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Ex-ABC sportscaster Dave Diles dead at 78

By AP

DETROIT – Former ABC-TV sports broadcaster and long-time "Prudential College Football Scoreboard Show" host Dave Diles has died at his home in Athens, Ohio. He was 78.

Detroit's WXYZ-TV said Monday he'd been in failing health since a stroke in April and died Saturday night. Diles was the ABC affiliate's sports director in 1961-72 and 1979-82.

Diles also worked for several newspapers and reported for The Associated Press in Columbus, Ohio, and Detroit in 1951-61.

In two decades with ABC Sports, Diles covered the Olympics, the Indy 500 and hosted "Wide World of Sports" and the "Prudential College Football Scoreboard Show."

The Michigan Sports Hall of Fame inducted him in 2006.

Diles grew up in Middleport, Ohio, and attended Ohio University.

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