‘Voice of the Knicks’ Marty Glickman faced Olympic discrimination for being Jewish
Jesse Owens’ remarkable accomplishments at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin are unimpeachable: a record four gold medals won under the eye of Adolf Hitler, who was no doubt humiliated and infuriated by the black man’s achievements on his turf.But according to a new book, one of those medals — for the 4x100m relay — almost went to Marty Glickman, the man who was the voice of New York sports for decades.In “Marty Glickman: The Life of an American Jewish Sports Legend” (NYU Press), author Jeffrey S. Gurock explains how Glickman, then an 18-year-old student at Syracuse University, was scheduled to run the relay but was inexplicably pulled from the four-man team — along with fellow Jewish teammate Sam Stoller— and replaced with Owens and Ralph Metcalfe.Glickman had no doubt what had happened.