Greg Hoard, the newspaper sportswriter who later anchored TV sports and wrote books on Gary Burbank and Joe Nuxhall, died Thursday. He was 73.
Born in the rural southern Indiana town of Blocher, Hoard came to Cincinnati in the winter of 1979 to be a sportswriter for the Cincinnati Post. Five years later he moved to the Cincinnati Enquirer in 1984 as Reds beat writer, covering Pete Rose鈥檚 return as manager and his 1989 banishment from Major League Baseball.
During the Rose investigation Hoard "was tenacious,鈥� says Bill Thompson, an Enquirer sports colleague. 鈥淗e could talk to anybody. He knew everybody. He was always breaking news, and he was always right. He was made for that job.鈥�
Greg Noble, one of Hoard鈥檚 closest friends since they worked together at the Post, said Hoard 鈥渨as the most charismatic guy I鈥檝e ever known.鈥� He recalled that Hoard got an exclusive interview with Baseball Commissioner Bart Giamatti in 1989 during a trip to New York, at the height of the Rose gambling investigation.
鈥淗e got Giamatti to talk when nobody else could talk to him 鈥� by walking down the street with him in Times Square,鈥� Noble says. He called Hoard 鈥渁 very talented writer, a very good wordsmith.鈥�
Hoard was not on the Reds beat for the Post when the MLB players strike ended in July 1981, but he called overnight editor Noble and volunteered to help on the story by trying to reach future Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench. Failing to reach Bench (years before cell phones) Hoard got some coffee and headed to the Reds offices in Riverfront Stadium 鈥� where he ran into Bench. 鈥淗e got a great exclusive story with Bench because he was the only guy there,鈥� Noble says.
Hoard gave up the Reds beat after the 1989 season, right before the 1990 Reds went wire-to-wire and won the World Series. Hoard didn鈥檛 want to travel; he wanted to be home more with his wife, Cindy, and twin sons Joe and John, Their daughter Megan was born a few years later. Hoard surprised some Enquirer colleagues in April 1990 by leaving the paper to anchor sports at WLWT-TV after Ken Broo jumped to WKRC-TV.
鈥淕reg gave up a job he loved (covering baseball), and it just wasn鈥檛 about money,鈥� says Noble, Enquirer sports editor from 1984 to 1996. 鈥淔amily was important to Greg. He coached his sons in Knothole and youth football, and passed on his love of tennis to them.鈥�
George Vogel remembers Hoard arriving at WLWT-TV, as main sports anchor and sports director, and asking his coworkers for help since he didn鈥檛 know anything about TV.
鈥淗e was so easy to work with.鈥� Vogel says. If he muffed a line in a sportscast, 鈥渉e鈥檇 laugh off his mistake on air and keep on going. He was a good dude. Very fun to work with.鈥�
In October of 1993, after his WLWT-TV contract expired, he jumped to WXIX-TV鈥檚 news start-up as sports director and sports anchor. He worked 12 years at Channel 19 before returning to print after publishing his Joe Nuxhall biography in 2004, "Joe: Rounding Third and Heading for Home," with Nuxhall.
鈥淕reg was a gifted writer. I was always envious how easy it came to him,鈥� says Ron 鈥淩ufus鈥� Millennor, Hoard鈥檚 producer at Channels 5 and 19. 鈥淗e was just a good man with a great sense of humor. The thing I remember most about Greg was that he always talked about his family. He loved Cindy and the kids so much. They were always on his mind. Everything he did he did for them.鈥�
Sportswriter and author Bill Koch, who also worked with Hoard at the Cincinnati Post, described Hoard as 鈥渁 talented, versatile writer, and a very bright guy who became one of my closest friends.鈥� After Hoard joined the Enquirer, they competed against each other on stories 鈥� and continued to compete with each other in softball, basketball, touch football and tennis.
鈥淲e played sports together 鈥� although neither of us was as good as we thought we were, and afterwards enjoyed beers together at the old Barleycorn's Downtown. He could make me laugh like few people I've ever known. I don't have the words to express how much I'll miss him,鈥� Koch says.
A running joke with friends was how people confused Hoard with comedian David Brenner. Once a man approached Hoard in a New York establishment and said Carly Simon wanted to meet him. Noble says Hoard replied: 鈥淣o she doesn鈥檛. I鈥檓 not who she thinks I am.鈥� Another time Hoard was interviewing Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda in his Dodger Stadium office when Lasorda introduced Hoard as Brenner to a group of out-of-town writers. Hoard played along, Noble says.
After leaving Fox 19, Hoard edited Cincinnati Profile and Cincinnati Gentleman magazines. He also wrote three more books: A biography of longtime WLW-AM radio humorist Gary Burbank in 2009, "Voices in my Head: The Gary Burbank Story;" "Hannan鈥檚 Way: An Unlikely Trek Through Life;" and "The Human Element: The Foundation of Business At Its Best," with Richard Hannan.
Hoard also contributed to Sports Illustrated, Baseball America, Baseball Digest, PressProsMagazine.com, NFL Game Day and Comey & Shepherd鈥檚 Best Fine Homes magazine.
Hoard graduated from Scottsburg High School near his hometown of Blocher, Ind., about 35 miles north of Louisville, Ky. He attended Hanover College and Emory University, and started his newspaper career at a small Indiana paper.
鈥淗e thought he hit the jackpot when he got to the Cincinnati Post, covering sports in a major league town,鈥� Noble says.
When funeral services are announced, I鈥檒l add them here.
