It Happened!

A Uniquely Lucky Life in Sports Television

De: Art Chansky, Jim Lampley

Narrado por: Jim Lampley

From Jim Lampley, HBO’s ringside face and voice of boxing, comes a first-person, blow-by-blow account of the evolution of sports television chock full of famous names, history-making events, and never-before-told stories from the world of sports.

Jim Lampley’s story is a 50-year travelogue of an unlikely career that catalogs the evolution of sports television—from his emergence as the first sideline reporter, through hosting and covering 14 Olympics, to working with all major sports networks.

It Happened! charts Jim’s notable career, with highlights including:

Becoming the first live reporter on the sideline of a nationally televised college football game

Following in the footsteps of Jim McKay as host on ABC’s Wide World of Sports and Howard Cosell as halftime host for ABC’s Monday Night Football

Partnering with ABC, CBS, NBC, Turner, and HBO

Ascending to host of HBO’s Wimbledon weekday telecasts

Reaching “icon” status as the 30-year face and voice of HBO World Championship Boxing

Learn how Jim’s brilliance as an announcer and his revolutionary nature led to innovations in sportscasting, three sports Emmys, and induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Personal anecdotes and hard-earned lessons combine as Jim digs deep and shares celebrity stories from the upper echelons of superstar athletes and Hollywood hotshots, but also offers an introspective look at his personal life and trials. It Happened! tells it all.

©2025 Jim Lampley and Art Chansky (P)2025 Recorded Books

Lampley Shines In Bio Story

I'm 53 years of age, so I'm old enough to have heard Jim do college football and various studio shows before he reinvented himself on HBO. He had several great calls, but the Foreman fight and "it happened" was his finest hour - the Bowe-Golota riot and the miraculous Chavez win over Meldrick Taylor also stand out.