CBS Sports’ coverage of the men’s NCAA Tournament is synonymous with longtime host Greg Gumbel, who presided at the anchor desk for 25 years before he was diagnosed with cancer last year.
Gumbel died in December at age 78, but his ever-present spirit was still felt on the set as CBS tipped off coverage of the tournament’s first round on Thursday afternoon with the music of Gumbel’s favorite band, the Rolling Stones.
‘A void was left that could never be filled,’ current host Ernie Johnson said as the broadcast opened. ‘We wear his pin on our jackets and we carry his memory in our hearts.’
Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley remember Greg Gumbel
A somber mood engulfed the set as the network’s trio of analysts offered up their memories of working with Gumbel.
‘It’s sad and surreal that he’s not in that chair,’ Clark Kellogg said. ‘Because he was so good at what he did and he was so good to the people he did it with and for, you, the viewers were who he sought to serve. In doing that with class, with competence with consistency, with gentleness and kindness, he lifted all of us.’
Said Charles Barkley: ‘It is surreal. We had been texting back and forth, he said, ‘I’ll see you guys next year.’ Then out of the blue you get a text that he had passed, and whoa, what just happened? …
‘Nobody can do what he does as long as he did unless you’re talented and people like you. The ability to do multiple sports, Ernie (Johnson) is great at that. Kevin Harlan, Sean McDonough is great at that. Brian Anderson, Greg Gumbel … To go from sport to sport, that has got to be incredibly hard. And he did it with such grace for so long.’
Kenny Smith said the week before Gumbel died, he texted a simple message that was never returned.
‘We just assume these things are going to continue forever. … He echoes through these hallways.’
Smith summed things up as the broadcast turned toward the games at hand – a total of 16 of them on Thursday: ‘We’re gonna miss him wholeheartedly. It’s a difficult time, but we’re gonna have fun.’
(This story was updated with new information and a new video.)