This year’s Australia Day Ambassador for Guyra will be professional sports broadcaster Gordon Bray, who described his career as rewarding and fullfilling, and one that had taken him all over the world. He did not seen to mind, but acknowledged he could hardly avoid the “veteran tag” these days.
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“I started with the ABC Sports Department as a cadet in 1969, so coming up to 50 years in broadcasting this year,” Gordon said.
They were just wonderful, colourful identities with a worldly wealth of experience.
- Gordon Bray
“When I started with the ABC Norman May was regarded as a veteran, and Alan McGilvray was a veteran commentator. The memories of working with those great commentators is still vivid and it was akin to being a sponge really.
“Just learning from those great broadcasters and, funnily enough, most of our learning was done down at the pub at lunch time and after work.”
Gordon said it was quite a ritual.
“As a raw recruit, I used to just sit in awe listening to the likes of Alan McGilvray, Norman May and Geoff Mahoney who was the ABC’s race caller,” he said.
He laughed and agreed that sort of thing would not happen today.
“It’s a very different world now and we all have to be very careful of what comes out of our mouths,” he said.
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Gordon said he was always on the lookout for human interest stories and learning more about the people involved in sport.
“I think that’s the whole fabric of the sporting event and I’ve always had that approach with my rugby commentaries,” he said.
“Any commentary I do I like to maybe reveal another side to the sports person to the public.
“[I’ve] seen some of the great sporting events, whether it be the Olympic Games, Rugby World Cups or Sydney to Hobarts. It’s been a great variety, thanks to the first half of my career with the ABC Sports Department, where I must have covered 30 to 40 sports at a high level.”
Gordon toured with the Wallabies, which in those days included ready access to the dressing rooms and players at any time. He has also covered numerous Sydney to Hobart Yacht races.
This year, the Australia Day Council asked its Ambassadors to talk a little more about themselves. So, there probably will never be a better time for the residents of Guyra to get out on Australia Day and meet a fair dinkum broadcasting legend.
Afterall, how many experiences and stories would you expect a veteran sports journalist with his own worldy wealth of experience to have?
