News on the passing of Jerry Remy, Ernie Johnson’s son Michael and Bob Neumeier. Also: ESPN has hired a new NBA analyst.
Red Sox’ Remy has died after 13 years with cancer
Longtime Boston Red Sox analyst Jerry Remy has died after 13 years with lung cancer. Remy, a Red Sox TV analyst since 1988, was initially diagnosed in 2008 and suffered multiple recurrences that required a leave of absence from the broadcast booth, most recently in August.
Remy made his last public appearance earlier this month, throwing out the first pitch at the Yankees-Red Sox Wild Card game. [Boston Globe 10.31]
Michael Johnson, son of Ernie, has passed
Michael Johnson, the 33-year-old son of Turner Sports host Ernie Johnson Jr., died Friday at age 33. As chronicled in a 2015 E:60 profile, the elder Johnson and his wife Cheryl adopted Michael from a Romanian orphanage in 1991 after watching an ABC 20/20 report on the plight of such children. Michael had been abandoned and faced multiple health challenges, including a progressive form of muscular dystrophy that eventually required the use of a ventilator. Johnson said on his Twitter account that he and his family are grieving but “at the same time so grateful for having been witnesses to a miraculous 33 years with [M]ichael.”
Neumeier, longtime NBC horse racing analyst, dies
Longtime NBC horse racing analyst Bob Neumeier, known in Boston for his two-decade run with WBZ-TV and a later run with Comcast SportsNet New England (now NBC Sports Boston), died last week at age 70. Neumeier had been dealing with congestive heart failure and heart disease and had been in hospice care for two months, according to the Boston Globe. He suffered a stroke in 2014 but recovered and returned to the air not long after. [Boston Globe 10.24]
ESPN hires Redick
ESPN last week announced the hiring of J.J. Redick as an NBA studio analyst. Redick is set to make his debut this coming Wednesday and contribute to ESPN’s usual slate of studio shows. He is also set to call select games from the broadcast booth. Redick previously made a guest appearance on “NBA Countdown” in 2016 and on the Bill Simmons-hosted “Grantland Basketball Hour” the previous year. [ESPN PR]
