LS: In the 58 years that you've been broadcasting, what do you consider the greatest moment in sports?

CG: I would say Super Bowl III. It wasn't the best game I ever broadcast or the most exciting but it was a historic game since the New York Jets upset the Baltimore Colts. That changed the thinking of America about the AFL. Suddenly everyone started to say they were as good as the NFL, which from top to bottom they weren't. But that really changed the outlook of pro football and was probably the greatest upset of all time.

LS: In your opinion, who do you think was the greatest baseball player?

CG:When I joined the Yankees in 1949 with Mel Allen, Joe DiMaggio was there but he was hurt. He had lost most of his throwing arm but he was still graceful and you could see how great he must have been. Ted Williams, who I became very close to, was the best hitter in the game. But the best all around player I ever saw, when I used to do the NBC game of the week, was Willie Mays of the San Francisco Giants.

LS: Tell me about your days of broadcasting basketball.

CG: That was my main sport. I did all the basketball when I came to New York. When they opened the gates to television, I did the famous "Double Slam," when City College won both the National Invitational Tournament and the NCAA Tournament. I also sat in and broadcast all the highlight college games at Madison Square Garden.

LS: What was the most embarrassing moment you ever had during your career?

CG: In 1950, Red Barber, who was the Sports Director of the CBS Radio Network, called me up and said they were going to have a new show called "College Football Scoreboard" and he'd like me to do it. I said okay and for 13 weeks every Saturday I'd go over there and do this football show. After the third or fourth week, I was about a half-hour before I was ready to go so I headed over to the studio. The studio was about eight or nine floors above the Sports Department so I pushed for the elevator and I waited and waited but it never came. I decided to walk up so I went into the stairwell and walked up there but the door was locked. I started banging on the door but nobody answered. I looked at my watch and it was about six minutes to six and here I am with this great opportunity to broadcast coast to coast and I'm stuck in the stairwell. I decided to run down to the floor I was on before and I heard someone yelling, "Gowdy, where are you?" "They're waiting for you upstairs." When I got down to the floor they had the elevator waiting for me so I rushed up with about 30 seconds until the show started. I had my script in my hand and I sat down but I couldn't say anything because I was out of breath. I pointed to the announcer to introduce me and I made the worst ad-lib in the history of radio. I said, "Ladies and gentlemen, a funny thing happened to me on the way to the studio. I got stuck in the stairwell." The people must have thought I was crazy or drunk or something. Finally, I took a deep breath and started to read the script and I was alright. After the show I thought I was finished. On Monday morning, Red Barber called me and said, "Young man, you must remember in radio the second hand is always ticking. You should have been in that studio when you were supposed to." After I told him what had happened he was very understanding and told me that he hoped wouldn't happen again.

LS: I read somewhere about the time you brought Howard Cosell to Wyoming. Tell me about that.