Michael Burgess: Celebrating the wonderful legacy left by Radio Sport

Radio Sport's Allen McLaughlin during his last commentary game at Mt Smart. Photo / file.

When it closed down last Monday, Radio Sport was a week away from its 22nd birthday.

It had been on air for 8030 days.

And I reckon I had listened in for 6000 of those — maybe more.

For the past decade or so, it was often in a professional capacity, but sport on the radio has always been vitally important for me, and during my childhood, was the only alternative to being at the ground or stadium.

Growing up in West Auckland, we never had a television.

It was a choice made by my mother, who felt that hours in front of the goggle box weren't good for young minds.

I'm eternally grateful now, as that decision developed a love of books and reading that has never gone away, but there were times when it seemed particularly traumatic.

In the mid-1980s, it felt like the whole country was watching The A-Team on Sunday nights.

Certainlythe entire playground at Avondale Primary were talking about BA Baracus and the gang, while I feigned knowledge.

It was the same when Michael Jackson's groundbreaking Thriller video came out in 1983, as the school nation were in raptures about it for weeks, while I pretended I had seen it.

But myangst was mostly about sport.

There wasn't a lot of live product back then, mainly highlights on Sport on One (Saturday) and Sunday Grandstand, which I would catch sometimes.

There was also the wonderful Big League Soccer on Sunday mornings.

I didn't see any of the All Whites at the 1982 World Cup — though I was very young anyway — or Lance Cairns clubbing his sixes at the MCG in 1983.

Likewise New Zealand's record chase for 296 in Adelaide, inspired by Richard Hadlee and Jeremy Coney, or the Kiwis' heroics at Lang Park the same year.

I read Shoot magazine, Soccer Express and Rugby League Week, and devoured all the reports in the Herald and Auckland Star.

But for me, live sport was on the radio — and radio was king.

The broadcasts of club or international league from Carlaw Park, with the commentators seemingly sitting in the grandstand, such was the noise all around them.

Cricket commentaries from around New Zealand, in towns and cities that existed for me only on a map.

Rugby as well, and the tension was indescribable as Auckland claimed the Ranfurly Shield at a heaving Lancaster Park in 1985, where the final stages seemed to go on for an eternity.

Even the 1990 Commonwealth Games, particularly the thrilling scenes with cyclist Gary Anderson claiming three gold medals

There was also magic from around the world; "Hadlee's series" in 1985 in Australia came via wireless, as did the circket tour to England in 1986. I saw some FA Cup finals on television (in the 1980s, it was just about the only live football shown each year) but also remember waking up at 1am to listen to a BBC radio broadcast of a Liverpool v Everton decider and being absolutely entranced.

All those experiences developed a love for sport on the radio that has never really died.

My university years were spent listening to Sports Roundup in the summer and then, from 1998, Radio Sport — the shows, the talkback, the commentaries.

The station seemed to have someone in every corner of the country, and they were all sports nuts, and plenty of larger-than-life personalities.

Martin Devlin was compulsive listening on breakfast, and Brendan Telfer was equally engaging, though at a different pace.

The debates between the two — often moderated by producer Glen "Dalai" Larmer, were sometimes heated, always entertaining and great radio.

I enjoyed Graeme Hill in the afternoons, especially his extended interviews with sporting legends.

Then there was the always unpredictable night shift, driven at different times by Andrew Dewhurst, Kent Johns or Mark Watson. Allen McLaughlin was the most exciting league commentator on either side of the Tasman.

Fast forward a decade or so, and I started meeting Radio Sport reporters and commentators in a professional capacity, at media sessions and games we were covering.

Around 2015, we officially became colleagues, as NZME was created and later we were in the same building in central Auckland.

Martin Devlin dishes out the cake for the 20th birthday of Radio Sport. 6 April 2018 New Zealand Herald Photograph by Michael Craig

It was fascinating to see the commitment, drive and at times chaos it takes to produce hours of live radio on a daily basis.

Not everything went smoothly at first, as some of the old hands at the Herald didn't always appreciate the decibel levels that could emerge in discussing ideas and topics before a particular show, but things gradually aligned.

It was always a privilege to be invited into the studio to discuss the topic de jour, or give an update on breaking news, and the sense of fun and camaraderie among the Radio Sport crew never ceased to amaze.

The indefinite closure of the station, a product of the immense disruption wreaked by the Covid-19 virus, was dreadfully sad for all the people involved, and for the sports-loving public of this country.

But we should also celebrate the wonderful legacy created by the station, and a unique chapter in New Zealand broadcasting history.