BOOK REVIEW ‘The world was our stage’
TV sports pioneer recounts classic stories in new book by NEAL REID
To read Doug Wilson’s book T e World Was
Our Stage: Spanning the Globe with ABC Sports is to take a step inside the realm of sports television production as never before, to learn the secrets that helped make the network’s “Wide World of Sports” program a revolutionary hit on a global scale.
Famous for its slogan, “T e thrill of victo-
ry, the agony of defeat,” ABC’s “Wide World of Sports” ran from 1961 to 1988 and revolution- ized sports television. Approximately 120 sports were profi led in 58 countries on the famed pro- gram, and Wilson was a big part of its success. In 172 pages, Wilson recounts his 50 years
at ABC Sports, where he helped produce 10 Olympic Games and won 17 Emmys for his groundbreaking advancements in the way sports were covered on television. Wilson was part of the “golden era of sports television” and imple- mented innovations such as new camera angles and the use of music to help tell the stories. With the help of writer Jody Cohan, the
longtime producer and director recounts his experiences traveling the world to cover some of the biggest and most unique sporting events on the planet and does so with a conversational, storytelling style. From anecdotes about sports legends like Muhammad Ali, Evel Knievel and Nadia Comaneci to stories about Howard Cosell, Eunice Kennedy Shriver and Secretariat, Wilson provides a highly entertaining look into the world of sports during an immensely important time in television history. Wilson fi rst produced a fi gure skating
telecast in 1967 at the U.S. Championships in Omaha, Neb., and he would go on to become the sport’s preeminent director. T e book, which features a foreword by Peggy Fleming, includes Wilson’s profi les and thoughts on skating legends Beatrix “Trixi” Schuba, Janet Lynn, Dorothy Ha- mill, Elaine Zayak, Rosalynn Sumners, Katarina Witt, Irina Rodnina and Fleming. Wilson’s approach to directing fi gure skat-
ing telecasts focused on the artistic aspect of the sport more than the technical side, and it was clear he had an deep love for the sport. “I approached skating as the ultimate fusion
of entertainment and sport,” Wilson writes. “If both the skater and I were doing our jobs well, the viewers weren’t distracted by the technical aspects of either the skating or the camera work. Seamless, fl owing skating was our objective.” T e implementation of music to enhance
fi gure skating’s inherent beauty was a chief goal for Wilson, who was inducted into the U.S. Fig- ure Skating Hall of Fame in 2003. “I always felt that music drives the train in
Some of the sport’s biggest names attended a reception at Joe Louis Arena, where Wilson talked about his new book. Enjoying the moment with Wilson were Olympic champion Scott Hamilton and Olympic silver medalist Tanith Belbin.
fi gure skating,” Wilson writes. “It is the connec- tion, the bridge that carries the skater’s emotions through the choreography, into the cameras and out to the viewers.” Beloved by fi gure skating stars like Fleming,
Brian Boitano, Scott Hamilton and Hamill, Wil- son was revered for his dedication to enhancing the majesty of the sport through the medium of television. “Doug Wilson’s sensitivity and his passion
for ‘getting it right’ from the perspective of the athlete continue to defi ne his amazing con- tributions to television,” Hamilton writes on the book’s back cover. “I love this book, and I couldn’t put it down.” Reading the book becomes a pleasure from
the fi rst page, and Wilson’s behind-the-scenes ac- counts of some of the most transformative events in the history of sports make it a tough one to put down. Where else could a person get nev- er-before-told insights into everything from the 1972 Olympic Games’ hostage crisis in Munich, Germany, and Comaneci’s 1989 defection to the United States from Romania to Arthur Ashe’s battle with AIDS or Boitano’s “Canvas of Ice” TV special fi lmed on a glacier in Alaska? Wilson sums up the passion that fueled his
Doug Wilson donned his classic yellow ABC Sports coat at Skate America in Detroit as he debuted his new book with friends and fans.
fi re during his illustrious career at ABC Sports early in the book. “All the world was, indeed, our stage, and
the athletes our players,” Wilson said. “Watching their stories unfold, sometimes into legend, be- came a way of life for me for half a century. T is book is my way of sharing the human drama of athletic competition.” For the avid sports and fi gure skating fan,
it’s much more. It’s a gift. SKATING 7
PHOTOS BY JAY ADEFF/U.S. FIGURE SKATING
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