Critics (some even his good buddies) will say that he didn't do enough major events to warrant a Hall of Fame resume. Jim did Marshall University football and basketball while maintaining his duties of doing 6 and 11 p.m. for WSAZ sports (Huntington, WVA) from 1954 to 1967. Thacker moved to Charlotte in 1968 to take the job of ACC football and basketball as well as sports director for WBTV. He did some freelance stuff with CBS with the Masters, NCAA basketball (women too), NASCAR, NFL, and PGA Championship for British TV. Remember at one time, he did both radio and television on the scene and behind for a local network with Sun Belt basketball. Finally, he helped ESPN in their infancy, doing college football, basketball, racing, USFL, and golf.
Besides his impressive resume and talent (who many guys can do radio and television?), I like his ability to get out of his own way. He had a great voice and make the game so easy (he was an auctioneer) but he put the importance of the game ahead of himself. When you hear him or watch the game on television, live or taped, he didn't have those famous cliches or phrases. Maybe, he will say something about the game being a "barn burner." You really don't remember him but you will remember the game and the participants such as coaches and players. Particularly in television since color television was a fairly new concept. Therefore, his belief was let the picture talk and talk when needed. If a guy made a great play, he would make an enthusiastic comment but he let the action speak more.
A writer once mentioned that if Jim was commentating over a family dinner with utensils, he would listen to what he had to say. That was his broadcasting charm. Unlike other broadcasters, he served mentors to many broadcasters who exist today like Harold Johnson, Mike Hogewood, Paul Cameron, Brett McMillan, Bob Rathbun, Billy Packer, and so many others. Do you see that in other broadcasters who do that kind of mentoring? They usually only keep it within their family. Jim married but didn't have any kids but I don't think that would have mattered. Most broadcasters are too insecure to share or discover new talent. But Jim was about improving quality for himself and others.
However, the one aspect that stands out about Jim from other broadcasters is that he never allowed himself to get biased or regionalized. He did Big 10 games for basketball and football. Yeah, he was ACC and is southern very proud of it, I might add. But it wasn't a crutch to hold on to. In addition, he always kept preparing for something new and different. Shoot, he could broadcast cricket without knowing anything about it for the BBC. Just give him time and he could the make the game interesting to listen for hardcore fans. Lastly, he was a pioneer. The games he did for ESPN then weren't that great because ESPN didn't give him a research team of interns, travel expenses, or camera angles like they do now as well as time to prepare. He had to do it on the go (lucky to get a sheet with a correct names from the AD). Yet, he was asked to come back. Why?
I believe it is due to him being a reporter who could go down, get the materials, and make the story on that day with short notice (You were lucky if the AD gave you the right names of players?). With him doing sports for affiliates is impressive, considering at that time, you couldn't stick to one conference like he did with ACC. You really had to move. Thereby, you couldn't develop professional relationships with coaches, players, athletic directors, and staff from the schools had he stayed within his conference like "homer" announcers. Now, there may be stories about him like you hear about players that media and writers vent about. From what I heard, a professional.
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| Covering the 1975 Masters. |
