Ernest Maynard Smith

Sportscasting Pioneer and Legend

Ernie Smith
Class of 2007

 The Sports Page Of The Air (KYA) – Wednesday, April 15, 1942

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Part 2:

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Part 4:

The final edition of the venerable “Sports Page” program hosted by Ernie Smith on KYA (1260 kc.) before the show is taken over by Jack McDonald. As Ernie says goodbye, he receives a parting gift from the program’s sponsor, the Roos Brothers chain of clothing stores (later known as Roos/Atkins). This presentation is taken from a set of two glass-based transcription discs (four sides) which have been edited together to form the recording heard here; it contains many pops, skips and “rough patches,” but is a rare and interesting example of a typical sports report from the era featuring one of the true pioneers of the format.

 The Friday Night Quarterbacks (KPO) – December 25, 1942

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Part 3:

“E.M.” is joined by San Francisco Examiner sports columnist Prescott Sullivan and Chronicle Sporting Green editor Bill Leiser on KPO (680 kc.) as the trio of gridiron experts make their picks for the New Year’s Day college bowl games. The recording heard here, aired at 8:15 p.m. on Christmas Day 1942, is of part one and part three of the actual broadcast; unfortunately, the glass-based disc bearing the middle segment was cracked in half during decades of storage.

Mutual Newsreel – July or August 1948

Ernie Smith voices the Mutual Newsreel, featuring San Francisco’s own Ann Curtis winning the gold medal at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, during which she won a medal in every freestyle swimming race she entered. Ernie himself was a fabled swimmer during his younger days, and promoted the building of numerous public pools in San Francisco.

 

SOURCE: Obituary from United Press International, via Nevada (Reno) State Journal, Tuesday, Sept. 3, 1974.

Recordings heard on this page were generously provided to
the Bay Area Radio Museum by the family of Ernie Smith.
This page is dedicated to the memory of Win Smith