Bob Holliday's lasting impact

Dane Huffman

Dane Huffman, a Raleigh native, has covered North Carolina sports since 1983. He is the Sports Managing Editor at WRAL.

By Dane Huffman
Jun 27, 2009

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The magic of television is that it’s both temporal and lasting. The images come and go, oh so quickly, but what’s amazing is how long we remember those pictures in our minds.

At WRAL, few have been responsible for those pictures and words for as long as Bob Holliday. He arrived in 1981 and left our anchor desk on Friday. I watched from the mezzanine as Holliday, tall and thoughtful and always prepared, took his seat in front of the camera one last time.

It is easy to be good at covering sports. You talk to athletes and coaches, transcribe what they say and put it out there in words or pictures.

You put a little spin on it, of course – a nice turn of phrase or a slick presentation, and then you call it a day. Any recent journalism grad can do that.

But it’s hard to be great, to rise above the clatter every day.

Bob Holliday has done that. He asks more than good questions - he asks the right questions. Coaches respond to Holliday with more thoughtful answers because they got more thoughtful questions.

Journalism isn’t about being tough or asking the obvious; it’s about seeing trends and connecting dots and helping your audience gain a deeper understanding of the subject. In a world awash in information, those who shine are the ones who see context and tie events together.

This is difficult in the tough beast that is television. It requires, unlike newspapers, moving pictures to tell a story. It demands, unlike radio, a subject in front of a camera. It is limited, unlike the Internet, by intense demands on time.

The clock in television runs at a furious pace. WRAL Sports, for example, gets a mere 3 minutes, 40 seconds in the 6 p.m. news during the week. Three minutes and 40 seconds? Heck, Clarence Darrow couldn’t clear his throat in that time, and Faulkner couldn’t complete a sentence in that span.

I was reminded of the tyranny of time again on Friday as Holliday said goodbye. We showed a marvelous tribute to Holliday that Jeff Gravley had produced, and afterward, I saw on our clock behind the cameras the red letters that indicated one minute left in the 6 p.m. news.

It was Holliday’s time to say goodbye, and I watched as he began with the numbers slipping to 56 … 55 … 54. …

He said thanks, most of all, to the audience, and I knew how deeply he meant it. He said thanks to Tom Suiter and Gravley and the many who worked with him at WRAL.

I kept wondering if he’d have enough time as the numbers slipped to 35 … 34 … 33 … and then I realized this is a man who had mastered television’s form and knew its rhythms exactly.

20 … 19 … 18 …

And then some final thanks with the other anchors on the set.

12 … 11 … 10 …

I had thought I would feel sad, as this time slipped into single digits, but I did not

9 … 8 … 7 …

Instead, I had a deep feeling of gratitude for Holliday’s 28 years, a sense of marvel and wonder at his long and graceful career.

And I felt …

6 … 5 … 4 ...

those of us in WRAL Sports have inherited a great tradition and we have …

3 … 2 … 1 …

a responsibility to see it continue.

Most Recent Comments

RE: Bob Holliday's lasting impact

It does in fact hurt alittle. These folks are basically invited into our homes and become a part of our lives. When they retire or pass on - we feel like we are missing a family member, alot like losing someone to death.

THANKS to you all, and thanks to you BOB for all the memories.

RE: Bob Holliday's lasting impact

This was certainly a week for the loss of icons, and while Bob Holliday may not have the impact of Michael Jackson or Farrah, his loss will be felt very deeply by all who were lucky enough to watch him over the years at WRAL. I feel like an era is ending with the exit of first Tom Suiter and now Bob Holliday. I've been a fan of WRAL for years and one of the things that has always impressed me is that the on-air personalities seem to actually like each other and have a good working relationship and chemistry.

Bob Holliday has always been a class act with excellent reporting. He was always so smooth in his delivery, communicating all the important information in such a way that left me wanting to hear more. The Sports report always seemed to go by so fast; partially because I was always interested in it's content, but just as importantly because Bob Holliday's delivery was seamless. Bob Holliday is one in a million and I'm sure I'm not alone in saying he will be missed. No one can replace him. Jeff Gravley and Ken Medlin are excellent reporters, but there is only one Bob Holliday, and WRAL Sports won't be the same without him.

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