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Toucher & Hardy

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Toucher & Hardy

Celtics announcer Mike Gorman explains eye patch in exclusive interview

By Toucher & Hardy

Mike Gorman, play-by-play commentator for the Boston Celtics on NBC Sports Boston, sported an eye patch during Monday’s game vs. the New York Knicks.

On Wednesday’s Toucher & Rich program, Gorman describes the recent health scare with his vision.

Parts of conversation abbreviated for clarity.

  • gorman

    Boston Celtics play-by-play commentator Mike Gorman (AP Photo) SOURCE: Elise Amendola

  • Mike Gorman: My vision kept getting smaller and smaller to about telescope size. I’m just trying to make it to Mass General [Hospital] in time. I was trying to reach my wife, and she got to me halfway to the hospital. Finally, we get to Mass General emergency unit. 

    There could not have been nicer people taking care of me. I didn’t even have insurance cards or anything with me. I was just out to lunch, hoping somebody else would pay for it. 

    They tested me for about two or three hours. They decided I didn’t have a stroke, which is good, but I did have a detached retina. I had to be operated on within 48 hours, or I could’ve lost my eyesight forever. I was in the emergency room Saturday night and was being operated on Monday morning. 

  • emergency

    Credit: (wp paarzFollow Emergency Room Entrance – ER – Hospital)

  • Mike Gorman: Both of my eyes have been dilated for about a week now. The [eye patch] is to help with light sensitivity. With all the Internet speculation, people said I was trying to look like Johnny Depp [in Pirates of the Caribbean]. You know, just crazy stuff. So that’s what’s going on there, folks. If anybody cares. Everything is going to work out, though. 

    [Doctors] said it takes about two or three months before vision returns. Each morning I wake up, it’s a little better. I wouldn’t be able to pick you guys out of a crowd because everything is all colors. But there weren’t colors before. It was just a black curtain. 

  • Mike Gorman: But, yeah, I’m going to do the game Wednesday night. People might say, ‘Jeez. Gorman is losing it. He missed that call out of bounds.’ Well, I didn’t even know the ball was in play. But it was an interesting intellectual exercise. I shouldn’t have that experience at the expense of people trying to watch the game. 

    I was trying to figure out how to focus on the ball. I’ve always hated to focus on the ball, especially when doing play-by-play on television. Because you don’t need me to tell you where the ball is, the viewer can see it for themself. 

  • gorman

    Mike Gorman (Credit: NBC Sports Boston)

  • Mike Gorman: I did have trouble getting through that broadcast at Madison Square Garden. The good part was that we were very close to the Celtics’ bench during that game. The bad part is that the courtside seats in front of us got in the way. You can’t see at all. You have to look at the monitor. 

  • Full Segment

  • Ryan Beaton is a producer for 985thesportshub.com. You can follow Ryan at @ry_beaton on Twitter.

    Follow @Toucherandrich on Twitter, @Toucherandrichofficial and @fredtoucher on Instagram to keep up with the show!

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