HONOLULU — Spend enough time around Jim Leahey, and you'd invariably learn his three rules about the sports broadcasting industry.
Always be yourself. Always tell the truth. And never, ever trust broadcast management.
The legendary sportscaster, who was the voice of University of Hawaii sports for decades, died early Monday morning at age 80, his family said. Leahey, who retired in 2018, had battled health issues for the last two years.
His son Kanoa Leahey, who succeeded him as the primary play-by-play man for UH telecasts, said the "overwhelming" outpouring of support for the Leahey family on Monday helped him remember his father at his peak.
Until his health difficulties, he said, Jim Leahey was unapologetically himself — someone who enthusiastically and meticulously told the stories of Hawaii teams and athletes, especially their successes, as a means of bringing together the disparate island community.
"I think it would’ve made my dad really, really happy to know that some of the passion and effort that he put into what he did, both in the realm of sports broadcasting as well as his personal and family life, that some of that was appreciated," Kanoa Leahey told Spectrum News. "I think that would’ve meant a great deal to him."
In a sense, the emotional day inadvertently accomplished a goal that his father tried to achieve on a day-in, day-out basis in his days broadcasting, first on the radio from 1973, then as UH's primary TV voice first for KGMB, then KFVE, and later OCSports between 1984 to the mid-2010s.
That was not lost on his family.
"He just loved bringing people together like that," Kanoa Leahey said. "That’s why he always ended his broadcasts with ‘malama pono kekahi i kekahi,’ was because it means take care of one another."
Jim Leahey's instantly recognizable tenor was the soundtrack to many of the biggest moments in UH sports history on both radio and television, spanning thousands of games in everything from football to water polo. He called much of the Rainbow Warrior football team’s unbeaten 2007 regular season and its cherished victories over BYU in 1989 and 1990. He had some memorable calls of buzzer-beaters such as his “How sweet it is!” for Tes Whitlock’s basketball winner over the hated Cougars in 1995.
Leahey was inducted into the UH Sports Circle of Honor in 2016. He won Hawaii Sportscaster of the Year 19 times.
Former Rainbow Wahine volleyball coach Dave Shoji shared a birthday with Leahey, who was four years his elder. At least once a year, they were happy to remind each other how old they were getting.
During Leahey's prime, Shoji would listen to Leahey call just about every sport except his own. He compared him to Hawaii's version of legendary Los Angeles Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully for his longevity and storytelling ability.
“He just was so detailed about all the sports,” Shoji said. “He did his homework, and he was the consummate pro. He could get the feeling of a game better than anybody I’ve ever heard. And he loved the Rainbows, loved the Warriors and UH. You could tell he had a passion for UH. That came across just wonderfully to me.”
A former schoolteacher, Leahey would often summon and emphasize uncommon, multi-syllable words in the flow of a game.
That would alternately impress and confound Artie Wilson, his UH men's basketball broadcast partner for 30-plus years starting on the radio in the late 1970s.
"I think Jim was one of the most intelligent guys I’ve known," Wilson said. "He was a word merchant. He was clever. He was witty. He was a smartass. He was everything wrapped in one. And he had an incredible love for this state and people of Hawaii, like very few others."
In KFVE's heyday, Wilson and Leahey would frequently travel together to call Western Athletic Conference games on the continent (Leahey never called it the mainland, as he felt it diminished local residents' point of view). That's when Leahey's exacting style and poetic nature truly emerged.
"He used to always say when we’d go up and get beat by somebody, ‘Never have so many come so far for so little,'" Wilson said with a chuckle.
He sighed. “A legend’s gone. To me, he was the best play-by-play (man) of all time in Hawaii, in my opinion. It’s not even close.”
Perhaps more than anything else about his father's style, Kanoa Leahey still marvels at his ability to set the emotional tone for the audience in a big moment and have it come across as completely organic.
From a young age, Jim Leahey followed in the footsteps of his father, Chuck Leahey, a radio legend in his own right. At his retirement party in August 2018, Jim Leahey recalled filling in for him on the radio for the first time at just 15 years old at a boxing match at Schofield Barracks.
Jim Leahey graduated from Saint Louis School and attended Chaminade University, where he met his future wife, Toni, and is a member of the Hall of Fame. He graduated from the University of San Francisco and went on to serve in the Vietnam War.
Upon his return, he taught social studies at Campbell High School for 10 years, then entered the more lucrative broadcasting industry full time for KITV, and later KGMB, where he replaced Joe Moore as sports director and remained for 15 years.
"As passionate as he was about sports broadcasting, if he were able to raise his family on a teacher’s wage, he would’ve continued to be a teacher for the rest of his life," Kanoa Leahey said. "I think that was where his true calling was, which is weird to say. But he enjoyed that so much. He enjoyed discourse with people, enjoyed the idea of educating."
There were occasional opportunities for Leahey to move away to a larger market to further his broadcasting career, had he desired it, his son said.
"He recognized the unique nature of this place and had almost a lifelong mission to break through the perception that Hawaii was second class or inferior to those programs and those other entities that were on the continent," Kanoa Leahey said.
Jim Leahey took over radio play-by-play duties on KGU from his father in 1973. He became the official voice of UH sports on television in 1984 on KGMB, then KFVE and OCSports (the precursor to Spectrum Sports).
UH issued a statement early Monday afternoon in a release lauding him as "the voice of University of Hawaii sports" for 40-plus years.
"We're deeply saddened by the passing of Jim Leahey, who was the voice of University of Hawai'i sports for more than four decades. Jim was there for our biggest moments. His iconic and colorful calls have been stamped into our collective memories. Jim was eloquent, knowledgeable and, more than anything, was a fierce supporter of this state and its great culture and sports teams. A giant in the industry, Jim took the broadcasting torch from his father Chuck and has since passed it on to his son Kanoa. Our heartfelt condolences go out to the entire Leahey 'ohana during this difficult time."
Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi was a former broadcast partner of Leahey's for UH football games, and for a period his supervisor in the broadcasting industry. Blangiardi said in a statement: “I feel very privileged to be able to say Jim Leahey and I were more than just friends. We shared 13 unforgettable football seasons doing University of Hawaii games on radio and television. Jim had a very rare and special ability to connect with people, especially in capturing the pride of Hawaii’s people with the success of our teams, not just in football, but in every sport!
“Jim could stir your emotions, and that made every game a worthwhile experience, no matter the score. In a business where champions are revered, Jim Leahey was a champion, and his legacy and many contributions to Hawaii’s sports will never be forgotten!”
In his later career, Leahey gradually transferred play-by-play duties for sports like men’s basketball and women’s volleyball to his son. He finished his broadcasting career, calling UH baseball games for KKEA in 2018 along with Pal Eldredge.
For nine years, starting in 2006, Jim and Kanoa Leahey appeared on the PBS Hawaii sports talk show, Leahey & Leahey and hosted a wide range of local personalities to “talk story” over a representation of the family kitchen table.
Shoji said that PBS set was the site of some of his fondest memories of Leahey.
"He had that fictional dog that would bark as I walked in. It just cracked me up," Shoji said. "I loved being on that show because it was so down to earth. It was funny, but it was serious at times. It was just a joy being interviewed by him and Kanoa."
The two Leaheys frequently joked that given their verbose nature, the guest could rarely get in a word.
Leahey is survived by his wife, Toni, three children and one grandchild. Services are pending.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.