Longtime sportscaster Bruce Glasier, who became one of the most recognizable names and faces in Maine TV, died late Wednesday at age 69. He had been sick with lung cancer.
He was inducted into the Maine Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame on Saturday. His son Paul attended the event in his father’s honor.
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Glasier, born Aug. 21, 1945, began working at WCSH6-TV in 1977, and retired in 2012.
“This was a man so loved by so many people for so many years,” said his colleague, WCSH-TV sports director Lee Goldberg. He worked with Glasier for 19 years.
“Bruce reminded me that being yourself is far more appealing to viewers than trying to be someone else,” Goldberg said of his mentor.
Glasier began his media career with the Portland Press Herald and the former Evening Express. He also worked in radio, and made the move to television in 1977. Over 35 years, he became a dominant presence in the Maine sports scene.
As much as he loved the professional sports teams in Boston, he understood the role and importance of high school sports in Maine, Goldberg said, and made a point of featuring local athletes and their accomplishments on and off the field during the evening newscasts.
“To actually sit with him and have on-the-job training with him for 19 years was such an honor. To learn from him, to hear his stories and appreciate his humor – he was ridiculously funny,” Goldberg said. “He had such a way with words and such a quick wit, you had to be on your toes at all times.”
Goldberg said he probably would not have become a sports broadcaster if not for Glasier. “I watched television one day and there he was. I knew that was what I wanted to do,” he said. He first saw Glasier in person in 1977 at a Maine Mariners hockey game at the Cumberland County Civic Center. He described it as “a larger than life moment. Being on TV makes you a recognizable figure, and there he was.”
Glasier changed how TV stations cover local sports, Goldberg said. Before, TV stations reported about Boston sports teams first. Glasier made local athletes the focus of his attention. He understood the connection viewers had with high school and college teams. He also understood that while the games were important, more important were the stories of athletes who competed.
“These are games,” Goldberg recalled Glasier telling him. “People win, people lose. But at the end of the day we talk about games. There is no reason we can’t have fun along the way.”
His favorite teams were the Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics, as well as the New York Giants in the NFL. He was passionate about the Maine Guides, the former minor league baseball team in Old Orchard Beach, the University of Maine and the Portland Bulldogs.
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