The Big Lead

Sports media critic who gave Bob Costas his first job passes away

By J.P. Hoornstra

Mar 17, 2013; San Francisco, CA, USA; MLB Network sportscasters Bob Costas (left) and Harold Reynolds (right) before the game between Japan and Puerto Rico during the World Baseball Classic semifinal at AT&T Park.
Mar 17, 2013; San Francisco, CA, USA; MLB Network sportscasters Bob Costas (left) and Harold Reynolds (right) before the game between Japan and Puerto Rico during the World Baseball Classic semifinal at AT&T Park. / Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images
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Rudy Martzke, the longtime USA Today sports media columnist who once gave Bob Costas his first professional broadcasting job, has passed away. He was 82.

Martzke's son, Brett, posted the news on his Twitter/X account Friday.

Before launching his USA Today column in 1982, Martzke worked for the ABA's Spirits of St. Louis, a short-lived team in a short-lived league. He hired Costas straight out of Syracuse to be the team's radio announcer on KMOX (1120-AM).

"I could immediately tell he was very bright, had an extensive knowledge about all the major sports, possessed a first-rate announcers’ voice," Martzke said in a 2018 interview. "He was experienced in play-by-play at the Syracuse student radio station and clearly stood out among the 30 or so broadcaster tapes to which I listened."

When Martzke launched his sports media column in 1982, cable television was still in its infancy. ESPN was a fledgling network and nearly every sports television contract concerned local, not national, audiences.

Against this backdrop, Martzke's coverage of the industry for a national newspaper was immensely influential. Writing for Sports Broadcast Journal, David Halberstam noted "it was said that Martzke’s assessment of image conscious networks could result in upgrades or downgrades of announcer assignments and even firings."

“He certainly changed the whole complexion of covering television,” ESPN basketball analyst Dick Vitale said in 2005, when Martzke retired his USA Today column. “His Monday column, though a lot of guys will not admit it, they all ran to it to read his evaluation.”

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