Legendary Bloomington sports editor Bob Hammel dies at 88

Legendary sports editor Bob Hammel passed away Saturday night at 88 years old.

Hammel first arrived in Bloomington to study journalism at Indiana University but left after his freshman year in 1954 to pursue an opportunity as a sports reporter for his hometown paper, the Herald-Press in Huntington, Ind.

He would later return to Bloomington to work for what became The Herald-Times. He led the sports department from 1966 to 1996.

Bob Zaltsberg, a former editor of The Herald-Times, said Hammel was a funny, thoughtful man who reveled in celebrating sports successes rather than piling on during difficult seasons.

“He was really driven to be accurate,” Zaltsberg said. “He was driven to be fair. But I also will say, and I think anybody that ever read his stuff knows, he was driven to be positive.”

During his long and distinguished career with the paper, he covered the 1968 Rose Bowl, the 1972 Munich Olympics, IU’s perfect basketball season in 1976 and subsequent national championships in 1981 and 1987. He covered the Olympic games five times, with the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta his last major assignment.

Hammel’s work gave him the opportunity to meet and develop friendships with many national figures, including Mark Spitz, Lee Hamilton, Bill Cook, Michael Koryta, Angelo Pizzo, Quinn Buckner, and Bob Knight. Hammel wrote Knight’s memoir, Knight: My Story, and wrote The Bill Cook Story: Ready, Fire, Aim. He authored or co-authored 13 books.

Read More: A Chat With The Producer Of The New Bob Hammel Documentary

Zaltsberg said Hammel leaves behind a legacy of mentorship to sports reporters who would go on to work around the country. Hammel also managed to be ahead of his time when it came to hiring women in sports reporting.

“In the early 1970s he was hiring women for the sports department and the H-T when that just wasn't done,” he said. Two of his early hires were among the founders of AWSM, the Association of Women in Sports Media.

Hammel was awarded the Indiana Sportswriter of the Year award 16 times during his career. He was inducted into multiple halls of fame, including the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame, the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame, the Indiana University Athletics Hall of Fame and the U.S. Basketball Writers Hall of Fame. The National Basketball Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame honored him with their top writing awards.