WEBVTT - Eric Nadel On Nolan Ryan With An Eye Patch 0:00:05.760 --> 0:00:08.800 Welcome to Is this a great game or what? And 0:00:08.920 --> 0:00:13.120 our special guest today is Hall of Fame broadcaster and 0:00:13.280 --> 0:00:17.880 my dear friend Eric Nadell. Eric, meet Jeff Kirchen. You 0:00:18.000 --> 0:00:22.400 haven't seen him since he was like four feet tall, which. 0:00:22.320 --> 0:00:25.639 Was two weeks ago. But say hi to Jeff after 0:00:25.680 --> 0:00:26.680 all these years. 0:00:27.120 --> 0:00:28.920 Hi, Jeff, How tall are you now? Jeff? 0:00:29.800 --> 0:00:33.120 I'm a whopping five foot six and a half, which 0:00:33.200 --> 0:00:35.560 is considered a giant in the Kirkchen family. 0:00:36.440 --> 0:00:41.080 Right right, So Eric, let's start from the top here. 0:00:41.280 --> 0:00:46.599 You signed in for this podcast as Jeff Stone, one 0:00:46.640 --> 0:00:51.400 of my all time favorite players. Explain the thinking there. 0:00:52.800 --> 0:00:55.360 I just knew he's one of your all time favorite players, 0:00:57.240 --> 0:01:00.720 the name that would amuse you the most. Else I 0:01:00.760 --> 0:01:05.040 consider Jeff Bronki because he was born in Afghanistan, and 0:01:05.080 --> 0:01:08.319 I believe he's the only Major leaguer from Afghanistan. But 0:01:08.440 --> 0:01:11.240 I figured Jeff how to go with Jeff Stone because 0:01:11.280 --> 0:01:13.480 of how many good quotes he gave you over the years. 0:01:14.000 --> 0:01:16.800 Yeah, oh, Jeff. Jeffstone is one of the sweetest men 0:01:16.920 --> 0:01:19.440 I've ever met. He was a good baseball player, but 0:01:19.520 --> 0:01:21.240 he was much better than the minor leagues in the 0:01:21.240 --> 0:01:24.920 big leagues. But he's the guy who grew up in 0:01:25.360 --> 0:01:29.280 a cornfield in Missouri and ends up in Oregon for 0:01:29.319 --> 0:01:30.560 his first year. 0:01:30.440 --> 0:01:31.280 In pro ball. 0:01:31.360 --> 0:01:34.039 And he's standing in the outfield during a pitching change 0:01:34.520 --> 0:01:37.720 and he asks the right fielder is that the same 0:01:37.880 --> 0:01:41.040 moon that they have at home? But that's the question 0:01:41.240 --> 0:01:44.560 that Jeff Stone asked the right fielder. But he was 0:01:44.720 --> 0:01:46.720 at Eric. I'm right about him, right. 0:01:46.800 --> 0:01:50.360 He was absolutely as friendly and as nice a guy 0:01:50.360 --> 0:01:51.320 as you've ever met. 0:01:51.440 --> 0:01:54.960 Right, he was. He was outwardly friendly, and he was 0:01:55.000 --> 0:01:58.200 really fast. Now he didn't have all the skills you 0:01:58.280 --> 0:02:01.600 needed to be a major league, but he was really fast. 0:02:01.840 --> 0:02:05.600 Jeff he played winter ball in Mexico and bought a 0:02:05.640 --> 0:02:09.520 television there and then left it in Mexico when he 0:02:09.600 --> 0:02:12.120 came back to the States, and they said, why did 0:02:12.240 --> 0:02:14.440 you bring the TV back? And he said, well, I 0:02:14.480 --> 0:02:17.120 didn't think it would get the stations here in this country, 0:02:17.200 --> 0:02:20.960 so he left it in Mexico. And I repeat, it 0:02:21.040 --> 0:02:24.960 sounds mean spirited, I'm not. This is Jeff Stone, sweet, 0:02:25.000 --> 0:02:28.360 sweet guy and one of my favorite guys I ever covered. 0:02:28.400 --> 0:02:31.440 Sorry about that, you know what I think about the 0:02:31.520 --> 0:02:34.360 same moon. They made a movie called a Miss Ma Luna, 0:02:34.880 --> 0:02:38.000 which means the same Moon, and it's about a woman 0:02:38.040 --> 0:02:41.320 who immigrates to the United States and leaves her child behind, 0:02:42.240 --> 0:02:44.720 but points at the moon before she leaves and says, 0:02:44.720 --> 0:02:47.119 every night, look at the moon and know that I'm 0:02:47.160 --> 0:02:50.000 looking at the same moon, and that will bond us together. 0:02:50.520 --> 0:02:52.120 And I've seen the movie a couple of times. It's 0:02:52.120 --> 0:02:56.000 a really sweet movie. But every time I see the 0:02:56.080 --> 0:02:57.560 name of the movie, I think it just. 0:03:01.840 --> 0:03:06.560 It's so good. And speaking of movie, Jeff, speaking of movies. 0:03:06.639 --> 0:03:09.520 When when I first off that the house that you 0:03:09.600 --> 0:03:11.960 were born in, or after you were born, the house 0:03:12.000 --> 0:03:15.520 you went to was like three hundred yards from Eric 0:03:15.639 --> 0:03:18.600 Nadell's house. He was the one that told me, Tim, 0:03:18.639 --> 0:03:21.440 there's a house on our street or it's one street over, 0:03:21.800 --> 0:03:25.000 you should buy that house. And then we did. We 0:03:25.040 --> 0:03:28.280 bought that house, so I did. I got through my 0:03:28.440 --> 0:03:31.720 early years in Texas because of Eric. He told me 0:03:31.760 --> 0:03:32.600 what to do there. 0:03:33.160 --> 0:03:37.760 Eric, you remember finding the house for us, right absolutely? 0:03:38.160 --> 0:03:40.600 And you know when I'd walk by that house walking 0:03:40.600 --> 0:03:43.200 the dog, every time i'd see it, I think, you 0:03:43.200 --> 0:03:52.560 guys there now dunk sitting in that car. Oh, we 0:03:52.600 --> 0:03:54.240 need completely trash. 0:03:55.320 --> 0:03:57.960 Yeah, we need to explain. We had a dog, Donkey, 0:03:58.080 --> 0:04:00.320 the greatest dog ever. All he wanted to do is 0:04:00.400 --> 0:04:03.160 go in the car, And there were certain days he 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:06.240 would just get in the car, knowing this is going 0:04:06.320 --> 0:04:08.920 to leave for the park at some point and I 0:04:08.960 --> 0:04:11.640 don't want to miss it. So yes, Eric was not 0:04:11.800 --> 0:04:14.320 the only guy to see our dog sitting in the car. 0:04:14.520 --> 0:04:18.120 He had in and out privileges. We weren't locking him 0:04:18.160 --> 0:04:22.080 in there. He chose to do this. Oh my gosh, 0:04:22.240 --> 0:04:24.440 thinks well the things were Eric. 0:04:24.560 --> 0:04:27.080 You know, there's so much history between the two of you. 0:04:27.160 --> 0:04:30.039 First of all, it is really neat to be on 0:04:30.080 --> 0:04:32.200 the call with two Hall of famers, So I have 0:04:32.240 --> 0:04:34.480 to say this is a real treat for myself and 0:04:34.560 --> 0:04:39.040 for our incredible listeners. But let's take it back, because Dad, 0:04:39.120 --> 0:04:41.039 you started with the Rangers in what year? 0:04:42.400 --> 0:04:45.159 I started in eighty two. I covered baseball for three 0:04:45.240 --> 0:04:48.880 years before that in Baltimore. But as Eric knows, you 0:04:49.320 --> 0:04:52.200 really don't start your baseball career until you're the play 0:04:52.240 --> 0:04:55.000 by play guy or the beat guy. And I became 0:04:55.040 --> 0:05:01.320 the beat guy for the Texas Rangers in nineteen eighty two. Eric, 0:05:01.680 --> 0:05:06.120 those players that team, what what a learning experience? That 0:05:06.360 --> 0:05:09.200 was for all of us. You had the same experiences 0:05:09.240 --> 0:05:12.160 what you took over in nineteen seventy nine. 0:05:12.200 --> 0:05:16.120 Agreed, Agreed, Yeah, I was twenty seven years old. Most 0:05:16.160 --> 0:05:18.479 of the players on our team were older than me then. 0:05:19.000 --> 0:05:22.640 You know, we had Ferdie Jenkins and Doc Meditch and 0:05:22.800 --> 0:05:25.919 Richie Zisk and Al Oliver and all of these guys 0:05:25.920 --> 0:05:30.560 were older than I was. And now, you know, and 0:05:30.600 --> 0:05:33.159 now most of the players could be my grandkids. But 0:05:33.240 --> 0:05:36.760 it was very different back then. And you know, back then, 0:05:36.839 --> 0:05:39.800 the players saw us, the people who were there every 0:05:39.920 --> 0:05:43.560 day covering them, as part of the family. We really 0:05:43.640 --> 0:05:46.760 were all part of the same group and there was 0:05:46.800 --> 0:05:51.080 a communal feeling about it that unfortunately doesn't exist anymore. Also, 0:05:51.160 --> 0:05:53.360 you know, there were a lot more characters back then. 0:05:53.640 --> 0:05:56.320 You know, there wasn't as much money involved, players weren't 0:05:56.320 --> 0:05:59.000 as dedicated as they are now, and a lot more 0:05:59.040 --> 0:06:02.880 funny stuff happened back then and does now. Yeah. 0:06:03.160 --> 0:06:05.880 I've told this story many times, Eric, but my first 0:06:05.960 --> 0:06:09.960 spring training with the Ragers, after three weeks, Mickey Rivers 0:06:10.000 --> 0:06:12.960 came up to me and said, Tim, can I borrow 0:06:13.000 --> 0:06:20.040 two thousand dollars? Vickey, I make eleven thousand dollars a year. 0:06:20.279 --> 0:06:24.200 I don't have two thousand dollars to loan you. Does 0:06:24.240 --> 0:06:25.760 that sound like Mickey to you? 0:06:26.040 --> 0:06:26.280 Eric? 0:06:27.000 --> 0:06:31.000 Absolutely? Absolutely? Yeah, what a what a team we had then, 0:06:31.240 --> 0:06:33.560 and what a season two, you know, to start out 0:06:33.640 --> 0:06:38.559 as contenders. You know, they traded Al Oliver in spring 0:06:38.600 --> 0:06:42.320 training and got Larry Parrish and Dave Hostetler. They made 0:06:42.360 --> 0:06:45.760 that ridiculous trade to get Lee Mozilly where they traded 0:06:45.839 --> 0:06:48.640 Ron Darling and Walk Terrell to get Lee Mozilly when 0:06:48.680 --> 0:06:52.320 they already had two center fielders, they traded for another one. 0:06:52.640 --> 0:06:56.080 And Mozilly was not exactly pleased to play left field, 0:06:56.400 --> 0:06:58.000 right he said it was an idiot's position. 0:06:58.920 --> 0:06:59.599 Yes he did. 0:07:00.000 --> 0:07:00.520 Oh my god. 0:07:00.800 --> 0:07:04.599 Canstremsky did not take that well, by the way, who 0:07:04.680 --> 0:07:06.560 was still playing at the time. 0:07:06.960 --> 0:07:09.400 Yeah, he didn't care. Remember Jim Rice didn't quite care 0:07:09.440 --> 0:07:13.920 for that either. And the whole season went could put 0:07:13.960 --> 0:07:16.280 in early May when they lost twelve games in a row. 0:07:16.760 --> 0:07:18.720 They went on a road trip. They lost every game 0:07:18.880 --> 0:07:22.720 if I remember correctly. On one road trip to Detroit 0:07:22.760 --> 0:07:25.880 and Boston, they lost a game in each place when 0:07:26.600 --> 0:07:29.320 they could have ended the game with a double play, 0:07:29.800 --> 0:07:32.960 and instead the second baseman got taken out, threw the 0:07:32.960 --> 0:07:36.240 ball away, and they lost the game on that same play. 0:07:36.760 --> 0:07:41.240 I think it happened to Doug Flynn, and I think 0:07:41.280 --> 0:07:44.240 the other game was Bill Stein got taken out. A 0:07:44.320 --> 0:07:46.960 second one was by Kurt Gibson, and I don't remember 0:07:47.000 --> 0:07:49.640 who the Boston guy was who took out the second baseman. 0:07:49.920 --> 0:07:53.520 But they went from on the verge of winning to 0:07:53.680 --> 0:07:55.600 losing the game and one fell sweep. 0:07:57.000 --> 0:08:00.000 Yeah, so that team in May, Eric said, lost twelve 0:08:00.080 --> 0:08:03.400 games in a row. And I staggered into Don Zimmer's 0:08:03.440 --> 0:08:06.880 office and I have this haggard look on my face 0:08:06.880 --> 0:08:08.440 and he looks at me. He goes, what's wrong you? 0:08:09.160 --> 0:08:11.080 And I said, well, Zim, I must tell you it 0:08:11.120 --> 0:08:13.240 hasn't been as much fun covering this team as I 0:08:13.280 --> 0:08:15.080 thought it would be. And he looks at me, and 0:08:15.080 --> 0:08:17.360 I'm quoting here. He goes a quit complain and look 0:08:17.360 --> 0:08:19.600 at you. You're young, you're good looking, you got your 0:08:19.640 --> 0:08:21.240 whole life in front of you. Look at me. I'm 0:08:21.240 --> 0:08:23.680 old and fat, I'm bald and ugly. I got a 0:08:23.680 --> 0:08:26.320 plate in my head, and I've got this team to manage. 0:08:26.560 --> 0:08:28.160 I'm the one with all the worries. 0:08:28.520 --> 0:08:33.040 So quick complaining and recognize how lucky you are to 0:08:33.120 --> 0:08:33.520 be here. 0:08:33.679 --> 0:08:36.360 Now, Eric, does that not sound like Don Zimmer? 0:08:36.400 --> 0:08:38.920 To you? Sounds like Zim? And then he wasn't He 0:08:38.960 --> 0:08:41.120 wasn't long for that team. As it turned out well, 0:08:41.120 --> 0:08:44.320 after that twelve game lising streak, they fired the general manager, 0:08:44.440 --> 0:08:48.000 not the manager, right right. They fired Robinson. 0:08:47.679 --> 0:08:49.679 Eddie Robinson, right right. 0:08:49.760 --> 0:08:53.920 And then later on You're in July, they fired Zim 0:08:53.960 --> 0:08:57.200 but asked him to keep managing until they can find 0:08:57.240 --> 0:08:58.160 a replacement. 0:08:59.160 --> 0:09:03.600 Jeff, he man three games after being told you're fired. 0:09:04.080 --> 0:09:06.280 And then this is Eric, I don't think you were 0:09:06.320 --> 0:09:09.720 here this night, but we but Zim took all the 0:09:09.760 --> 0:09:12.240 writers and all the guy the coaches out to dinner 0:09:12.280 --> 0:09:16.120 to mister Catfish. After that it was finally over. He 0:09:16.200 --> 0:09:18.880 was officially fired. So I'm sitting there with the other 0:09:18.920 --> 0:09:21.600 beat writers, Jeff, this was incredible, and this guy who 0:09:21.640 --> 0:09:24.880 I've never seen before, rolls in. He picks up a 0:09:24.880 --> 0:09:29.199 goblet of beer and throws it across the table at 0:09:29.280 --> 0:09:31.439 Jim Reeves, who I was sitting next to one of 0:09:31.480 --> 0:09:34.120 the beat writers, And we have to get under the 0:09:34.200 --> 0:09:37.640 table so we don't get hit by a flying glass. 0:09:37.920 --> 0:09:40.080 And I looked at rebo and I said, who was that? 0:09:40.200 --> 0:09:43.400 He goes, that's Brad Korbott. He used to own the teams. 0:09:44.400 --> 0:09:47.240 The owner of the team came in and threw a 0:09:47.280 --> 0:09:51.920 beer at remo. Does that sound like Brad Korbant to you, Eric? 0:09:53.040 --> 0:09:55.480 Brad Korbott is the reason that I got this job 0:09:56.200 --> 0:09:59.200 because he was so impulsive. He was playing golf one 0:09:59.280 --> 0:10:03.040 day with Harmon Killerbrew, and Harmon had done a little 0:10:03.040 --> 0:10:06.320 bit of broadcasting for the Twins and Brad said, you know, 0:10:06.480 --> 0:10:08.920 I'd like to have you as our TV announcer and 0:10:08.960 --> 0:10:11.800 Harmon said great, I'd love to do that. So Brad 0:10:11.840 --> 0:10:16.360 went to Roy Parks, who was running the broadcast department then, 0:10:16.640 --> 0:10:18.920 and it was actually the City of Arlington, you know, 0:10:19.000 --> 0:10:21.520 not the Rangers or the radio station. And he said 0:10:21.559 --> 0:10:23.760 to Roy Parks, next year, we're going to have Harmon 0:10:23.880 --> 0:10:27.200 Killerbrew as our play by play announcer. And boy said, well, no, 0:10:27.280 --> 0:10:30.520 we're not. I have an agreement with Channel five here 0:10:30.720 --> 0:10:32.680 that I have to use one of their sports guys 0:10:32.679 --> 0:10:34.840 as the play by play guy, and it happens to 0:10:34.880 --> 0:10:39.199 be Frank Lieber and he's really good, and no, I'm 0:10:39.200 --> 0:10:42.000 not going to hire Harmon Killbrew and Corbett said, well, 0:10:42.040 --> 0:10:45.040 if you won't hire Harmon Killerbrew, then I won't let 0:10:45.080 --> 0:10:49.400 you use Ken Suarez as the color man on TV. 0:10:49.760 --> 0:10:52.520 Ken Suarez was a former Ranger player who worked for 0:10:52.640 --> 0:10:57.480 Corbett selling plastic pipe in Corbett's Plastic Pipe company, and 0:10:57.559 --> 0:11:00.160 Corbett would let him off work to go do the 0:10:59.760 --> 0:11:02.800 third games that we did on TV back then, and 0:11:02.880 --> 0:11:05.280 I hadn't I was doing minor league hockey at the time. 0:11:05.920 --> 0:11:09.520 And roy said, well, I'm sorry, I can't hire Harmon Kilber. 0:11:09.600 --> 0:11:12.200 I can't break this contract. Corbett says, well, you can't 0:11:12.280 --> 0:11:15.600 use Ken Suarez anymore, and Royce said, all right, I'll 0:11:15.640 --> 0:11:19.600 find somebody else. I was at somebody else and that's 0:11:19.600 --> 0:11:22.600 how I got them that Eric. 0:11:22.679 --> 0:11:25.560 I have never heard that story. Harmon Kilbrew is one 0:11:25.600 --> 0:11:28.880 of my favorite people ever. But as a play by 0:11:29.000 --> 0:11:32.640 play guide, they were going to hire the big, stocky 0:11:32.720 --> 0:11:34.920 first baseman to be a play by play guy. 0:11:35.040 --> 0:11:41.120 That's ridiculous, exactly as the TV play by play guy. 0:11:41.320 --> 0:11:45.360 Some wireless plans can get a little bit crazy, a 0:11:45.400 --> 0:11:49.880 little bit off the charts. Expensive Mint Mobile can get 0:11:49.920 --> 0:11:54.040 you started with three months of premium wireless. 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Upfront 0:12:27.080 --> 0:12:30.040 payment of forty five dollars for three month five gigabyte 0:12:30.080 --> 0:12:33.559 plan required equivalent to fifteen bucks a month new customer 0:12:33.640 --> 0:12:36.480 offer for first three months only than full price. Plan 0:12:36.559 --> 0:12:41.720 options available, Taxes and fees extra. See mint mobile for details. 0:12:46.280 --> 0:12:50.000 If you were doing women's basketball and minor league hockey, 0:12:50.040 --> 0:12:55.160 among other things, before you became the voice of the Rangers, agreed. 0:12:56.040 --> 0:12:58.599 Yeah, I mean I thought, you know, growing up in 0:12:58.679 --> 0:13:02.640 New York listening to Marv Albert, I was just captivated 0:13:02.679 --> 0:13:05.319 by listening to New York Rangers games on the radio. 0:13:05.520 --> 0:13:07.800 I loved it. I got my homework done early every 0:13:07.880 --> 0:13:10.200 day the Rangers were playing, so I could listen to 0:13:10.280 --> 0:13:13.319 Marv and I would tell people, say, what are you 0:13:13.320 --> 0:13:14.640 going to do when you grow up? And I'd say, 0:13:14.760 --> 0:13:16.880 I'm going to be the radio voice of the Rangers. 0:13:17.559 --> 0:13:24.439 And we met the New York Rangers, and you know what. 0:13:25.040 --> 0:13:27.240 I broadcast hockey in college, and when I got out 0:13:27.280 --> 0:13:30.360 of college, I got a job in Muskegon, Michigan, at 0:13:30.400 --> 0:13:33.040 the lowest level of minor league sport. It was like 0:13:33.200 --> 0:13:36.160 the movie Slap Shot. Really was like that. In fact, 0:13:36.240 --> 0:13:38.640 we had the two guys, we had the Hanson brothers 0:13:38.800 --> 0:13:41.640 in our training camp. Their name was actually Carlson. We 0:13:41.679 --> 0:13:46.120 had them in our training real Hanson brothers, before the movie, 0:13:46.160 --> 0:13:48.360 before any of that, and they didn't make our team. 0:13:48.400 --> 0:13:51.319 They didn't skate well enough to make our team. We 0:13:51.320 --> 0:13:55.120 were in the International Hockey League, which sounds really impressive, 0:13:55.160 --> 0:13:57.679 except that none of the teams were in any country 0:13:57.720 --> 0:14:03.280 other than the United States. And he was able to 0:14:03.320 --> 0:14:06.040 catch on with a team in the Eastern League, Jeff Carlson, 0:14:06.080 --> 0:14:07.559 and I don't remember what the name of the other 0:14:07.640 --> 0:14:11.640 brother was, but he caught on with the Eastern League 0:14:11.679 --> 0:14:14.560 and got jobs there. But I got a job in Muskegan, Michigan. 0:14:14.600 --> 0:14:16.839 Then I got a job in Oklahoma City, and that 0:14:17.000 --> 0:14:20.640 saved my career because after three years in Muskegan, Michigan, 0:14:20.680 --> 0:14:23.200 I figured, if I can't get in a better job 0:14:23.280 --> 0:14:27.000 than this, I probably really suck at this. And so 0:14:27.120 --> 0:14:31.160 I started applying to law schools. And then then I 0:14:31.240 --> 0:14:33.720 heard that there was a job open in Oklahoma City. 0:14:33.760 --> 0:14:36.160 I read in the Hockey News that a job had 0:14:36.160 --> 0:14:39.160 opened up in Oklahoma City that the announcer there, John Brooks, 0:14:39.160 --> 0:14:41.840 had taken a job as the voice of the Oklahoma Sooners, 0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:44.000 and he was having to give up his job as 0:14:44.080 --> 0:14:48.360 the voice of the Oklahoma City Blazers. So I called 0:14:48.440 --> 0:14:51.920 up directory information for Oklahoma City and asked to talk 0:14:51.960 --> 0:14:54.880 to the general manager. And this guy named ramy Ron, 0:14:55.120 --> 0:14:58.960 and he says, yeah, the job's open. I'm the general manager. 0:14:58.960 --> 0:15:03.000 I'm also the coach. Send your stuff and i'll get 0:15:03.000 --> 0:15:04.360 back to you. When he got back to me in 0:15:04.400 --> 0:15:06.000 a few weeks, and he said, you're one of two 0:15:06.080 --> 0:15:08.920 finalists for the job, and I want you to fly 0:15:09.000 --> 0:15:12.360 to Montreal for the Hockey Annual meetings and I'll go 0:15:12.400 --> 0:15:13.920 to dinner with you one night and i'll go to 0:15:13.960 --> 0:15:17.280 dinner with the other finalist one night and we'll see, 0:15:17.800 --> 0:15:20.320 you know, who gets the job. So I got there 0:15:20.320 --> 0:15:22.880 in the first night. We go to dinner and he 0:15:22.960 --> 0:15:25.920 starts drinking before we even sat down. He ordered a 0:15:26.000 --> 0:15:30.120 drink by that person stand and Eric, what would you like? 0:15:30.200 --> 0:15:32.440 So I just ordered whatever he ordered, which was a 0:15:32.480 --> 0:15:36.320 blonde Dubonet. That's what he liked to drink dinner, a 0:15:36.360 --> 0:15:41.480 blonde Dubnet. So I'm drinking blonde Dubonets with Ray and 0:15:41.560 --> 0:15:44.320 we sit down and we have this fantastic meal with 0:15:44.480 --> 0:15:47.080 I don't know how many drinks, but I was just 0:15:47.200 --> 0:15:50.120 completely polluted by the end of it. But we have 0:15:50.200 --> 0:15:53.200 a great thing, and I went back to my hotel 0:15:53.280 --> 0:15:56.000 room thinking I did really well. I think, I think, 0:15:56.160 --> 0:15:59.120 you know, I might get this job. And then he says, 0:15:59.160 --> 0:16:01.720 I'm going to go out tomorrow night with the other finalist. 0:16:02.320 --> 0:16:04.800 And the next night I get a caller on midnight 0:16:05.400 --> 0:16:07.800 and it's from Ray and he says, Hey, Eric, it's Ray. 0:16:07.840 --> 0:16:09.560 I just want to let you know you got the job. 0:16:10.520 --> 0:16:13.840 And I said, that's great. He says, but I've got 0:16:13.880 --> 0:16:16.360 this problem. He says, I don't know how to tell 0:16:16.400 --> 0:16:22.600 Mike Emrick that he didn't get the job, and all 0:16:22.640 --> 0:16:25.160 I could think of was, as far as I knew 0:16:25.160 --> 0:16:27.880 at the time, Mike Emrick didn't drink much, if at all. 0:16:29.000 --> 0:16:33.120 So if Ray was looking for a wingman when the 0:16:33.200 --> 0:16:36.480 team's on the road, he figured I'd be better than 0:16:36.520 --> 0:16:40.520 Mike Emrick because I can drink that. And that's the 0:16:40.680 --> 0:16:45.520 only reason in the world I could possibly have ever 0:16:45.560 --> 0:16:49.640 gotten a job broadcasting hockey over Mike Emrick, who's like 0:16:49.720 --> 0:16:52.040 the Vin Scully of hockey broadcasting. 0:16:52.200 --> 0:16:54.360 Oh my gosh. 0:16:54.360 --> 0:16:58.840 Eric, that is unbelievable. I'd never heard that story before. 0:16:58.880 --> 0:17:03.280 Now before I forget Moose Lallo was where in your 0:17:03.680 --> 0:17:06.159 he was the coach Jeb and tell us about. 0:17:06.000 --> 0:17:11.840 Moose Lalo was was the Yogi bearra of hockey. He 0:17:11.880 --> 0:17:14.720 would come out with these things called moosism's. Moose had 0:17:14.760 --> 0:17:19.520 grown up in Timmins, Ontario and an Italian family. One 0:17:19.560 --> 0:17:22.600 of his parents was French, you know, French Canadian, so 0:17:22.680 --> 0:17:26.639 he spoke Italian and French before he learned English, and 0:17:26.720 --> 0:17:29.800 English was his third language. It was very distant third 0:17:30.320 --> 0:17:35.040 to the other two. So he would completely mauwl the language, 0:17:35.520 --> 0:17:43.960 you know. He he He would say things like this contract, 0:17:44.200 --> 0:17:47.280 this printer. He screwed us on the contract. Next time, 0:17:47.359 --> 0:17:49.080 I'm going to sign the contract, and you're going to 0:17:49.119 --> 0:17:51.080 sign the contract, and we're going to take it to 0:17:51.160 --> 0:18:01.560 a rotary public And he had a road trip to Iowa. 0:18:01.560 --> 0:18:03.360 It was the only place where you had to change 0:18:03.800 --> 0:18:06.720 your clocks for time zone, change your watches. We'd go 0:18:06.800 --> 0:18:08.960 from the Eastern time zone to the Central time zone 0:18:09.000 --> 0:18:11.040 to go to Des Moines. It's about an eight hour 0:18:11.080 --> 0:18:13.000 bus ride, and we would do it late at night 0:18:13.480 --> 0:18:15.399 and we were going to play the next day. And 0:18:15.480 --> 0:18:17.520 we get to Des Moines, you know, it's the middle 0:18:17.520 --> 0:18:19.200 of the night, and we're about ready to get off 0:18:19.200 --> 0:18:21.119 the bus and Moose gets up in the front of 0:18:21.160 --> 0:18:24.280 the bus and he says, okay, now tomorrow we got 0:18:24.320 --> 0:18:26.520 to skate at ten am. I don't want anybody to 0:18:26.520 --> 0:18:29.680 be late because of this time zone thing. So everybody 0:18:29.800 --> 0:18:33.600 right now, Okay, it's four am right now, So everybody, 0:18:33.760 --> 0:18:42.720 let's just simonize our watches. And there was something like 0:18:42.760 --> 0:18:44.400 that every day, every day. 0:18:44.760 --> 0:18:47.360 How about the guy who broke his leg and what 0:18:47.440 --> 0:18:50.520 did what did Moose say after that? 0:18:51.000 --> 0:18:53.320 He took the extra Yeah, well they took X rays, 0:18:53.320 --> 0:18:56.000 but it didn't help. He still got a broken leg. 0:19:02.280 --> 0:19:06.159 And then my favorite one. On New Year's Eve, the 0:19:06.240 --> 0:19:09.560 Rangers the Mosque of Mohawks played this horrible game. They 0:19:09.600 --> 0:19:12.040 were terrible, and Moose came in after the game and 0:19:12.080 --> 0:19:16.080 he was really upset and he said, Okay, tomorrow we're 0:19:16.119 --> 0:19:18.159 having a practice. I know it's New Year's Day, but 0:19:18.480 --> 0:19:20.800 we're having a practice tomorrow. Everybody's got to be here 0:19:20.840 --> 0:19:24.880 at eleven am. And one guy piped up, is this compulsory? 0:19:25.480 --> 0:19:27.880 And Moose goes, no, f and way, You've all got 0:19:27.880 --> 0:19:28.399 to be there. 0:19:39.480 --> 0:19:42.959 So Eric, you went from you went from that, and 0:19:43.000 --> 0:19:46.399 you ended up in the Hall of Fame. This is 0:19:46.480 --> 0:19:50.760 one of the greatest journeys in the history of broadcasting. 0:19:51.160 --> 0:19:54.680 So let's go to the Hall of Fame. Eric, explain 0:19:55.800 --> 0:19:58.760 what it was like when you got the call that 0:19:58.800 --> 0:20:02.040 you're going in, and then explain what it was like 0:20:02.680 --> 0:20:05.480 when you made your speech in front of all those 0:20:05.520 --> 0:20:08.680 people and went into the Hall of Fame at Cooper's Town. 0:20:09.640 --> 0:20:11.760 Yeah, the whole thing is just so crazy. You know. 0:20:11.800 --> 0:20:15.119 I had been a finalist I think five times before 0:20:15.160 --> 0:20:17.600 I actually won the award, so I thought I was 0:20:17.640 --> 0:20:20.440 probably going to be the Susan Lucci of the ford 0:20:20.640 --> 0:20:25.159 Rick Award. But a few other guys have now gotten 0:20:25.200 --> 0:20:28.080 that distinction. I think Jock Tussett's been on the bellot 0:20:28.080 --> 0:20:30.360 a million times and somehow he has it won. Dwayne's 0:20:30.359 --> 0:20:33.160 Stats has been on it many times. Somehow he has 0:20:33.200 --> 0:20:35.159 it won. You know, I really feel for those guys. 0:20:35.520 --> 0:20:37.600 But then when, you know, when I finally got the call, 0:20:38.200 --> 0:20:41.959 you know, I got real excited and also nervous. And 0:20:42.320 --> 0:20:46.160 I go there for the weekend to the Oda Saga Hotel, 0:20:46.880 --> 0:20:49.920 you know, and step out of the car and only 0:20:49.960 --> 0:20:52.800 Hall of Famers can stay there that weekend, and some 0:20:52.920 --> 0:20:56.800 a list celebrities. Billy Crystal's there in the lobby and 0:20:56.960 --> 0:20:59.680 Tom Brokaw, you know, and a whole bunch of Hall 0:20:59.680 --> 0:21:03.000 of Fames. Ernie Banks is sitting there talking to Billy Williams, 0:21:03.040 --> 0:21:06.119 and Whitey Ford and Jim Bunning are huddled up at 0:21:06.160 --> 0:21:09.199 a table. It was crazy. And then you know, I 0:21:09.280 --> 0:21:12.520 go to my room and Reggie Jackson has taking towels 0:21:12.520 --> 0:21:17.800 off the maid's cart, you know, and crazy stuff like 0:21:17.840 --> 0:21:20.639 that was It was like I had sneaked into some 0:21:20.800 --> 0:21:24.280 private club and got away with it. Just like, what 0:21:24.400 --> 0:21:27.680 am I doing here with all of these guys and 0:21:27.720 --> 0:21:31.080 then it was great. I mean in the speech, which 0:21:31.119 --> 0:21:33.320 was at double Day Field. It was before they'd moved 0:21:33.320 --> 0:21:35.879 it to the Opera House. It was at double Day Field, 0:21:36.080 --> 0:21:37.960 so there were a lot of Hall of Famers behind me. 0:21:38.000 --> 0:21:40.520 There had to be forty or fifty Hall of Famers 0:21:40.640 --> 0:21:43.920 sitting behind me, and you know, I'm nervous as hell. 0:21:44.000 --> 0:21:47.840 And as I'm walking up to the podium, Gaylord Perry, 0:21:48.160 --> 0:21:51.960 who had played for us, and who I knew, I 0:21:51.960 --> 0:21:56.240 could hear him say, Hey, Eric, this better be quick. 0:22:00.560 --> 0:22:04.800 It was great, and then go ahead. I had had this. 0:22:04.960 --> 0:22:06.359 I had one line in there. A bunch of my 0:22:06.400 --> 0:22:09.720 friends from Brooklyn came up, you know, and we were 0:22:09.760 --> 0:22:13.840 all huge Sandy Kofax fans growing up because he lived 0:22:13.840 --> 0:22:16.680 in the neighborhood. And I had a line in the 0:22:16.720 --> 0:22:19.560