Washington had a love affair with George Michael for nearly 30 years. If we were into sports, we were enamored of his way with video tape and inside skinny on the Skins; maybe we just liked his face, his big smile and boisterous presentation of even the most mundane athletic event. For more than a quarter-century, he was the face of Washington sports.
Behind the “Sports Machine” hoopla and the TV sportscaster pioneer was a real-life love affair that George Michael didn’t broadcast. Didn’t need to. His partner in writing and producing his shows was Pat Lackman, his wife since 1978.
In thinking about George and all he meant to us Washingtonians, my heart goes out to Pat. I interviewed them back in February 2007 for an article in Washingtonian magazine. They were leaving NBC4. George had quit when the station had cut back his crew to reduce costs.
I came to talk about sportscasting and why NBC had decided to dismantle the franchise sports coverage operation that Michael had created; I wound up marveling at the semisecret marriage between the star and his writer. I learned that two high-powered people can work, love and live together.
George and Pat met in 1974. He was moving from doing radio in Philadelphia to his first TV gig in New York. He was a bachelor raising three children on his own; she was working in hotel marketing in Philly, coming up on weekends. Super Bowl Sunday rolled around, his writer called in sick, and he took his shot. “Pat,” he said, “I’m going to need you to write for me. You know as much about sports as any jerk here.”
“OK,” she said, “I’ll give it a try.”
The producer called him the next day and asked: “Who the hell is that writer?”
Pat signed on to be his partner.
“It was a courtship that turned into a working relationship,” George told me.
That working relationship helped change sports reporting for good. They came to Washington in 1980. NBC4 was fourth in ratings; by 1984 it was No. 1 and stayed at the top. They and their team of writers and producers broke new ground in sports reporting. The “Sports Machine” was the first to make lavish use of video.
ESPN is simply expanding on techniques George Michael and Pat Lackman first used.
Here’s what else you might not know about George and Pat. They raised George’s three kids. They lived on a 160-acre farm in Comus, Md., near Sugar Loaf Mountain. They became the top breeders of black and white horses.
I asked George to name his favorite team owner. “Abe Pollin,” he said in a flash. Why? “Loyalty and integrity.”
I would say George Michael had both in big doses. And I imagine those are just two of the reasons Pat Lackman loved him and loved to work with him.
E-mail Harry Jaffe at [email protected].
