Some health insurers terminate the contracts of older people who cost them money (as if they had not been paying and benefiting them when they were young and had no ailments), airlines do not let pilots over a certain age fly their planes, Banks retire their experienced executives early to replace them with others who earn less… But in the world of American sports, ageism does not exist, and one can continue at the top of the canyon as long as one wants, one does it well, and one’s health allows it. “I will retire the day I stop having fun doing what I do,” says Al Michaels, who narrates Thursday NFL games for Amazon Prime (with Kirk Herbstreit at his side as an analyst), and earns 15 million euros per season. On social networks, where bad temper abounds, there are those who claim that his style has become obsolete and criticize his “lack of energy” when there is a touchdown or an interception, as if wisdom were the one who shouts the loudest, but its measured tone has many followers. A constant man, he married his girlfriend at the age of 21, and they are still together. Stability is the formula for your success.
It is one thing to be a commentator who follows the games from a bird’s eye view from a privileged receptacle that is proof of inclement weather, and another to be on the sideline, in the cold, rain and even snow. Surely there is no coach who reaches Michaels’ age, you will think… Flatly false. Tom Moore, offensive advisor for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is 86 years old (although no one would say it) and has no date for retirement. Former university player, with a degree in History, he retrained as a coach on the legendary Chuck Knoll’s team of the Pittsburgh Steelers, winning two Super Bowls with them, one with the Indianapolis Colts (as offensive coordinator) and the last with his current team, when Tom Brady was the quarterback . “No matter how good you are at what you do, you’re always half a step away from being fired,” his father, a foreman at the Kearney shipyard in New Jersey, where many of the destroyers and battleships that were built, told Hubie Brown. They fought in World War II. When the conflict ended, he was left without a job, working for the sewing machine factory. Singer and as a cleaner in a school.
At 86, Tom Moore endures the cold, rain and snow as an offensive advisor for the Tampa Buccaneers
Hubie has been much luckier. And although he was fired as coach of the Knicks, the Memphis Grizzlies and the Atlanta Hawks, at 90 years old he continues to work as an NBA analyst, where he coached Oscar Robertson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and teams that played against Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. He participates in thirty broadcasts a year (two per week plus the playoffs), traveling from one side of the country to the other and always has the same routine. Arrive the night before, have dinner in the room, make a list of things you want to do the next morning and watch at least two performances by each of the contenders to familiarize yourself with their game, see who is in shape and who is not. When he takes his place at the foot of the pitch, many professionals approach him to greet him and ask for advice. Inspires respect. “Never underestimate the intelligence of the audience, it’s not just about what happens, but why,” he says.
Al McCoy, who died last September, was the voice of the Phoenix Suns until he was almost 90, traveling from coast to coast for six months, and Marv Albert retired at 80 after having called 8 Super Bowls, 9 NBA Finals , 2 baseball World Series and 7 hockey Stanley Cups. Sometimes age doesn’t count.
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