It should be boisterous in the Edward Jones Dome this weekend, with the three Midwest Regional games energizing the fans. But the loudest person there just might be on the sidelines, not in the stands. And the noise probably will come from Craig Sager's attire, not his voice.
Sager, who today celebrates his 32nd anniversary of working for Turner Broadcasting, is on hand with play-by-play announcer Marv Albert and analyst Steve Kerr to cover the games tonight and Sunday. Tonight's action will be on TBS, Sunday's on CBS as part of the partnership between the networks that's in its second year.
While many networks often use an attractive young woman or have used a Jim Gray-type bulldog in the reporter's role, Sager is the maverick. His wild wardrobe and looks of a guy much younger than his 63 years, along with his smooth, fun-loving delivery, set him apart.
"I love it, I want to do every game, I have so much fun doing it,'' Sager said this week from his Atlanta-area home as he prepared for the trip to St. Louis, adding he never has missed a day of work
"I've got the greatest job in the world, I get paid to do what everyone else wants to do,'' he said.
But he wasn't always doing what he really wanted to do. He began in the business working in radio and television in several markets before going national in the early 1980s, when he became a sports anchor for CNN. He spent nine years working in the studio and eventually mixed in some live game coverage.
His big break came in 1990, when he covered the World Cup for sister network TNT. The plan was for him to report on-site from Italy for the first half of the soccer tournament, with newcomer Ernie Johnson anchoring the studio coverage. The roles were supposed to reverse for the second half of the tourney, but ...
"I had a great time being out there and wanted to stay, and he had a great time and wanted to stay where he was,'' Sager said, and that's what happened. "It worked out perfectly. It's a great relationship, I want to be out and gone every day and he wants to be at home and in the studio — he does a much better job in the studio than I did, anyway.''
Johnson has developed into one of the top studio hosts in the business — especially on the NBA and now college basketball coverage — and Sager has found his happy home on the sidelines, especially the NBA, with this unique perspective and clothing.
BRIGHTENING THINGS UP
And his wardrobe is immense.
At last count he estimated he had at least 120 sports jackets in his closet plus a bevy of shoes, slacks, ties and other goods. Many are vividly colorful, and he said he might break out some items this weekend that he never has worn.
"I have some that are brand new that are waiting for special occasions like this,'' he said.
Don't expect anything bland.
"I've always liked bright colors,'' he said. "I like lively things.''
There's not doubt the bold look gets noticed.
There was the time a few years ago when he interviewed the Boston Celtics' Kevin Garnett while wearing an electric outfit. It consisted of salmon-colored blazer, red pants, red socks, red shoes, a red-orange hankie in the coat pocket, a white shirt with red stripes and a blue tie with red circles.
Garnett gently tugged on Sager's blazer and good-naturedly said, "I don't care if this is Versace, (any) name brand, I don't care ... you take this suit home and you burn it ... and those shoes, too!''
Part of the Sager mystique is that many people think he never wears the same outfit twice, but he said that is an exaggeration.
"I'm not that wealthy, I'm not that vain,'' he said, chuckling. "But you won't see me wearing the same thing during the baseball season, or you won't see me wearing the same thing in St. Louis that I had last week in Omaha (for the NCAA tourney).''
He loves his wardrobe, but said he doesn't have a clothing allowance in his contract.
"And Uncle Sam doesn't let me write it off,'' he added. "But I get paid enough from Turner than I'm not going nickle them down and worry about that because they take care of me and its something I like to do.''
CLASS CLOWN
Sager said the clothing capers started at a young age, when he was a high school student in Batavia, Ill., a far western suburb of Chicago that he said at the time was "out in the cornfields.
"They told us for our senior picture we had to wear a black or Navy sports coat,'' he said. "I always thought that was kind of boring, I was kind of the class clown. I showed up in a Nehru jacket that The Monkeys (band) had.''
He said it was white with a blue collar.
"At first they didn't want to let me take the picture, but they let me do it anyway,'' he said. "In the yearbook you see everybody that looks like (it's) a military school,'' except for Sager. "I had fun with it.''
After going to college at Northwestern, his taste in clothing caused a stir early in his career.
He had been working in radio when he decided to audition for a weathercasting job with a TV station, and said he had to submit a tape to management as part of the evaluation process.
"I didn't have a sports coat, I had to find something so I went over to a Goodwill-type place,'' he said.
What he found was something that "probably some former golfer threw away — this blue, white and yellow Seersucker sports coat. I said, 'Sweet!'"
He got the job, but the ensuing news he received wasn't so sweet.
"They told me, 'You did a great job (on the tape), but you just can't wear that coat.' I said 'Why?' (and they said) 'Because it ruins the cameras, they can't focus on you.'"
HERZOG'S HELP
His early career had several stops in Florida, including Ft. Myers, where the Kansas City Royals held spring training. He got to know Whitey Herzog, the team's manager at the time, and said Herzog made a huge impact on his career — an opening came up at a Kansas City TV station and Herzog was in his corner.
"He said to the station, 'Why don't you hire Sager, he works harder than anybody else I've ever been around, he knows the team.' Whitey fought for me and helped me get to Kansas City. I always say to him, 'Whitey, if it wasn't for you I'd still be in Ft. Myers.' He says, 'Damn right, you would be!' ''
That job was a key stepping-stone to Turner, and his current long-lasting gig.
When he got there he had to tame things a bit at CNN because of its conservative image.
But since moving to the sidelines he's been able to dress it up. And he loves to shop to fill his closet, especially when he is on the road. He has a list of stores he regularly visits in NBA cities. And he also loves to explore, as he did last fall when he was in town for Turner's coverage of the Cardinals' first two playoff series.
"Because the Cardinals kept going, and going, and going — I didn't necessarily think they were going to go that far — ... I had to do some shopping in St. Louis,'' he said, adding that he visited Neiman Marcus. "I got a couple of the outfits I wore for baseball. I try to support the local economy.''
And while he is best know for his NBA work, Sager said he gets a kick out of working on college basketball.
"Doing the NBA is great, they're the greatest athletes in the world and we have such a relationship with them'' he said. "And I know them all and they all know me. It's fun.''
But he described the enjoyment the had interviewing a Norfolk State player after his team upset Mizzou last week in Omaha:
"I'm interviewing Kyle O'Quinn and he goes, 'I told my mom I talked to you yesterday' and she said, 'You be star of the game and you get to talk to him again!' Where (else) do you get stuff like that. Nowhere.''
SAGER'S SANCTUARY
Besides the wide array of clothing in his house, Sager also has an interesting variety of offbeat sports memorabilia, perhaps the most unusual a piece of "droppings'' produced by Seattle Slew the night before he won the Belmont Stakes in 1977 to claim horse racing's Triple Crown. Sager said he slept in the barn that night.
"I thought it would be a great souvenir, so I put it in a little bag and brought it home and shellacked it,'' he said. "It's a great conversation piece.''
The conversation doesn't end there. He described many other unique items in his basement, including:
• A bra from Morganna Roberts, the buxom "kissing bandit'' who ran on the field to smooch ballplayers in the 1970s and '80s.
• A jock strap worn by George Brett.
• The first home run ball Michael Jordan hit after he tried his hand in the minors in a failed effort to move from basketball to baseball.
• The sand wedge Tom Watson used on the 17th hole for his famous chip-in in the 1982 U.S. Open that vaulted him to victory.
• A ball used in a game in which legendary soccer player Pele played.
• The torch Muhammad Ali used to light the flame that opened the 1996 Summer Olympics, in Atlanta.
• The headband Bears quarterback Jim McMahon wore in 1985 emblazoned with the name "Rozelle'' as McMahon was protesting having been fined by commissioner Pete Rozelle for having worn an unauthorized headband.
"I'm one of those who likes to collect things, I have every baseball card I ever had as a kid,'' he said. "Things that mean something to me (are important and) I've got quite a few things. It shows what a fan I am, maybe that's why I have so much fun because I'm the biggest sports fan.
"I walked on at Northwestern in football and basketball and got hurt playing football. I made the basketball team but got cut and became a cheerleader, then became 'Willie the Wildcat,'" the team mascot. "I just always wanted to be around it, wanted to be part of it. I did whatever it took to do it.''
And now?
"I'm living the dream,'' he said.
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