Well known for being a challenging cover for sportswriters, not even Bob Knight could bring himself to dislike Bob Hammel.
In fact, the two were close friends, especially in their respective retirements.
That has always been the most obvious indication there was something special about Hammel, who covered IU Athletics for decades.
Truth be told, I’ve never heard a negative word spoken about the man, who passed away this weekend at the age of 88.
And in several “I’m not worthy” moments, I was able to see first-hand the pedestal Hammel sat on in Bloomington.
Indiana saved a media seat for games at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall for Hammel for as long as he was able to get there. I believe the last season I saw him at a game was the 2023-24 campaign. And more times than I can count, my media seat was next to Hammel’s.
One-by-one they’d walk by him, share their admiration and pay tribute — fans, former players, school administrators, media folks — you name it. Although he was a journalist covering the Hoosiers, Hammel became part of the fabric of IU Athletics in so many ways.
In fact, he was inducted into the IU Athletics Hall of Fame, along with the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame, the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame, and others. In May of 1995, he received the highest honor given to a basketball writer, the Curt Gowdy Award, from the Naismith Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.
The man was a legend in his profession.
Hammel led the Bloomington Herald-Times sports department for 30 years, from 1966 to 1996. He covered all three of Knight’s national championship seasons including the perfect run in 1975-76. He also covered the 1968 Rose Bowl and five Olympic Games. Hammel even wrote Knight’s memoir, Knight: My Story.
The media landscape has changed dramatically since Hammel’s heyday. But he showed us all how it’s done. And he did it with class.
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