Gravley: A lot of memories in 31 years at WRAL

By Jeff Gravley, WRAL Sports anchor/reporter

The past few months I’ve done a lot of reflecting about my 31 years at WRAL, and it’s hard to absorb the many experiences I had. The one summation, I am one lucky dude!! It’s a challenge to create list of 10 favorite moments but here’s my attempt. By the way, these are in no particular order.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

I was fortunate to work in this unique sports market when Dean Smith, Mike Krzyzewski and Jim Valvano competed in Carmichael Auditorium, Cameron Indoor Stadium and Reynolds Coliseum – true home court advantages that would make your ears ring with noise.

I’ve covered 31 ACC Tournaments and 20 Final Fours. I was on assignment when Mike Krzyzewski (1991) and Roy Williams (2005) won their first national titles and when Dean Smith won his last one (1993).

JIM VALVANO’S SPEECH AT REYNOLDS

The ESPY speech given by Jim Valvano in 1993 is one the nation remembers. But the one he gave at Reynolds Coliseum a few weeks earlier was a direct connection to his Wolfpack team and family. We had 5 cameras at different parts of Reynolds to get every angle possible. Little did we know how impactful that speech would be.

I sat on the floor at midcourt, about where players check in at the scorers table. No tripods were allowed, so I had to alternate having the camera on my shoulder and cradling it in my lap to steady the shot. By the time Valvano’s speech ended, the eyepiece on my camera was clouded with tears. And to think, V felt so bad that day he almost wasn’t able to make it up the stairs to give that speech.

COUNTRY BOY GOES TO THE WHITE HOUSE

“Jeff Gravley, WRAL Sports, the White House.” That has been my tag line three times. Yep, this old country, tobacco-priming fella from Oxford reported three times from the White House.

Once in 2016 when the 1983 NC State team finally got their trip to the White House for winning the national championship. The two other times were to cover the presentation of the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Dean Smith (posthumously) and Michael Jordan. To be in the same room with the President of the United States is mesmerizing. Put me around Michael Jordan and I almost freeze. But there was this one time….

A MEETING WITH MICHAEL

When Michael Jordan retired from basketball he gave baseball a try in 1994. Bob Holliday and I broke off from our Daytona 500 Speedweeks coverage to be at Michael’s first spring training with the White Sox in Sarasota, Florida. MJ was then assigned to the Birmingham Barons, managed by Terry Francona.

The Barons were scheduled to play at the Carolina Mudcats one Saturday, and I went early to try and get a shot of Jordan and the luxury bus he bought for the team to travel in. I went to the visitors clubhouse an hour before they were scheduled to arrive and found out from groundskeeper Bill Riggan that Jordan was already in the clubhouse. He came early. So I left my camera outside, mustered up enough courage and went in.

There he was. Michael Jordan in an empty clubhouse with his wrist covered in an ice bag. He injured it the night before sliding into a base.

We chatted for about 15 minutes, and there were many times I was in awe. “This is Michael Jordan!!” But the more my visit became a conversation, the more at ease I was. When I asked if he would do an interview with me before the game. “Why,” he shot back. “I’m hitting .200.” “Yeah,” I replied. “But that’s Michael Jordan hitting .200!!” He laughed and agreed to do the interview after the game.

US OPEN GOLF

I was a photographer on some of the six US Open Championships we covered at Pine Needles and Pinehurst. The most memorable was the ’99 Open at Pinehurst No. 2. My assignment on the final round was to follow Phil Mickelson and Payne Stewart’s group. I watched the drama unfold in my black-and-white viewfinder. We had two-way radios among our five-man crew to communicate who was where. Those of us with WRAL cameras made our way up the 18th fairway, planning strategy of who would shoot what. One go wide at the green, one follow the path of Payne’s putt, one shoot from behind the putt and I had the isolated shot of Payne with his caddie Mike Hicks in the background. Nervous silence, putt falls, a roar erupts, fist pump, jump into the arms of his caddie. I still get chills every time I see that moment. Can’t watch it enough.

2006 STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONSHIP

I remember when it was announced in 1997 that the Whalers were moving to Raleigh. “Well, hockey will never lead a sportscast in THIS market,” I said in the office. Um, hey dummy, yes it will.

Covering the Hurricanes Stanley Cup run was exhausting, exhilarating and emotional. To clinch the Cup on home ice was just an unreal experience. After the Game 7 win, I was live at ice level when the Zamboni doors opened and the Cup was escorted into the arena. I’m glad I didn’t say live on the air what I was thinking: ”Holy S#*!, the Canes won the Stanley Cup!!!"

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

It doesn’t have to be a professional championship to produce high drama and emotion.

Two years into my tenure at WRAL, the Garner Trojans went on a state championship run in 1987. Not only did they win it, the “Country Bumpkins” went undefeated led by the great Anthony Barbour who set a national record with 47 touchdowns. Before the championship game, coach Hal Stewart let me and Jay Jennings bring our cameras into the locker room to record his pregame speech.

“We’ve been talked about like DAWGS all week in the paper about these city slickers from Charlotte. Yeah, we’re dawgs, proud to be dawgs … proud to be Garner rednecks,” he told his players.

They left the Queen City with a state championship and I had “the time of my life.” That was the essay that Jay Jennings put together with the video we both shot.

DALE EARNHARDT

I cried like a baby when Dale Earnhardt was killed at Daytona in 2001. I was working in Cleveland at the time but had plenty of memories of Dale.

When he pulled into pit road after securing his seventh and final Cup championship, I was right there with my camera as he climbed out of that famous 3 car with a smile from ear to ear.

During one of the Charlotte Motor Speedway media tours, Bob Holliday, me and Dale Earnhardt sat at a bar eating peanuts, having a few cool ones and sharing stories.

I’ll also never forget 1990 when Earnhardt, leading the Daytona 500, ran over some debris on the final lap of a race he had never won. The following week we were supposed to fly with him in his private jet to do a story. Bob and I knew that wouldn’t happen. But sure enough, we made our way to the Rockingham airstrip, and Dale went through with the plan, just a few days after a bitter ending to his Daytona quest.

SUPER BOWL 38 AND 50

I watch the Super Bowl every year. Don’t care who’s playing in it. To get to cover one of sports biggest events was an adventure. My first one was the Panthers' first appearance in 2004 in Super Bowl 38. We all know the Patriots won but also of note, the pregame performance by Aerosmith when they played “Dream On" - "Sing for the laughter, sing for the tears."

Oh, I also saw firsthand Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction.” Yep, saw the whole thing, from the top of the stadium.

There can only be one Super Bowl 50, and for the Panthers it was a miserable game offensively. But I can say that I saw Peyton Manning play his final game, going out a winner of SB 50.

2016 RIO OLYMPICS

If you ever get a chance to go to the Olympics, do it! You’ll never forget being in that Olympic environment. People walk around with what I called the “international smile.” No matter what language you speak, that smile doesn’t need a translation.

With Mike Krzyzewski as the US Olympic basketball coach, I covered a lot of their practices and games. After they won the gold medal, Coach K allowed me and our photographer, Brad Simmons, behind the black curtain for a final one-on-one interview. He never lost an Olympic game as head coach and earned three gold medals. When we got back to the arena, the US team was spread out in various parts of the lounge, taking in their golden moment. Kevin Durant was sitting on the floor showing his Olympic medal to someone on the other end of the FaceTime call. He was giddy.

NC State was well represented in the swimming events but Ryan Held stood out in his first Olympic competition. After being a part of a gold medal relay with Michael Phelps, Held met us back in the mix zone area for an interview. It was more of a reaction than an interview.

It’s not all about winning at the Olympics. Wake County hurdler Ronnie Ash worked his way into the finals. We had met up with him at the athlete’s village for an interview days before and what a fantastic guy! So in the final race, Ash comes on strong; in line for a bronze medal!! Then just before reaching the finish line, he stumbles and falls. His dream comes crashing down just a few yards from completion. Athletes aren’t required to go through the mix zone to do interviews with the many media members. After Ash’s crash, I didn’t think there was any way he would. But he did, and when Ronnie saw us he stopped to talk. He took full responsibility for what happened with no excuses. I learned so much from that moment.