Bobby Davies asks to get the ball 'cause he can drive on the basket. `OK,' says Lester, `Give the ball to Bobby." Bobby "Hooks" Wanzer says, `Give me the ball, Lester. I've got my shot down.' He had a great set shot. Lester says, `That's a good idea. Give the ball to `Hooks.' Now, Arnie Risen, their big Center, says, `They're laying off me. They ain't coming up on me. Give me the ball.' Lester says, `That's a good idea. Throw that ball to Risen.' Jack Coleman is sitting there. He says, `Lester, nobody is coming up on me. I've hit that set shot all night.' Lester says, `That's a good idea. Throw the ball to Coleman.' "Four guys are supposed to get this ball. We got 20 seconds to go. I'm saying to myself, `It's going to be one hell of a play.' I blow the whistle to start play. Now, the only guy that ain't said nothing is Artie Johnson, a big Swede. He was in physical training with me during the service. He is sitting in there and he ain't said nothing. The next thing you know Johnson gets the ball and puts it in for two and the Rochester Royals beat the Lakers. The place goes nuts. "As I'm walking off the floor, a writer for the Rochester newspaper, George Beahon, comes up to Lester Harrison and says, `How did you devise that play?' Then, Lester told him how he devised that play and I knew right then and there that coaching was for me - a professional liars game." Charles Markman Eckman, Jr, Basketball Referee Had Charley Eckman been born in New York, Los Angeles or Chicago, he probably would have been widely acclaimed as a sports renaissance man. The fact is, Charley was a sportsman for all seasons. For seven decades he was part of the sports landscape. In New York, Damon Runyon would have made him a famous horse player. The career of Howard Cosell would have been overshadowed by Eckman. Eckman's name would have been mentioned in the same breath as the great basketball coaches of the era such as Adolph Rupp, Joe Lapchick and Clair Bee... and had the cards fallen right, he would have been a highly acclaimed baseball scout for signing a Hall of Famer to a major league baseball contract.

The Basketball Referee There are legends in the ranks of umpires and referees, but how many of them can you name? The officials are the support players amongst the great celebrities and egos of the games -- with perhaps one exception. Long time basketball referee and frequent Eckman partner Hal Grossman said Charley was by far the most popular official in the game, bar none. "I was trailing 15 feet behind him when we had this game at Duke. It was Duke against North Carolina. Now Duke is noted for their hostile student body at the basketball games. When Eckman walked on to the court, the entire Duke student body stood up and gave him an ovation. I never saw it before and I never saw it again," said Grossman. He added, "Carolina Coach Dean Smith sees what's going on and his face registers concern. Eckman goes over to Smith and he says `Don't worry, Dean. I brought Grossman for you.'" Smith recalls an Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) pre-season press conference, in 1962 or `63, with all of the ACC basketball coaches and the sports writers covering the conference basketball. Smith reports that "Bones" McKinney, the Wake Forest Coach, was asked by a writer if he, "Bones", could have any player that could help his team the most, who would he pick? Without hesitating, McKinney said, "Eckman!" "Eckman's Broadway" is the term Don Newbery, one time New York University coach (NYU), described the Mecca of college basketball, Madison Square Garden in New York City. Newbery's jaw dropped the first time Eckman's name was announced. Game referees were announced after the team players and coaches. Each official had been booed but the crowd cheered when Charley's name was broadcast over the loud speakers. According to Don, what made the cheering even more unbelievable was the nature of the Garden patrons -- hard core street gamblers, fanatic basketball fans, and moneyed, high society types. Newbery said that everyone of them were vociferous critics. They cheered and hollered at every Eckman whistle. Newbery said that Charley would whistle a foul and would invariably put his arm around the offending player and tell him what happened and how to avoid the foul again. Voices from the crowd could be heard shouting "Atta Boy, Charley!," or " You tell 'em, Charley!" Newbery said that Eckman had those tough, super critical New Yorkers eating out of his hand.

Edition details

• Publisher: Fred Neil Associates
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1880325152
• ISBN 13: 9781880325155
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 229