Jim was a popular Springfield personality and well-known radio broadcaster for University of Illinois football and basketball games. He worked in public relations and advertising in the late 1970s for the newly built Prairie Capital Convention Center and also for Watt Bros. Pharmacy West. He was also a popular master of ceremonies for events.
Much of Jim’s broadcasting was done on WTAX AM radio, and included a regular sports information program that he wrote called “One Man’s Opinion.” One program was broadcast on April Fool’s Day, and I recall that, after reciting a number of goofy sports opinions, Jim closed that program saying, “And, that’s one man’s opinion. I’m Curt Gowdy.”
He once told a story about an Ohio State football game with the University of Illinois during which Jim heard head coach Woody Hayes, a history buff, admonish his Buckeyes to play well and respect the Illini team because they were now in the home state of Abraham Lincoln, a very great American.
Jim also rode with the university basketball teams to out-of-town games. Their transportation was usually in small planes, which were not necessarily new. According to Jim’s recollections, often when the plane landed, one or more team members would shout, “It’s another miracle!”
Likely the most excited and emotional broadcast I ever heard Jim deliver was from the March 1989 basketball game at Bloomington, Indiana, when Nick Anderson heaved a long, long shot at the end of the game that banked in and won the game for the Illini. Jim shouted himself hoarse after that game.
Mr. Jim Turpin was a civic treasure for both Springfield and Champaign.
Friend J.J. Watt
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This article appears in Remembering 2022.
