Herbert Weinberg, groundbreaking journalist and Olympics scholar, has died at 94
He covered 14 Olympics in the 1970s, ‘80s, and ‘90s, and did research and wrote copy for radio sportscaster Howard Cosell and others. “He was always on the cutting edge of stuff,” a friend said.
Herbert Weinberg, 94, formerly of Philadelphia, groundbreaking journalist, pioneering Olympics scholar, former high school teacher, and college professor, died Sunday, Jan. 21, of cardiopulmonary arrest at a rehabilitation center in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Dr. Weinberg was a high school sports star in Philadelphia and a lifelong champion of amateur athletics, and he helped bring the Olympic Games, with all their beauty and warts, to the attention of the American public in the 1970s, ‘80s, and ‘90s. He reported from 14 Olympics over three decades as director of Olympic research for ABC Radio and freelance news correspondent for the Associated Press, New York Times, Times of London, Los Angeles Times, and other outlets.
He conducted Olympic research and wrote copy for radio sportscasters Howard Cosell, Bill Stern, and Marty Glickman, and was friends with Juan Antonio Samaranch, president of the International Olympic Committee from 1980 to 2001. He also practically invented the job of Olympics scholar and spurred the creation in 1982 of dozens of Olympic research centers around the world.
He spoke often about the need for journalists to educate the public about controversial Olympic issues and engage with U.S. and international decision makers. “We can write and publish and, in a friendly way, say this is not how we view it,” he said in a wide-ranging audio interview in the early 1990s with the International Society of Olympic Historians. “We need commentary on it. We need debate.”
A standout runner, gymnast, swimmer, and diver as a young man, Dr. Weinberg worried that what he called “the Olympic experience” for amateur athletes was diminished by increasing commercialization and politicization of the Games. Americans, he said, often embraced too much “fame and glory” instead of “representing your country well.”
“The Olympics are not a business, but they are becoming very much a business,” he told the ISOH. “Are we selling our souls?”
He denounced professionals taking the place of amateurs at the Games, lamented the proliferation of performance-enhancing drugs, and, as a journalist, demanded accountability and transparency from Olympic officials. “The professionals in the United States own everything, and I’m scared they’re going to want to own the Olympic Games, too,” he told the ISOH. “Who are the Games for? … We’re out of proportion, possibly because of money.”
Richard Kaplan, a nephew of Dr. Weinberg who accompanied him to the 1972 Summer Games in Munich, Germany, said: “He lived life without regard for money. He was a teacher. But his true love was writing.”
In addition to covering the Games and their issues for radio shows and newspapers, Dr. Weinberg wrote stories for the Journal of Olympic History and other publications, many of which are housed in the Olympic World Library. He authored a detailed unpublished account of his long career and spoke often about the Games at conferences and on panels.
He was a professor of journalism and health studies in the 1960s and ‘70s at City College of New York, the University of Oregon, and Northern Kentucky University. Earlier, he taught health and physical education at middle schools and high schools in Philadelphia and Westchester County, N.Y.
He retired from writing full-time in the 1990s and settled in Colorado Springs to be near the U.S. Olympic Training Center and its affiliated organizations. But he never stopped researching, writing, and speaking out about the Games.
“He was,” longtime friend Elliot Rosen said, “always on the cutting edge of stuff.”
Born to Russian immigrants in Philadelphia on Aug. 6, 1929, Herbert Alvin Weinberg was a football star at Olney High School and earned a scholarship to play at Temple University. A knee injury sidelined his college football career, and he earned a bachelor’s degree in health and physical education at Temple.
Later, he earned a master’s degree from Indiana University and doctorate in 1961 from Oregon. He met Janet Lee Parker at Oregon, and they married in the early 1960s. They divorced later and remained friends.
Dr. Weinberg loved to travel, and he drove cars across the country when he was young for those who were moving so he could see the sights. He coached ice hockey, track, football, and soccer when he was a high school teacher, and coordinated athletic activities for years at summer camps.
He supported many Jewish causes and is on the wall of fame at the campus Hillel Center at Indiana. “He tilted at windmills,” Rosen said. “He was an idealist. He wanted to make the world a more perfect place.”
In addition to his nephew, Dr. Weinberg is survived by other relatives. Two brothers and a sister died earlier.
Services were held Feb. 2.
Donations in his name may be made to the Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, Box 194, Gladwyne, Pa. 19035.