Sports Television Pioneer Neal Pilson to Speak at BCC

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at Berkshire Community College (BCC) will present an afternoon with Neal Pilson.
 
"Behind the Scenes of Sports Television" will take place on Thursday, Nov. 13 at 1:30 p.m. at Berkshire Community College and on Zoom.  
 
Attendance is $10 for OLLI at BCC members and $15 for the general public. To register, visit
 
According to a press release:
 
Pilson has been a transformative force in sports broadcasting for nearly five decades. A graduate of Hamilton College and Yale Law School, he began his career in the legal profession before joining CBS Sports in 1976 as vice president of business affairs. He went on to serve as president of CBS Sports, where he negotiated landmark television rights agreements and oversaw coverage of the world's most iconic sporting events. In recognition of his contributions, Pilson was elected to the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2018.  
 
At Berkshire Community College, Pilson will share behind-the-scenes stories from his work with the NFL, NCAA Basketball Tournament, NBA, Major League Baseball, the Olympics, NASCAR, The Masters, PGA Golf and U.S. Open Tennis. His talk will also highlight the incredible growth of women's sports, how decisions are made about which games to air and which personalities to hire, and what really drives the billion-dollar business of televised sports. 
 
Audiences can expect first-hand accounts of working with legendary broadcasters and sports figures including John Madden, Pat Summerall, Brent Musburger, Phyllis George, Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder, and Jim Nantz. 

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WWII Veteran Reflects on D-Day at VFW Post Induction

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

The members in the picture are Bret Miller, Coast Guard, Desert Storm; Hank Morris, Army, Vietnam; Brad Havill, Navy, Global War on Terror; VFW Post 448 Vice Cmdr. Mark Pompi, Army, Global War on Terrorism, Afghanistan; Post Cmdr. Arnold Perras, Korea; Joe Difillipo, Army, Vietnam; Teri Billington, Navy, Desert Storm; and Carmen Ostrander, Air Force, Afghanistan.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Anthony Salatino Jr. says his memory is getting a little foggy about his time in the Army. 

But he remembers how terrible D-Day was, and feeling lucky he wasn't among those in the initial invasion force 82 years ago. 
 
"One of the most horrible things was in Normandy. We went shortly after D-Day. I got lucky, very lucky on D-Day. We went to a staging area the night before … and at the very end, somebody called, I was in headquarters, they called all the headquarters personnel at the center," the 103-year-old said. "We did not go. There's about 30 of us. The rest of the battalion was gone, and the reason for that was because there was another battalion coming from the States, and they had no headquarters. 
 
"We stayed back, but we did go to Normandy shortly after that, and when we went to Normandy, it was all over."
 
Salatino was attending an induction ceremony on Thursday at the Lt. John N. Truden VFW Post 448. Joseph Texidor, who served in the Army for 17 years with tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, was sworn in as the post's newest member. 
 
Salatino served in the Medical Corps and wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father, a World War I veteran wounded at Verdun. Salatino was in the Army for about three years.
 
"The whole memory is what I just told you, very, very alive to me," he said. "That is, I can never forget, never forget that."
 
D-Day on June 6, 1944, was the start of Operation Overlord, and the largest invading force to cross the English Channel since 1066. Their goal: to liberate Europe from Nazi Germany. 
 
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