Buddy Diliberto Dies At Age 74
 

http://www.wwl.com/viewentry.asp?ID=322159&PT=Sports

The link above has been changed to the Buddy D Gallery on the WWL webpage.

Buddy Diliberto, legendary sports commentator for the BIG 8-70 WWL has died at the age of 74 of an apparent heart attack. Buddy D spent over 50 years covering the New Orleans sports scene, first for the newspaper, then on television...ending his career as "The Big Daddy of Sports" on WWL radio.

Diliberto began his sports career as a sportswriter at The Times-Picayune while attending Loyola University in 1950. In his last two years at the T-P, Buddy D. was the newspaper's daily sports columnist. He got his first broadcast job as sports director for WVUE-TV in 1966, where he worked until he became sports director and sports anchor at WDSU-TV from 1980-90.


Born Bernard Saverio Diliberto on August 18, 1931, Buddy served as a correspondent for Stars and Stripes during the Korean War. He suffered shrapnel wounds and earned a Purple Heart.


Diliberto was one of the first local television sportscasters, beginning his career in 1966. His linguistic struggles added to his lore and Diliberto often poked fun at himself and his troubles with words, especially in his later years.


Diliberto also injected himself into the sports scene, in sometimes controversial ways.


He was banned from the Saints team plane for criticism of the organization under their first owner, John Mecom. Diliberto’s relentless assaults included a campaign that had fans wearing bags on their heads during the team’s 1-15 season in 1980.

Controversy also surrounded some comments Diliberto made about Bears’ quarterback Jim McMahon during the team’s stay here prior to the Super Bowl in 1985. Diliberto was off the air for a while following the incident, but as resilient and popular as ever, he continued a television career, before moving to radio in 1991.


During his stint there, Diliberto hosted the ever-popular post game show following Saints football contests, where he took calls and delivered commentary, which was often stinging at the team, which struggled after some good years in the late 80s and early 90s.


In 1995 Diliberto suggested that owner Tom Benson hire Mike Ditka as head football coach, and the former Bears’ coach became the team’s head coach. During his tenure, Ditka had little on field success and gained fame for trading his entire draft for Heisman Trophy running back Ricky Williams and posing with the star in a wedding photo that appeared on the cover of a national sports magazine.


In 1997, Diliberto had bypass surgery following a series of heart attacks.


However, his health, nor any of the missteps hurt Diliberto, or his career. He has been named the Louisiana Sportscaster of the Year 13 times and his radio talk shows continued to be the most popular in the Crescent City.


Year after year as faithful expectations for the coming season built, fans would tease Buddy about his pledge to wear a dress if the Saints ever won a Super Bowl. He never got close to having to make good on that promise, though he probably would have been glad to do it.


Diliberto is survived by his children: Chris, 48; Mike, 47; Katie, 45; and Debbie, 39.

[Edited on 1/24/2005 by Halo]

[Edited on 1/24/2005 by Halo]

Buddy Diliberto Dies At Age 74
 

5:00 pm drive just won\'t be the same.................................

Buddy Diliberto Dies At Age 74
 

It\'s a very sad sad day guys, I heard this at a wedding tonight. I really loved Buddy D.

:icon_eyesroll:

Buddy Diliberto Dies At Age 74
 

Totally and completely agree!!!

Buddy Diliberto Dies At Age 74
 

He will always be part of Saint\'s lore and love him or hate him he will be greatly missed. There ought to be a moment of silence at 5:00 o\'clock in honor of him.

Buddy Diliberto Dies At Age 74
 

When I think of Buddy D., I think of the Saints. My dad would crack me up back in the 70\'s when he would call him Buddy Gilaberto. Buddy is as much a part of New Orleans as the French Quarter and file\' gumbo. It is a sad day in New Orleans and he will by missed dearly.

[Edited on 8/1/2005 by Saint_LB]

Buddy Diliberto Dies At Age 74
 

I had the chance to meet him once and he was a great guy, Although honestly i have not listened since gerry v has come. but he was very nice when i met. And u must give him credit for not being scared to give his honest opinion.

Buddy Diliberto Dies At Age 74
 

Real shame.

May he rest in peace

Buddy Diliberto Dies At Age 74
 

A part of Saints football just died.

Buddy Diliberto Dies At Age 74
 

Buddy D will me sorely missed. My prayers go out to his family. He spoke his mind no matter what. Agree or not I just could not help but like the guy. He had a energy about him. Although I never had the chance to meet him, when I think about his voice, the first thing that comes to mind is humor, and cheerfullness. He seemed like a Jolly guy.

[Edited on 8/1/2005 by BnG001]

Buddy Diliberto Dies At Age 74
 

BuddyD was a Saints institution. He will be missed!

Buddy Diliberto Dies At Age 74
 

I disagreed w/alot that Buddy D had to say, but I still enjoyed listening to him before & after the games. It won\'t be the same listening to the pre and post game shows w/o him! I\'m sure he\'ll be missed by all Saints fans

Buddy Diliberto Dies At Age 74
 

Buddy will be missed by many. He was one of the most unique individuals in modern New Orleans history. I know I\'ll miss him every Sunday in the fall. Hopefully, he\'ll be able to convince the powers above to smile on the Saints next season. God Bless Buddy D.

Buddy Diliberto Dies At Age 74
 

Scott,

What\'s going on, I know this hit you like it did me, hard. I grew up with this guy. You know a lot of people didn\'t agree with Buddy, but that was the nature of his show and the nature of his life. He said it the way he saw it and couldn\'t care if a censor didn\'t like it or if the Saints organization (or any person or organization) liked it or not. It was his brutal honesty that propelled him into greatness, an honesty not seen in many forms of media today.

Mostly, Buddy made me laugh after the game. His show was the worst produced show ever, so much so it was a comedy routine every week- like your grandfather trying to press buttons on a computer in a studio, it was a funny mess.

I missed 2 games this year and told people \"I didn\'t care about missing the game, I just wanted to listen to what Buddy had to say after the game.\"

He could make me laugh when things were bad, and it seemed like most of the time he would say what I really felt deep down in my heart but was not able to express. Sometimes I disagreed with Buddy, but to him you knew that was ok.

They read some of his personal letters today on WWL radio to fellow writers at the Clarion-Herold about what he thought about the fans. He loved the little man, he thought about the people who purchased tickets and had something to say about the team but weren\'t allowed to say anything. He cared about the sportswriters intimidated by the organization as they do, he cared about the Charles Saints Club and Abdul the Carpet Maker, he cared about telling it like it is, he cared about challenging the critics, and he cared about people in general.

He cared about all of us and tried to express what we fell. Sometimes he nailed it, sometimes he didn\'t, but he is a legend and a great great man who went to church every day, God bless him.

\"Lemme say to ya\" I\'ll miss you Buddy, I don\'t know how things will ever be the same.


Mark Clark

[Edited on 1/9/2005 by Halo]

Buddy Diliberto Dies At Age 74
 

Mark,

It feels like I lost a member of my family. He is the New Orleans Saints to me. Before the internet, Buddy was the DEFINITIVE source of Saints information. I used to hang on every word. I didn\'t always agree with him as well, and he could be a bit overbearing in his negativity, but he was always entertaining. He also was the only person who could make me smile after a Saints\' loss. I\'ll never forget Buddy and everything he was about. Today is a sad,sad,sad day for me and the city of New Orleans.

Scott

Buddy Diliberto Dies At Age 74
 

The world has lost a great Saints fan... :(

Buddy Diliberto Dies At Age 74
 

I loved Buddy D.

I didn\'t always agree with him, but how many people can get worked up into a frothing, incoherent, passionate discussion about how to fix a 3-13 team? The guy was a classic B&Ger. Even when the team had hit rock bottom and started digging a hole in the floor, Buddy D was with them and was a forum and voice for all of us fans who really understand the statement, \"Love hurts.\"

It\'s an awful shame that Buddy D had to go without ever seeing our beloved Saints bring a Lombardi trophy back home for a monster parade down Canal Street.

But the legacy he leaves is tenacity. Buddy didn\'t quit, he honestly believed that someday the Saints could put it all together. For all the people in New Orleans and Lousiana who believe the Saints will never be anything but awful, Buddy D never gave up. Week in and week out the guy never quit on this team, never quit being a fan, never quit loving the black and gold.

Especially towards the end, Buddy would say hard things. Things that were hard to take and things that seemed awfully negative. I figure that Buddy only said the hard things because he wanted us to get better and he would not quit on his Saints.

Let\'s hope that the Saints inherit a little bit of Buddy\'s dogged tenacity. With half of his gumption, a team could be bringing that Lombardi trophy back to the Crescent City someday.

We\'ll miss you Buddy D. Thanks for sharing the 5 o\'clock ride.

Buddy Diliberto Dies At Age 74
 

I don\'t think any Saints fan ever agreed with or liked anything Buddy D said, because the fans knew what he was saying was the truth. He was honest about the Saints, and that is why I listened to him all the time. Whether you wanted to here it or not, he told it straight. He will be missed.

Buddy Diliberto Dies At Age 74
 

All I can say is I will always miss Buddy. Not only the 5PM drive but the drive to and from the Dome for Saints games. The pre game and post game shows were always more enjoyable listening to him.

2 thoughts though --- if the saints do move I guess I am happy he won\'t be around to see it. It would have killed him. And I cannot help but thinking that next year the Saints will get some strange bounces in their favor. If I know Buddy he will find away to sneak away from heaven on Sunday to go to the saint\'s game. And if he\'s there I can imagine a little help from the new guardian angel for the saints.

Buddy Diliberto Dies At Age 74
 

The man you loved to hate sometimes, but I remember growing up I could\'nt wait for the sports on WVUE everynight when Buddy was there. You\'ll never forget his voice. Sweet Dreams Buddy, you will be missed.

Buddy Diliberto Dies At Age 74
 

From the Clarion Herold.

http://clarionherald.org/20050112/buddyd.htm

...\"From the back of the pack, waving his microphone like a drawn sword, Buddy D would cut to the chase, bellowing out a question of substance with an inflection only a Barq\'s-swigging, crawfish-sucking New Orleanian could truly appreciate. When Buddy D\'s voice rang out, I remember a reporter next to me asking: \"Who is that guy?\"

That\'s Buddy D, the guy who asks the questions everyone wants to ask but is waiting for someone else to ask...

[Edited on 1/21/2005 by Halo]

Buddy Diliberto Dies At Age 74
 

He will be missed, he made my 3 hour drive back home after a game fun.
I can\'t think of anyone who could replace him, anyone hear who might replace him?

Buddy Diliberto Dies At Age 74
 

They\'re doing the best of Buddy D on Mondays and during the rest of the week it\'s a mix of Deke Belevia, Mike Detillier, Kaare Johnson, and the regulars. It\'s just not the same, I totally agree.