people & happenings
REMEMBERING BELOVED AMERICAN JOURNALIST AND SPORTSCASTER ARTHUR WORTH “ BUD ” COLLINS ( 1929 – 2016 )
By Jennifer Johnston , Media & Communications Coordinator riginally from Ohio , Arthur Worth “ Bud ” Collins
O arrived in Massachusetts to attend graduate school at Boston University after serving in the U . S . Army in the
1950s . He was the tennis coach at Brandeis University from 1959 to 1963 ; his 1959 team , including Abbie Hoffman , was the only undefeated team in Brandeis tennis history .
While a student at Boston University , Bud started working as a sportswriter for the Boston Herald . In 1963 , he began providing tennis commentary for WGBH , really creating , single handedly , the televising of tennis . He then moved to the Boston Globe where he worked various capacities , including general columnist , political reporter , war correspondent in Viet Nam , and travel writer . His main contribution was in sports . Bud covered all the Boston sports teams , including the 1967 “ Impossible Dream ” season of the Red Sox . His first beat was boxing . Bud covered most of Muhammed Ali ’ s fights , including “ The Rumble in the Jungle ,” Zaire 1974 .
Bud was the first journalist to make the move from writing to broadcasting . Now it is common . In his 55 years of television , he worked for CBS , NBC , PBS , ESPN , XM Satellite Radio , various networks around the world , finishing up at Tennis Channel . He became a legendary source of knowledge , known as “ google ” before there was Google . He dedicated untold hours to mentoring young people in the broadcast booths and press rooms of the world . Whenever a colleague approached to ask a question , Bud always replied “ ask two ”— even when he was on deadline .
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