Morris Siegel (October 13, 1915 – June 2, 1994) was an American sportswriter who covered sports in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, from the 1940s to 1990s.

Early life

Siegel was born on October 13, 1915, in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. He attended

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...

, but left in 1938 after about three years of study. He got his start in the newspaper business as a copy boy and began his career as a writer with ''

The Atlanta Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the only major daily newspaper in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger between ...

''. He later moved to the ''

Richmond Times-Dispatch The ''Richmond Times-Dispatch'' (''RTD'' or ''TD'' for short) is the primary daily newspaper in Richmond, Virginia, Richmond, the capital of Virginia, and the primary newspaper of record for the state of Virginia. Circulation The ''Times-Dispatc ...

''. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

Career in D.C.

In September 1946, Siegel joined ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

''. Siegel also worked for three of the city’s television stations as sports anchor and in radio. He did color broadcasting for the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

in the 1950s and 1960s and was the announcer for Capitol Wrestling Corporation's (forerunner to the WWE) '' Heavyweight Wrestling From Washington'' from 1956 to 1958. Siegel left ''The Post'' for '' The Washington Daily News''. After the paper folded, Siegel worked for '' The Washington Star'' until that paper folded in 1981. He then worked as a TV and radio commentator and was consultant for the D.C. Baseball Commission, which sought to have Major League Baseball return to the city. In 1983 he began writing for '' Regardie's''. From October 1986 until his death June 2, 1994, Siegel wrote for '' The Washington Times''.

Personal life

From 1964 to 1985, Siegel was married to writer Myra MacPherson. They had two children, Michael Siegel, a political communications director, and Leah Siegel, who was a Dallas bureau producer for ESPN. On November 11, 1985, Siegel suffered a heart attack. In 1989 he was diagnosed with colon cancer. His health began to decline by 1992, but he continued to work, frequently receiving chemotherapy treatments at out-of-town hospitals while on assignment. On April 22, 1994, he covered the

Michael Moorer Michael Lee Moorer (born November 12, 1967) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2008. He won a world championship on four occasions in two weight classes, having held the WBO light heavyweight title from 1988 to ...

Evander Holyfield Evander Holyfield (born October 19, 1962) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2011. He reigned as the undisputed champion at cruiserweight in the late 1980s and at heavyweight in the early 1990s, and is the on ...

fight in Las Vegas. On May 18, 1994, his final column appeared in ''The Washington Times''. Siegel died on June 2, 1994, of cancer at George Washington University Hospital.

Legacy

Siegal was inducted into the

Washington Hall of Stars Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, commonly known as RFK Stadium and originally known as District of Columbia Stadium, is a defunct multi-purpose stadium in Washington, D.C. It is located about due east of the U.S. Capitol building, near the w ...

RFK Stadium Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, commonly known as RFK Stadium and originally known as District of Columbia Stadium, is a defunct multi-purpose stadium in Washington, D.C. It is located about due east of the U.S. Capitol building, near the w ...

. was a finalist for the J. G. Taylor Spink Award in the

2007 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting Elections to the Baseball Hall of Fame for 2007 proceeded according to revised rules enacted in 2001. The Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) held an election to select from among recent players, resulting in the induction of Tony G ...

. He finished second in the balloting to

Rick Hummel Richard Lowell Hummel (born February 25, 1946) is an American author and sports columnist best known for his work for the ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch''. Hummel was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York in 2007 ...

, 223 votes to 112 ( Nick Peters received the remaining 66 votes).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Siegel, Morris 1915 births 1994 deaths Deaths from cancer in Washington, D.C. Deaths from colorectal cancer Writers from Atlanta Professional wrestling announcers The Atlanta Journal-Constitution people The Washington Post journalists The Washington Star people The Washington Times people Washington Redskins announcers