Conversations on The Road

On Sunday afternoon February 11, 1968, the New York Rangers played their last game at the old Madison Square Garden on Eighth Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets.

To mark the event,  Rangers’ brass staged a closing ceremony highlighted by a re-union of the top living players of the time. The invitees include Ranger stars from every era to the original 1926-1927, as well as opponents who faced the New Yorkers. The attendees featured the likes of Maurice “Rocket” Richard, Elmer Lach, Aurel Joliat, Milt Schmidt, Sid Abel, Syl Apps, Doug Bentley, Roy Conacher, Bill Chadwick, Lynn Patrick, Andy Bathgate and the Cook Brothers (Gordie Howe was in town as a member of the visiting Detroit Red Wings).

We speak with legendary journalist, author, broadcaster and hockey historian Stan Fischler (probably known best as “The Hockey Maven”) about the closing of the old Garden, what it meant back then and what it has come to mean these many years later.

 

 The Day they Closed the Old Garden [9:02m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

“National Flirting Week”  has become an annual event (parallel to the week of Valentine’s Day). It celebrates the ancient art of flirting and recognizing the role it plays in lives. We speak with author and “Love Coach” Robin Gorman Newman about flirting, and its role in cultures.

Robin’s website: http://www.lovecoach.com

 

 National Flirting Week [8:26m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

On Feb. 16, 2008, Columbus, Mississippi, will celebrate the centenary of one of its illustrious native sons, Walter Lanier “Red” Barber. Considered one of the seminal figures in sports broadcasting, Barber made his indelible mark as a radio play-by-play announcer for the Cincinnati Reds (1934-1938), the Brooklyn Dodgers (1939-1953) and the New York Yankees (1954-1966).From “the catbird seat,” the Ol’ Redhead called games for the Reds, Dodgers and Yankees using language he made famous, phrases like “tearin’ up the pea patch” and “I’ll be a suck-egg mule.”

Though there were many firsts throughout his storied career, perhaps none was more significant than the role Barber played in the integration of Major League baseball by Jackie Robinson. Barber told the story in his 1982 book: “1947: When All Hell Broke Loose in Baseball.”

In 1981, Barber, by then well into retirement, was introduced to a new generation of admirers by Bob Edwards, host of National Public Radio’s Morning Edition. Each Friday for 12 years Red and the Colonel (as Barber dubbed Edwards) would chat about a wide range of topics.

Barber, the son of a school teacher and a railroad engineer, lived the first 10 years of his life in Columbus, Mississippi.

On the weekend of his centennial, Barber’s hometown will host a banquet featuring Edwards, and noted broadcast historian Curt Smith.

Also planned for that weekend is the dedication of a state historic marker near Barber’s first home in Columbus.

In this conversation, we speak with Curt Smith, author of “Voices of the Game”, the definitive work on baseball broadcasting ”, and with Glenn Lautzenhiser of Columbus, who as much as anyone, is responsible for making this unique event happen.

BTW, for additional information about the centennial, go to:  http://www.rememberingredbarber.com/

 

 Red Barber [20:29m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

It’s that time of year when we pay attention to groundhogs.

Will it be an early Spring or will there be eight more weeks of winter ? (The impact of global warming and media attention on groundhog predictions should be a future topic)

These days many communities have their own groundhogs predicting the weather. Staten Island, NY and St. Louis are but two of those places. And of course, there is Phil who has made a small Pennsylvania town famous.

There is, however, one community in Wisconsin that not only has a groundhog, but it claims to be “Groundhog Capital of the World”. Needless to say this does not sit well with some elsewhere – especially Phil’s hometown in Pennsylvania.

We speak with Sarah Vitale from Sun Prairie, Wisconsin  to get their take on this claim. 

 

 Wisconsin Groundhog [15:38m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download