George Michael died he was 70

George Michael^[1] died he was 70, Michael was a sportscaster best known nationally for his long-running American sports highlights show called The George Michael Sports Machine. Started as a local show in 1980 called George Michael's Sports Final^[2] and then nationally syndicated in 1984, the nationally broadcast show was distributed for syndication by NBC until it left the air following the March 25, 2007 airing. Michael won a Sports Emmy in 1985 for his work on The George Michael Sports Machine.

George Michaels signed off he was 70
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(March 24, 1939 – December 24, 2009)

A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Michael anchored the sports desk at WRC-TV (News 4) in Washington DC from 1980 to 2007. Previously he was a WABC-AM disk jockey known as "King" George Michael, and was noted for his energetic style. Several incidents from his radio stint at WABC in New York City have been chronicled in deejay "Cousin Brucie" Morrow's autobiography.^[3] George Michael replaced Morrow at WABC in 1974. Before that he was the popular evening deejay at Philadelphia's WFIL Radio (560 kHz) from 1966 until his move to WABC. While in New York, he also served for several seasons as a commentator on New York Islanders telecasts, where he was paired mainly with Tim Ryan.

As a sports broadcaster at WRC, Michael was easily one of the most popular media personalities in the Washington area. Michael got significant latitude in his programming, employing a bevy of segments some might consider old-fashioned, including his "Tuesday Replays" and "Wednesday Wrestling." He also had devoted extensive coverage to and was considered a significant influence in the popularity of NASCAR, broadcasting interviews with famous drivers such as Dale Earnhardt well before that sport became what it is today. An avid equestrian himself, Michael also broadcast segments on bull riding and rodeo.

Michael's affable personality had endeared him to the curmudgeonliest of local and national sports personalities and landed rare interviews. For example, Michael's team at WRC had been the only local sportscasters allowed to broadcast from inside the Washington Redskins' FedEx Field during the season.

In November 2005, Michael was seriously injured in a horseback riding accident. He broke several ribs and injured his wrists during the equine mishap at his Comus farm in upper Montgomery County, Maryland. Michael resumed his duties in December 2005.

Michael left his role as WRC's daily sports anchor on March 1, 2007 following a dispute with WRC-TV (News 4) over layoffs of his staff. The George Michael Sports Machine went off the air on March 25, 2007.^[4][5] He continued to host weekend sports panel shows, such as Full Court Press (basketball season) and Redskins Report (football season) as well as interviews at Redskins Park on Mondays with Jim Zorn and Joe Bugel through December 2008. He was completely dropped from WRC due to budget cuts despite the fact Redskins Report was consistently one of WRC's top shows. He indicated at the time of his layoff, he would like to work on a panel show again but not on a nightly newscast.^[6]

Michael died on Dec. 24, 2009, at 70 years old after a two-year battle with cancer.^[7][8]

^{To see more of who died in 2009 click here}