‘Lynchie’ on the Links
Swampscott native Mike Lynch plays 18 Questions with North Shore Golf.
By Gary Trask
Mike Lynch grew up just like any other sports-crazed kid on the North Shore.
He spent a good portion of his adolescent years dribbling a basketball on the pavement of the driveway at his Swampscott home, or tossing a football around the backyard with his friends, mimicking his favorite play-by-play announcer. He always fantasized about playing for one of the Boston professional sports teams, and although he did enjoy a stellar three-sport career for the Big Blue of Swampscott High (Class of 1971) and played both football and baseball at Harvard University (1976), Lynch never realized that dream.
He did, however, venture into a career that enabled him to be in attendance at some of the biggest events in Boston sports history over the last two decades.
Today, Mike Lynch, the lead sports anchor at WCVB-TV Channel 5 in Boston since 1985, is one of the most recognized and respected members of the Boston sports media.
North Shore Golf sat down with the man they call “Lynchie” and found out that even though he has lived in Winchester since 1980 with his wife Mary Ellen and three daughters – Kelly, 20, Molly, 18 and Katey, 15 – his local roots have played a major part in his career as well as his golf game.
1. North Shore Golf: When did you decide to pursue a career in sports broadcasting?
Mike Lynch: Probably right around the time I realized that I didn’t have what it took to be a pro athlete, and that happened very early in my college career. You always have dreams of playing pro sports. In fact, three players from Swampscott High (Dick Jauron, Bill Adams and Tom Toner) went on to play in the NFL, so the dream was always there. But the reality set in quick once I got to Harvard and realized just how good you have to be.
2. NSG: Since you took over at Channel 5, the station has made a huge impact in promoting high school sports with the weekly “High Five” feature and the annual Thanksgiving Day football special. Why have you made scholastic sports such an integral part of your station’s coverage?
ML: I remember when I first took the job, anytime I went out to a speaking engagement, the most common question I would hear was, “why don’t you give more coverage to high school sports?” So back in 1985 we decided to feature a local high school athlete each week. Somebody, and I don’t think it was me, came up with the name “High 5.” It was a play off of “high school” and “Channel 5.” The name stuck and we’ve been doing it ever since. Having played three sports in high school and having officiated high school basketball for a while, I’ve always had an interest in high school sports. In fact, in the morning I usually read every word of the high school roundups in the Globe and the Herald and just kind of flip through the professional stuff.
3. NSG: You began your broadcasting career at WLYN in Lynn and eventually you were hired at Channel 5. How much pride do you take in the fact that you’ve spent your entire career covering sports in the Boston area?
ML: I can’t imagine working anywhere else. It would be false enthusiasm for the teams. That’s what’s great about working here in Boston. I don’t need an encyclopedia to find out what happened in the 1967 World Series because I was there. I don’t need anyone to tell me about [Carlton] Fisk’s home run in Game 6 of the ‘75 World Series because I was there. I feel the pain and I feel the passion of the Boston sports fan because I’m one of them.
4. NSG: You’ve covered a number of big events during your time at Channel 5. What is the most memorable?
ML: I would have to go with the Super Bowl last year as No. 1. I went to the first-ever Patriots game back in 1960 at Nickerson Field in Boston. I remember when the league first started, so I’ve seen the Patriots all the way through. I never thought I’d be alive to see the Patriots actually win a Super Bowl. And when you add in the way in which they won the game… that makes it even more special.
5. NSG: What if we asked you the same question last year, before the Super Bowl?
ML: (After a long pause) Boy, that’s tough. It’s hard to beat a Super Bowl, because they are so big…but I would probably say when Dave Henderson hit that home run against the Angels for the Red Sox in the ’86 ALCS. I was there and the game was on Channel 5. I was scheduled to go on the air live, immediately following the game. Before Hendu hit that home run, it looked like it was going to be a bleak picture in that locker room and from a professional standpoint, I wasn’t looking forward to it. But instead of doom and gloom, it was pure bedlam in there.
6. NSG: Since this is a golf magazine, let’s turn to the links. How long have you been playing the game?
ML: Well, I used to caddie at Tedesco [Country Club in Marblehead] when I was 11 or 12 years old. My Dad used to drive me down there and drop me off around 7 in the morning and I’d just sit there on one of the benches hoping to get out and make some money.
7. NSG: What were the wages like back then?
ML: Oh, we used to make about $2.75 for 18 holes (laughs). But there were other perks.
8. NSG: Like what?
ML: Well, they used to have Caddy Day on Mondays. We would get there at 6:30 in the morning and they would let us play as many holes as we could until 12 noon. It was funny because we would play as fast as we could in order to get in as many holes as possible. Plus, my house in Swampscott was only a half-mile away from the course. I could walk the railroad tracks behind my house and be there pretty quickly. Me and my friends used to sneak on and play that par-4 15th hole all the time. We called ourselves the “Back 9 Club.”
9. NSG: So you played quite a bit as a kid?
ML: Yeah, I really loved the game right from the start. My Dad used to saw down his clubs so they would fit me. He used to take me and my younger brother, Terry, to the Sun Beam Driving Range that used to be over in Vinnin Square. We loved it.
10. NSG: What other courses did you play as you were growing up?
ML: Well, other than the times we were sneaking on to Tedesco, we used to play Far Corner. And my father always liked to play at Salem Municipal. I guess that’s what I would call my home course growing up. I remember the putting green at Salem Muni. It didn’t have any holes to putt into back then so I would always buy a Fanta Orange soda and drink it. Then I’d put the empty can on the putting green and use it as a target.
11. NSG: What is your home course now?
ML: I’m a member at Indian Ridge in Andover and that’s probably where I play 99 percent of my golf.
12. NSG: How often do you play?
ML: Well, if you ask my wife, she’d probably tell you 10 times a week (laughs). But I guess I did play a lot last year. A couple times a week, anyway. I probably set a personal record for number of rounds last year.
13. NSG: Well, since you played so much last year, your game has probably improved dramatically. What kind of player are you?
ML: Terminally mediocre (laughs).
14. NSG: I find that hard to believe. What’s your handicap?
ML: I’m about a 12. I did have it down to a 10 at one point. But I guess I ended last year as a 12.
15. NSG: You have an impressive athletic background. Has that helped your golf game?
ML: Not really. I always wondered why playing competitive sports never gave me an edge in golf. I could stand in front of 70,000 people at a Harvard-Yale [football] game and kick a field goal with my eyes closed and I could make a jump shot in a hoop game in front of a gym-full of people, but don’t ask me to try and make a three-foot putt for a $2 Nassau. I’m honestly more nervous standing over a putt in front of nobody but the people in my foursome than I ever was playing in a football game for the league championship in high school.
16. NSG: What’s the best part of your game?
ML: You know what I do best? I’m great at finding lost balls (laughs). That’s the one thing that I really have going for me. I guess it comes from all my training as a caddy at Tedesco. But seriously, that’s the one thing I do well consistently on the golf course.
17. NSG: You’re a 12-handicap. Not 112. You must do something right.
ML: Well that’s exactly my problem. I’m not consistent with any part of my game. If I’m hitting the ball well off the tee, I can’t putt. And vice-versa.
18. NSG: Last question. What would you rather have happen to you tomorrow: get a scoop over your competition at the other TV stations on a breaking sports story or a sink a hole-in-one?
ML: Let me say this. I turn 49 in September. I’m on the back nine of my life, so to speak. So at this stage of my life, I’d take the hole-in-one, just because I’ve never had one. That would make things complete. I always thought that if I ever did get one, it would come when I’m playing in some huge tournament. And then I’d have to buy drinks for about 400 people (laughs). But, you know what, a hole-in-one would probably be worth the price.
