A ‘not so serious’ bio…
Terry Lyons grew up in the 1960s in a quaint Long Island home with terrific memories and a wonderful family. While the Sisters of St. Dominic took care of business at St. Ignatius Loyola School, Lyons began his day-by-day study of the “real world” when the eyes of the nation were on life-changing news reports about the Viet Nam war, the assassinations of JFK, Martin Luther King, Jr. and RFK, the latter being Lyons’ first real idol.
NASA’s Apollo space program played an important role in Lyons’ growth and will always be a lasting memory from his childhood. The Grumman Aerospace facilities were a nine-iron away from the Lyons-family backyard. As the NASA program progressed through the 60’s, the typical Long Island family sat fixated on every ‘moon-shot,’ each remembering the JFK speech when he stated with confidence and conviction, “We choose to go to the Moon.” That speech will be forever etched in Lyons’ memory, even though he was a toddler at the time it was delivered at Rice University in 1962.
A rooftop antenna, aimed towards New Haven, brought signals to the Lyons’ living room RCA black and white TV set; JFK’s funeral, the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show, Bill Russell and the Celtics winning championship after championship on the parquet, Bridgehampton-born “Yaz” and the ’67 Red Sox, the 1968 Democratic National convention in Chicago, the Mets clinching the ’69 pennant and World Series, Joe Namath and the Jets upsetting the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, Walt Frazier, Willis Reed and the Knicks winning the 1969-70 NBA title with Marv on the radio, and one of the most amazing milestones in our lifetime; Neil Armstrong stating, “That’s one small step for Man.”
Life took a few turns as grammar school graduation from St. I led to the information-filled super-hallways of Holy Trinity High School and later, St. John’s University. Sports Editor and, later, Editor in Chief at the Trinity Triangle, sports staff and reporter at The Torch at St. John’s helped pave the way. All the while, a solid education backed by some street sense and a few solo trips to Europe, The Caribbean, various points of the USA and Canada helped lead Lyons to a worldwide and often opinionated viewpoint.
The New York Islanders were born in 1972 and became a huge part of our lives, along with a love for basketball played at all levels.
Dark days included Timothy F. Lyons’ early death, the Nixon years, the ’72 Olympics and the rise of terrorism, crisis in the Middle East and gasoline rationing, apartheid in South Africa, and, the assassination of John Lennon right in front of our eyes and ears in New York City, the city we loved.
Then came, the NBA – where it all began - once again.
The NBA provided Lyons with the sketchpad and a pencil and Lyons began to witness and chronicle sports history in the making. Live and from courtside, he worked behind the scenes to prepare for one of the greatest periods in global sports history. Every night, when the work was set, and the curtain went up, Lyons was rewarded with a courtside, all-access seat to watch thousands of hours of basketball, all played at its highest level. We traveled to hundreds of cities in dozens of countries all over the world. Australia to Japan to the Czech Republic to Mexico to Toronto, and that would come sometimes during one itinerary? Memorable NBA firsts in Madrid, Shanghai, Beijing, Moscow, Mexico City, Tokyo and nearly all 50 US States. The ’92 Dream Team in Barcelona and three other Olympics were the ultimate experiences.
Stories? The 1988 trip by the NBA and the Atlanta Hawk to the then-Soviet Union is a web site in itself. Sukhumi alone is worth a few pages while stories of the escapades by Jack McCallum, Jack Smith and the late Jeff Denberg could fill a novel.
When the topic comes to USA Basketball? The Mt. Everest-like highs and the 2002 Indianapolis-like lows were a huge part of the Lyons NBA legacy. Lyons helped create the communications and media relations strategy and function at USA Basketball. He worked in the background as the USA prepared for the ’84 and ’88 Olympics. Then, from ’92 until today, Lyons’ basketball DNA was entwined with the “National Team.” He witnessed the very best and an Antonio McDyess put-back at the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney is his all-time favorite memory of four Olympiads.
Among the many awards and accolades on December 26, 2006, Lyons like, you, was named “co-winner” of Time Magazine’s Person of the Year. Time’s annual issue celebrating the year of 2006 had this to say:
“And for seizing the reins of the global media, for founding and framing the new digital democracy, for working for nothing and beating the pros at their own game, TIME's Person of the Year for 2006 is you.”