Early in my working life, I wanted most of all to be a sportscaster.  After all, I followed sports closely and knew a lot about the sports world.  So I got a job at a small radio station and had my first assignment, to do play-by-play for a high school football game.  I could be off by a year or two, but I believe this was 1970.

Let’s just say I learned through that experience how sportscasting is much more difficult than it looks.  Fortunately, I learned from my terrible performance that night and went on to broadcast high school and small college sports for several years before hanging up my microphone.

What I learned most from that is how the best in the sports broadcasting business make it look easy.  That’s what John Saunders did, from his ESPN debut in 1986 until his death was announced August 10th. ESPN did not announce any of the circumstances surrounding Saunders’ death, but it appears to have been a sudden event.

He was a Canadian who played at the junior hockey level up north, giving him credibility in dealing with other athletes.  Saunders was a mentor for former players thrown into the role of TV analyst with little or no training.  He also mentored young journalists, like ESPN’s Jemel Hill.

As a fan of college football and the weekly “Sports Reporters”  round-table discussion, I will miss his talents most there.

But this man was clearly loved by his colleagues at ESPN and highly respected by his competitors at other networks.  His coworkers will miss him the most.

It’s going to be a tough time in Bristol, Connecticut (HQ for ESPN) for a while without John Saunders on the set.