Detroit Sportscaster Bernie Smilovitz Retires with Epic Sign-Off

If you've ever watched the news in Detroit in the past 4 decades, chances are you know who Bernie Smilovitz is. He has been a sportscaster, mostly in Detroit, for the past 38 years, and this past week, he gave his final sportscast of his career.

But Smilovitz, who is known for his fun antics on air, wasn't gonna go out without a band, and delivered what might actually be, "The Greatest Goodbye in Television History."

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Smilovitz started his career in Washington D.C., and for a brief time, attempted to break into sports in New York, but as you'll see in his send-off... that didn't go so well.

Ultimately, though, Bernie found his home in Detroit, and has been covering the Lions, Red Wings, Pistons, Tigers, Wolverine, Spartan, and any number of other college, and high school sports programs for almost four decades.

During his sign-off, Bernie did the usual, where he thanks all of his mentors, all the people who helped him in his career, who hired him, fired him, and gave him opportunities to work and have fun at his job... and while all that is sweet, it's the "OTHER" stuff in his send-off package that has everyone in Michigan talking.

He mentioned his two favorite moments on air, which included interviewing a Japanese Athlete at the Olympics who knew almost no English, and an incident with the Hawks during the NFL Draft this year. Bernie also spoke of his wife, whom he sadly lost last year, and the love that surrounded him from the staff of Local 4 in Detroit during that time.

It was full of laughs, tears, and good feelings, and you can watch the whole thing below... trust me, it's worth the full 9 minutes.

Enjoy retirement Bernie... or, at least have fun cutting those commercials.