Managing Editor
The Boston Globe didn’t know how good they had it in the summer of 1968. That summer, Bob Ryan and Peter Gammons started their sports department internships on the same day.
Now, 42 years later, both men are still regarded as some of the most brilliant minds in New England and national sports.
Ryan, who has been covering basketball since that first summer, has already claimed his place as one of the nation’s best columnists. From his Celtics coverage in the 1970s to his appearances on ESPN’s Pardon The Interruption, his knowledge of sports is unquestionable.
On Monday, the hoops guru will make his way to the birthplace of basketball. Ryan will lead a Q-and-A discussion in the Dodge Ball Room (E and F) from 4:45 to 6:15 p.m.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for our students, not just in journalism, but throughout the college, to hear someone who is as well versed in sports as Bob Ryan,” said Associate Professor of Communications Marty Dobrow.
“He’s one of the most recognizable sports columnists in the country, and in New England, he’s iconic.”
Ryan has made the transition from print to television in recent years with appearances on Pardon the Interruption and Around the Horn and has continued to influence the world of sports, basketball in particular.
“He maintains a tremendously youthful energy,” said Dobrow. “Basketball is his thing, and he probably knows more about basketball than most people know about anything.”
Dobrow, who covered UMass-Amherst athletics for the Globe prior to his current freelance job with ESPN, remembers appearing on talk shows when the Minutemen were in the NCAA tournament.
“I thought I knew my stuff pretty well because I had been covering the team for quite a while,” said Dobrow.
“Ryan was another panelist, and I just sat there in absolute awe of the amount of information and historical connections he could make.”
Corey Hanlon may be reached at chanlon@springfieldcollege.edu