O’Donnell: The voice and versatility of Bob Costas still matter

“WORDS,” THE MASTERFUL RICHARD BURTON once said.

“In the end, it all comes down to words.”

The mercurial Welsh actor was focusing on the power of semantics to move emotions, events, even nations.

He undoubtedly never envisioned or really cared about the dismaying dearth of honest, insightful perspectives currently neutering almost all American sports programming.

WILDLY GESTURING BOBBLE-NOOKS talk about last night's games. Their numbing robotics are punctuated by come-ons from goof-teasing sports gambling corporations.

There will be a new set of games and gaming opportunities today. All will hit their annual crescendo next Sunday with the Doritos and State Farm and Taco Bells of Super Bowl 59.

The fix is in. From inside the castles of wind, survivors learn — don't ever push the opaque walls of revenue too hard.

THE LARGER ISSUES — CTE, pirating civic entitlements by intimidating billion-dollar sports franchises, the new Wild West of revenue college sports — are of diminished analytical priority.

Come to the cabaret.

Is there no deep safety left?

BOB COSTAS MAY BE THE LAST of that dying breed.

He remains positioned to be the senior moral sentinel of sports in America.

But will he? When will his intellect, empathy and sense of purpose next meet a sweeping contemporary broadcast window?

HE IS BEING PRECISE in his fresh comments to The Daily Herald. On the tricky threshold of “gray” and “eminence,” he and that safeguarding can be understood.

“For some time now, I've seen myself as primarily an emeritus guy,” Costas — now age 72 — said this week. “ So, play-by-play aside, I can still do interviews, essays and special programming as well as I ever did. That's where I plan to continue in the last few chapters of my career.”

But where?

ESPN/ABC RUNS TOO SCARED for a fellow capable of his independent thought. CBS and Fox appear much too dependent upon their green-ringed marriages to the NFL.

NBC is his friendly old ghost. But longtime career patron Dick Ebersol is so far removed from the Peacock dynamic.

CNN was a part of the more recent Costas portfolio. But that connection drifted into the cable netherland when network boss Jeff Zucker — a researcher for Costas at the 1988 Seoul Olympics — faded away.

Also gone is HBO, which dismantled it sports division, scattering Bryant Gumbel and the consistently smart “Real Sports” in the process.

COSTAS GREW IN AN AGE when the American sportscape had prominent and impacting moral voices.

The greatest of them all was Frank Deford. He first came to national note working the trenches of prestige for Sports Illustrated. He crossed to broadcasting with NPR and later NBC and HBO.

For sports journalists of either classic study or old enough to remember Howard Cosell, Deford remains a revered gold standard.

Ironically, the last commentary Costas delivered at NBC was about Deford. It occurred during the telecast of the 2018 Belmont Stakes, a few days after Deford died. It remains accessible on YouTube.

BUT BEYOND DEFORD, others once stirred bold points of broadcast perspective on American sport. Those talented commentators, among others, included Heywood Hale Broun, Jim McKay and Jack Whitaker. They were journalists for all seasons who once upon opportunity were willing and able to take microphones one step beyond.

Now, Costas remains in his power alley of Major League Baseball. His currency is acknowledged. The lineup of legends he has been called upon to eulogize at memorial services speaks to the respect he commands. Among those at the top: Mickey Mantle, Stan Musial, Hank Aaron, Bob Gibson and Joe Morgan.

(He also won't discuss it, but when a celebration of life for Bob Uecker is held later this spring in Milwaukee, Costas is expected to be an elegiac contributor.)

HE HAS WON 29 EMMYS, the only individual to score in the three disparate categories of news, sports and entertainment.

He is so far from a boyhood on Long Island, from Syracuse University. He's also many openings from break-in broadcasting gigs with the American Basketball Association's Spirits of St. Louis — good morning Marvin Barnes — and the Chicago Bulls of Reggie Theus, Ricky Sobers and Artis Gilmore.

But Bob Costas has touched the stars. He now awaits his proper valedictory.

All still with iconic voice and compelling versatility that deliver artful words that matter.

Jim O'Donnell's Sports and Media column appears each week on Sunday and Wednesday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com. All communications may be considered for publication.