User:Anders.Warga/sandbox/Morrie Siegel

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Morris Siegel
Born(1915-10-13)October 13, 1915
Atlanta
DiedJune 2, 1994(1994-06-02) (aged 78)
George Washington University Hospital, Washington, DC
Cause of deathcancer
Educationattended Emory University
Occupation(s)sportswriter, sports announcer, sports broadcaster
Employers
StyleRunyonesque
SpouseMyra MacPherson (1964-1985 div.)
Children
  • Michael Siegel, political strategist
  • Leah Siegel, ESPN producer (died 2010
Parents
  • Max, born Poland, 1889?
  • Rachael, born Poland, 1889?
Awards
  • Robert F. Kennedy stadium Hall of Stars
  • Washington Newspaper Guild's sports writing award
  • 1991 Vincent Lombardi Symbol of Courage award
  • 1996 Emory Sports Hall of Fame - inducted posthumously:[1] sportswriter Morris Siegel '37C
Military career
Nickname(s)Mo, Morrie
Allegiance United States
Service/branchU.S. Navy
RankSeaman
UnitNorfolk Naval Base[2]
Battles/warsWorld War II
Notes

Morris Siegel (a/k/a Mo or Morrie) was a Washington Post sportswriter and television personality. He advocated for the return of Major League Baseball to Washington, D.C.

Father Hartke, founder of the drama program at Catholic University of America, characterized his voice and him as "made for the stage."[2]

At Emory University in 1933, Siegel was the Scribe of Alpha Epsilon Pi's epsilon chapter.[9]

He and Shirley Povich, who hired him at the Post, are the only two journalists inducted into the RFK stadium hall of stars. Povich became a friend and godfather of Siegel's daughter. Ben Bradlee was also a friend. He was a confidante of Jack Kent Cooke for a time. When Cooke, over lunch at Duke Zeibert's, once said, "if I die..", Siegel interrupted, "Whaddya mean, if?"[2][10][11]

Siegel once characterized the weakness of the Washington Redskin's opponents in 1975 by suggesting they should be 6-0 in the first four games.[12] Siegel traveled with the Redskins.[13]

Siegel remarked, vis-a-vis the new Washington Senators that Washington fans knew Calvin Griffith had been a barrier to a decent baseball team.[14]

He wrote Vice President Hubert Humphrey's 1965 speech to the Football Writers Association in Chicago, but complained that Humphrey had left out some of his best lines.[15]

Restauranteur Toots Shor once told his wife, "We’re not interested in what you think, you’re only here because of Morris”. And he said as far as I’m concerned – and [MacPherson has] never forgotten the phrase – "All broads are a piece of raisin cake”. After a strong retort, she enjoyed greater respect.[16]

Before Super Bowl III, Siegel told a Las Vegas bookie that Vince Lombardi gave the Joe Namath and the Jets a chance to upset the Baltimore Colts. When he asked whether that would change the line, bookie Martin replied that that would depend on how much Lombardi bet.[17]

When Edward Bennett Williams owned the Baltimore Orioles, he followed every game intently. On one occasion Williams became agitated after Jim Palmer had begun a home game with two consecutive balls. Siegel told his friend, "Hey, Ed. They play 162 of these things."[18]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Emory Sports Hall of Fame". Emory University. Retrieved 2014-05-14.
  2. ^ a b c d Povich, Shirley (May 1, 2006) [1994]. "All Those Mornings... at the Post: The 20th Century in Sports from Famed Washington Post Columnist Shirley Povich". PublicAffairs. p. 338. Retrieved 2014-05-14. {{cite web}}: |chapter= ignored (help) from June 3, 1994
  3. ^ "OBITS - WASHINGTON STAR ALUMNI: Morris (Mo) Siegel; Veteran Sportswriter Dies at 78 - June 2, 1994". May, 2010. Retrieved 2014-05-14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ Burgess, Bill. "Meet The Sports Writers - Page 22". Retrieved 2014-05-12. Morris Siegel...Wife: Myra MacPherson, married 1964, divorced, 1985
  5. ^ Dodd, Chris (July 1, 1994). "HONORING THE MEMORY OF MORRIS SIEGEL". Congressional Record. p. S8332. Retrieved 2014-05-12.
  6. ^ "VETERAN SPORTS COLUMNIST 'MO' SIEGEL DIES". AP , Associated Press. June 2, 1994. Retrieved 2014-05-12.
  7. ^ Shapiro, T. Rees (July 27, 2010). "Leah Siegel, 43, award-winning ESPN sports producer and D.C. native, dies". Washington Post. Retrieved 2014-05-12.
  8. ^ Hornbaker, Tim (November 17, 2010). "Washington, D.C. Wrestling Television History". Retrieved 2014-05-14. In early October 1956, Morris Siegel replaced Bill Malone as the commentator for the WTTG Thursday night wrestling show. The September 27, 1956 column of Lawrence Laurent (Radio and Television) in the Washington Post and Times Herald reported that Siegel had been signed by Gunther Brewery to do "a number of their local programs." In addition to wrestling on WTTG, he was going to broadcast Monday night boxing on the same network. By Thursday, December 17, 1959, Ray Morgan was the host for Wrestling at Capitol Arena (WTTG) (channel 5) (9:00). Morgan remained the commentator until the show's cancellation during the summer of 1970. {{cite web}}: line feed character in |quote= at position 86 (help)
  9. ^ Toll, George S. Alpha Epsilon Pi: The First Sixty-five Years, 1913-1978. p. 462. Retrieved 2014-05-14.
  10. ^ "Cooke". Vanity Fair, Volume 57. Vanity Fair Publishing Company. 1994. p. 160. Retrieved 2014-05-14.
  11. ^ Reilly, Rick (December 16, 1991). "Larger Than Life In his own estimation, at least, Jack Kent Cooke, the owner of the Washington Redskins, is an immortal". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2014-05-14. However, if I die...." Now, you do not snatch a plump chicken from a skinny coyote, and you do not interrupt Jack Kent Cooke in midaddress. But Mo Siegel, a Washington Times columnist and a Cooke crony, could not help himself. He interrupted. "Wait a minute, Jack," said Mo. "Whaddya mean, if?" Cooke looked as if somebody had just put a thumb in his mustard. He arched his back, pulled back his shoulders, straightened an ascot that didn't need straightening and stared holes in Siegel's eyeballs. There was a torturous pause. "Dear Morrie," sniffed Cooke. "I don't intend to die. {{cite news}}: line feed character in |quote= at position 24 (help); line feed character in |title= at position 17 (help)
  12. ^ Jenkins, Dan (October 06, 1975). "Sacks Put The Game In The Bag With its defense pillaging the Giant backfield and a potent new offense, Washington skinned New York". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2014-05-14. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); line feed character in |title= at position 30 (help)
  13. ^ Underwood, John (July 28, 1969). "We're Going To Win—you Better Believe It As Vince Lombardi shouts his war cry, no Redskin dances with more enthusiasm than Sonny Jurgensen". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2014-05-14. {{cite news}}: line feed character in |title= at position 41 (help)
  14. ^ Astor, Gerald (September 04, 1961). "Almost Like Baseball - Seventh place is seventh heaven in Washington, where Senators' fans never had it so good". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2014-05-14. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ Olderman, Murray (August 26, 1965). "Between you'n'me" (PDF). Daily Freeman. Kingston, New York: Newspaper Enterprise Association. p. 29. Retrieved 2014-05-14.
  16. ^ "Q & A Myra MacPherson "The Scarlet Sisters: Sex, Suffrage, and Scandal in the Gilded Age"". C-SPAN. May 4, 2014. Retrieved 2014-05-12.
  17. ^ O'Brien, Liam. What are the Odds?: An A-Z of Sports & Prop Betting. ISBN 978-1-783-01289-3. Retrieved 2014-05-14. ebook
  18. ^ Thomas, Evan (November 1, 1992). The Man to See. Simon and Schuster. p. 298. Retrieved 2014-05-14.


Category:The Washington Post people Category:People from Atlanta Category:1994 deaths Category:1915 births Category:Cancer deaths in Washington, D.C. Category:United States Navy sailors Category:American military personnel of World War II Category:American sportswriters Category:American sports announcers Category:Alpha Epsilon Pi brothers Category:American people of Polish-Jewish descent Category:Jews and Judaism in Washington, D.C. Category:American Reform Jews Category:American Jews in the military Category:Jewish American writers

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