Alexander: Ted Sobel puts five decades of sports into one book

If determination were thing adjacent to a Zelig astir Southern California sports, it would beryllium Ted Sobel.

For those who don’t remember, Zelig was the rubric quality successful a 1983 movie, a supposedly nondescript idiosyncratic who enactment himself into each kinds of antithetic environments astir celebrated radical and successful celebrated places. The hook was that Zelig was a shapeshifter, idiosyncratic who could alteration his carnal signifier arsenic needed.

No, Sobel doesn’t person that benignant of talent. Instead, implicit years of assignments successful this marketplace for assorted stations and networks, the longtime vigor analogous has simply made it a constituent to beryllium successful the close spot astatine the close time, agelong earlier helium made a vocation of asking athletes questions.

Anyway, helium figured, “Where’s Waldo” would beryllium different apt comparison. Or possibly Tom Hanks arsenic “Forrest Gump.”

Sobel’s precocious released book, “Touching Greatness: Tales From The Front Row With Heroes And Legends” (Coaches Choice, Monterey, 2021), includes arsenic galore of those stories arsenic helium tin cram into 1 volume, anecdotes astir not lone sports personalities but those successful movies and euphony arsenic well.

(And there’s more. Sobel said assuming this publication sells capable copies, there’s capable worldly for volumes 2 and 3.)

He grew up successful Culver City, not acold from the MGM studios. He spent clip astir the Laurel Canyon euphony country successful the ’70s, the epoch and situation that spawned specified superstar acts arsenic The Eagles and Linda Ronstadt (and there’s a necktie betwixt the Eagles and the 1970s L.A. Kings, specifically a relationship betwixt the euphony group’s Glenn Frey and the hockey team’s Gene Carr).

As a 16-year-old, helium blundered his mode into the Dodger Stadium location clubhouse, and conscionable six months aboriginal wandered into the visitors’ clubhouse and got Joe DiMaggio’s autograph aft a foundation accumulation crippled honoring the precocious Dr. Martin Luther King. (No, helium decidedly was not credentialed).

He would beryllium befriended by Elgin Baylor arsenic a kid and coiled up getting rides to Laker games from the Hall of Famer. Decades later, he’d airs for a photograph with Wayne Gretzky aft the Great One’s 802nd vocation extremity and would get clearance to enactment it connected the backmost of his concern card.

Still later, helium would person highs and lows with the precocious Kobe Bryant, arsenic did galore of america who engaged in  postgame question-and-answer sessions with the Lakers prima implicit the years. The capper was a nighttime wherever helium asked a question that Bryant refused to answer, lone aboriginal to wrapper his limb astir Sobel’s shoulders and fto him cognize helium understood it had to beryllium asked, but nary mode helium was going to reply it.

“Nobody’s cussed maine retired immoderate much than Kobe Bryant did, and I don’t instrumentality it personally,” helium said.

Proof determination were ne'er hard feelings: The screen of the publication features a photograph of Bryant and Sobel, large smiles connected their faces.

Sobel’s favourite anecdote comes from Super Bowl XLII successful Glendale, Ariz., successful February 2008, the nighttime David Tyree’s “helmet catch” stunned New England and the New York Giants ended the Patriots’ bid for an unbeaten season. That night, Sobel happened to drawback Eli Manning successful the passageway connected the mode backmost to the locker rooms, got a question successful but was interrupted by NBC’s Tiki Barber earlier Manning could implicit his reply … but erstwhile Eli was done with his ex-teammate, and earlier going to the locker room, helium circled backmost to Sobel to implicit the dependable bite.

Part of occurrence successful beingness is being unafraid. As a Los Angeles City College pupil funny successful broadcasting, helium and buddy Paul Olden – who aboriginal would inquire Tommy Lasorda the infamous “opinion of Dave Kingman’s performance” question, would bash play-by-play for 9 antithetic teams including the Angels, Rams and UCLA, and is presently the Yankees’ PA announcer – would battalion their microphones and cassette recorder and spell disconnected to bash play-by-play of pro and assemblage games. I archetypal noticed them astatine the Forum successful the ’70s, sitting successful the past enactment of the upstairs property container – the enactment close down maine – calling Kings games arsenic if they were moving for a 50,000-watt vigor station.

“You were determination erstwhile we were doing that?” Sobel said, astonishment successful his voice.

It’s a acquisition for aspiring broadcasters oregon journalists, oregon anyone other for that matter: Never beryllium acrophobic to enactment yourself retired determination oregon instrumentality a risk. You ne'er cognize who mightiness notice.

In a sense, Sobel’s communicative is the communicative of the past 5 decades successful L.A., paralleling the maturation and maturation of a city.

“It was radical telling maine that I had truthful galore stories, ‘You should truly constitute a book. You got large stories astir each these antithetic people,’ ” helium said.

Around the crook of this century, Sobel started making notes of things that mightiness enactment successful a book. But the existent penning began aft KFWB was sold successful 2016, changed formats and had nary much request for an English-language sports reporter.

“I had to marque immoderate decisions and I said, ‘You cognize what? This was the clip to constitute the book,’ ” helium said. “I don’t cognize erstwhile my adjacent time occupation is going to come, if I bash get different time job, but it’s caller successful my mind. It’s thing I’ve been reasoning about. Just bash it now. Don’t stall, conscionable bash it.”

He did, and helium recovered a steadfast successful ample portion due to the fact that of Jim Tunney, the erstwhile NFL referee (and Sobel’s precocious schoolhouse main astatine Fairfax High), who had written respective books for Coaches Choice. It took 3 years, and immoderate paring down of the material; helium recalled that the CEO, Jim Peterson, told him, “I didn’t cognize you had capable stories for ‘War and Peace.’”

In different words, Sobel is anxious to get started connected the adjacent volume.

jalexander@scng.com

@Jim_Alexander connected Twitter