Don Wittman | |
|---|---|
 Wittman broadcasting the 2002 Winter Olympics | |
| Born | Donald Rae Wittman[1] October 9, 1936[1] Herbert, Saskatchewan, Canada |
| Died | January 19, 2008 (aged 71) |
| Other names | Witt |
| Occupation | CBC sportscaster |
Donald Rae Wittman (October 9, 1936[1] – January 19, 2008) was a Canadian sportscaster.
Born in Herbert, Saskatchewan, Wittman attended the University of Saskatchewan and got his start in the field of broadcasting as a news reporter with CFQC radio in Saskatoon in 1955.[2]
Wittman began his long association with CBC Sports on January 1, 1961. He joined CBWT's supper-hour news program 24Hours in 1970 as sports anchor alternating with Bob Picken. He also worked on Winnipeg Jets television and radio broadcasts.[citation needed]
During the late 1970s–early 1980s, Wittman hosted Western Express, a half-hour weekly program broadcast in Western Canada which consisted of lottery ticket drawings for the lottery of the same name. The format of the series included Wittman co-hosting with media and community personalities from towns and cities across the region and conducting interviews in-between ticket drawings. (Western Express later changed its name to The Western and converted to a scratch-card lottery format).[citation needed]
During the Munich massacre crisis at the 1972 Summer Olympics, Wittman and Bob Moir crawled through a hole in a fence to access the Olympic Village and give live reports, while posing as medical staff on the 1972 Canadian Olympic team.[3][4] Wittman and Moir were 50 metres (160 ft) away from the Israeli Olympic team building, and could see the nine hostages sitting in a circle, guarded by the Palestinian terrorist group Black September. They filed radio reports to the CBC, and remained on location all day until the hostages were loaded onto a bus.[5]
In a 1994 interview, Moir discussed the decision to sneak into the Olympic Village by saying,
"We were young and stupid, I guess. [Wittman] and I have always done things like that. We always went after the story."[5]
As a sportscaster, Wittman covered many sports including athletics, baseball, basketball, golf, and was most known as a commentator and announcer for the CBC's CFL coverage, on Hockey Night in Canada, and for major Canadian and international curling tournaments.[2]
Famous events covered by Wittman include Donovan Bailey's 100m sprint world record at the 1996 Summer Olympics[2] and the infamous brawl between Canada and the Soviet Union at the 1987 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.[citation needed]
On January 19, 2008, Wittman died as a result of cancer in a Winnipeg hospital surrounded by his family.[6] He was seventy-one years old, survived by his wife, Judy, two daughters, Karen and Kristen and a son, David.
Wittman won two ACTRA awards,[2] was named Broadcaster of the Year by Sports Media Canada in 2002,[7] and named to the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame in 2003.[8][9] He was inducted into the CBC Sports Hall of Fame in January 2008.[10] Wittman is an "Honoured Member" of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1990.
