CLEVELAND — On Thursday, we woke up to some awful news. Longtime Cleveland sportscasting great Les Levine has passed away at the age of 74.
For many of us who knew him and thousands more who listened and watched his shows, Les Levine was an institution in this area for decades. “The Self-Proclaimed Voice of Truth and Reason" will always be remembered for is passionate engagement with callers about the Indians, Cavaliers, and Browns. He was as smart as any broadcaster I've ever known and added a keen sense of wit and humor.
You may not always have agreed with Les, but chances are you loved his fun segments, such as “How Come Quickes.” For example: “How come you park on a driveway and drive on a parkway?” or my favorite: "How come Upper Sandusky is actually below Sandusky?"
Reactions of sadness and memories of Levine have come from those in the Cleveland sports media throughout Thursday.
And there was also one from yours truly...
Just a quick explainer on this. In the fall of 1994, I was home recovering from a bout of viral cardiomyopathy I had been struck with while starting my sophomore year at Bowling Green State University. Les' brother Stu and my dad were business associates and Dad arranged for me to sit in with Les for his WHK show during an afternoon just to make sure I didn't lose my passion for sportscasting. I tried to be a sponge and learn as much as I could about the business in those three hours. I'm always grateful for Les' time and kindness.
While most people remember Les Levine as a great sports talk show host, you might not realize that he was once the radio play-by-play voice of the Cleveland State men's basketball team. That included calling all of the exciting moments when the Vikings made their run to the Sweet 16 in the 1986 NCAA Tournament. On Thursday, Cleveland State was among the area teams to express their condolences on the passing of Les Levine.
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