Friday afternoon, CBS-2 fired one of Gothamist's favorite sports broadcasters, Warner Wolf. Wolf's contract was to expire in August, but CBS-2 got rid of him early, getting rid of a legend in New York sports. Because of the long weekend, the news got lost, which may be why Gothamist didn't hear about this until now. We're upset with CBS-2, getting rid of Wolf in this way. He never said goodbye and we never said goodbye. Wolf told The Times, "I didn't get to say goodbye. So I have to say goodbye to my loyal viewers through you." Warner Wolf started in New York, working for WABC from 1976-1980 and was with WCBS from 1980-1992 and from 1997 until his firing on Friday. To Channel 2, we say, "Shame, shame, shame, shame on you!"
A young Gothamist remembers watching Wolf every day on Channel 2, his funny highlights, his incessant laughing at times, and of course we remember the classic, "Let's go to the videotape!" We'll miss his use of cue cards and his prediction of scores and we'll miss those highlights of horseraces at Aqueduct. We'll miss everything about Warner Wolf. Sadly, an adult Gothamist didn't catch Warner Wolf as much as we would like, but anytime we heard his voice, we were immediately reminded of good times. Gothamist also remembers the first "departure" of Warner Wolf, when Bernie Smilovitz replaced him. Thankfully, Wolf returned to New York a few years later.
Mr. Wolf tells the Daily News that he looks "forward to being on the air as soon as I can." Gothamist hopes that he returns to TV as soon as possible. Until then, we'll replay the moments in our memory, going through our mental videotapes.
