Leukemia Takes A Beating From Craig Sager’s Army Of Supporters


Back in April, the Inquisitr reported on the support given by an athlete to Craig Sager, the legendary sports announcer.

Because it so happens that Craig Sager is as much of an athlete as George Foreman, the retired boxer who gave him a pair of signed boxing gloves and told him to keep fighting against his leukemia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0otw7axPrY

USA Today reports that Dwayne Wade and The Tie Bar are also supporting Craig Sager, where they’ve designed paisley-patterned ties they wore on television, to show a united support of encouragement.

The article says that Wade started partnering with the tie company in 2014 to design a few collections annually.

The foundation for the idea to design some ties for the announcer just “fell into place,” as detailed by Allyson Lewis who is the vice president of merchandising and the design of the ties.

“Wade came to us a while back and told us Craig Sager’s story. He really wanted to do something for (Sager) because he cares about him a lot as a person and was very touched by his story. Also given the fact that (Craig Sager) is sort of known for his outlandish, really fun personal style, Dwayne said ‘I think this can make total sense to kind of bring together what I’m doing with The Tie Bar and also support Craig.”

The Tie Bar thus created “The Sager” collection.

Craig Sager has had acute myeloid leukemia for the past two years.

The collection includes pocket squares and ties which were also sold online and ended up selling out immediately during the TNT pregame show, before the Warriors–Thunder game on Tuesday night, but the company is looking to have more available as the sales will benefit the SAGERSTRONG foundation for cancer research and education.

Craig Sager is clearly receiving a lot of robust support along with his treatments, as it’s been reported that he will also be receiving the Jimmy V Perseverance Award at the ESPYS in July.

Craig Sager reporting on the sidelines, April 2016
In this April 4, 2016, file photo, Craig Sager speaks before the NCAA Final Four tournament college basketball championship game between Villanova and North Carolina in Houston. Sager will receive the Jimmy V Perseverance Award at the ESPYS on July 13. Sager has continued to work as he receives treatment for leukemia. The award is named for the late North Carolina State coach and broadcaster Jim Valvano, who gave his famous ?Don?t ever give up? speech at the 1993 ESPYS while battling cancer. [Image by David J. Phillip | AP Photo]
ABC News gives more details on the announcement that he would be honored this year.

“Over the last two years, I’ve done everything in my power to live my life as normally as possible. But at times, you need support and I’m so thankful to everyone who has been there for me.”

Craig Sager trying to live a normal life is certainly true as the initial article mentioned here by Inquisitr pointed out, since he’s been flying around to cover various games.

The announcer was initially diagnosed with the cancer in 2014 and had to take some of that year off for treatments while his son Craig, Jr., helped complete interviews for his dad during that time.

Later, because junior was a match, he was able to offer bone marrow in order to put the disease into remission, before it came back in March of 2015.

Acute Myeloid Leukema sample
This patient has apparent recurrence of treated acute myeloid leukemia after 7-year remission. Wright stain, 1000X, the kind of cancer that Craig Sager is diagnosed with. [Image by Ed Uthman via Flickr | CC BY 2.0]
Over that period of time, many have been coming out in support of Sager, from sports teams to celebrities.

The sideline announcer has a signature fashion sense that is unparalleled, which is one of the reasons the tie designs mentioned are so flashy.

As early as the beginning of his career, it’s been said that he was wearing a white flashy trench while covering a baseball game.

The ABC News article also features a quote by Connor Schell.

“Senior Vice President of ESPN Films Connor Schell said Sager’s ‘dedication to continuing the career he loves in spite of this difficult illness is the very definition of perseverance and we’re proud to honor Craig at this year’s ESPYS.'”

Craig Sager has been covering sporting events since 1972, starting in Florida before working for CNN, the Turner Broadcasting Network and NBC.

Corrections in spelling and grammar made.[1:18 AM – 05-29-2016]

[Image by Keith Allison via Flickr | CC BY-SA 2.0]

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