Waters remembers a sports legend


“The saddest words of tongue or pen are these: What might have been?” Somewhere in the back of my mind I was reminded of that line three weeks ago right after the Marshals lost an overtime heartbreaker to Graves County in the championship game of the boys Region One Tournament. I remembered that the great Cawood Ledford used that line just moments after Christian Laettner’s turnaround jumper that beat Kentucky in the 1992 NCAA Tournament. It’s hard for me to believe that it’s been seventeen years since that Kentucky/Duke game, which was Ledford’s last broadcast as the “Voice of the Wildcats.” Ledford called the action of UK football and basketball for 39 years and is still as loved and revered as any coach or player in UK history.

One of the real memorable experiences I’ve had, personally and professionally, is when I got to meet and interview Cawood. He was everything I expected him to be and more. Just a real gentleman who seemed like he would feel at home whether he was talking to the governor or a tobacco farmer. I’ve been influenced by a lot of great sports announcers, many of whom I’ve had the pleasure of working with over the years. But I would be lying if I said Cawood had not had the most influence on my style and what I’ve tried to bring to a broadcast.

I think the lessons I learned from listening to Cawood are these: Be prepared, be professional, be fair and strive for accuracy. The thing that Cawood never forgot and I’ve always tried to remember is that for the people who can’t be there, they are seeing the game through my eyes.

In addition to his play-by-play work for Kentucky football and basketball, Cawood was also an accomplished horse racing announcer, winning many national awards for his work in that field. Also, Cawood did the play-by-play for the national radio broadcast of the Final Four for many years.

Cawood passed away in September, 2001 after a long battle with cancer. A public memorial was scheduled to be held in Rupp Arena, but that never took place because the Tuesday after Cawood passed away the September 11th terrorist attacks happened. Right after Cawood passed away, a reporter from the Lexington Herald-Leader called to interview me for a piece they were doing on how Cawood had influenced sportscasters in Kentucky. My answer was simple, he’s the reason why I wanted to be in this business.

Ironically enough, as I sit here writing this column UK has just fired men’s basketball coach Billy Gillispie and the search for a new coach is underway. It would be very interesting to hear what Cawood’s take on this whole situation would be.