Stories From Along The Way, Part 2
Hear it here!
This is the second part of anecdotes involving some interesting people I met along the way, not only in my work, but growing up as well. They are flashbacks of moments that stick in my mind, things that had nothing to do with my career.
In 2018 I wrote about my time at summer camp where I was first a camper, then a waiter, and ultimately a counselor. When I was 14, I spent the eight weeks as a waiter at a summer camp in Bellport, Long Island called Washington Lodge.
There were six waiters serving 100 campers. I was one, and so was the famed and iconic singer-songwriter Paul Simon, who teamed with Art Garfunkel. He was just beginning his recording career, and the duo were known as ‘Tom and Jerry’. They had a hit single called ‘Hey, Schoolgirl’, which rose to #8 on the charts. They went their separate ways until they reunited as ‘Simon and Garfunkel, and the rest his history.
Often he would play his guitar for the campers after dinner.
Paul and I were friends, and what many, if not most people know is that Paul Simon was a terrific athlete. During our off hours we would play tennis or have a catch. He was muscular and wore tank tops which brought that out. There were rumors he even had a tryout with the Yankees, as a pitcher, and he was insistent on making sure he had a deep pocket in his baseball glove by using linseed oil and wrapping the glove around a ball.
That was the Paul Simon I knew, not so much what the rest of world would recall.
I was sitting in my seat on a plane getting ready to leave Los Angeles for New York after one of my NBA broadcasts.
This was in 1986. A young man took his seat which was next to mine, and the aircraft took off. He introduced himself as Kevin Costner and told me he was an actor heading east to do a film. He was a huge sports follower and had heard many of the games I announced. But I had not heard of him as an actor. Considering what we all know now about the long-term stardom of Costner, it is surreal to even imagine that he knew me and I didn’t I know him. That’s the way it was at that point, but of course, it didn’t remain that way. He said his latest film was Silverado, which I hadn’t seen and was in The Big Chill, but all his scenes were cut from the final release. He was headed east to film No Way Out, which put him on the map. From there his career took off in brilliant fashion and we became friends at that time. Every time I visited LA for a game, we would have lunch. One time he sat with me at our broadcast table for a Laker game in the old Forum in Inglewood. He was kind enough to invite me to the premier of The Bodyguard. He played college baseball at Cal State Fullerton and many of his films were about sports, particularly baseball. We all remember Bull Durham, Field of Dreams, For Love of the Game, and Draft Day, which dealt with pro football.
I haven’t seen him since those days, but the memories vividly remain.
Little did I know, but when Muhammad Ali was stripped of his boxing titles when he declared as a conscientious objector, then found guilty of draft evasion in 1967, it opened the door for a chance to get to meet and get to know the champion. Two of his attorneys handling his appeal were David and Roz Litman from Pittsburgh who were friends when I interviewed the basketball star, Connie Hawkins, who had been banned from the NBA. They won his case and Hawkins became a fixture with the Phoenix Suns. Now they were part of the Ali lawsuit team. Personally, I had a negative reaction to his refusal to serve, but his case was about not receiving due process under the law prior to the conviction.
Every time Ali came to see them in Pittsburgh, I was able to interview him on my sports segments on the KDKA-TV evening newscast. I have a hunch it helped the ratings.
I was also able to visit him at his homes in Chicago and Los Angeles, and I’ve never forgotten the one phrase he used for me on many occasions, “Dick”, he said, “you’re not as dumb as you look”. Ali later had his conviction overturned by the Supreme Court by a 9-0 vote, due to his not receiving due process.
But there is no question it cost him dearly, having been unable to fight for four years during his peak time in the ring.
CBS Sports won the rights to televise the World Figure Skating Championships after ABC Sports had held the rights for decades.
It was a blue-chip event, and I served as host of our first coverage of the competition in Helsinki, Finland in March of 1983.
Our headquarters was the Intercontinental Hotel, and we learned that a motion picture was being filmed in Helsinki. Gorky Park, which involved espionage and murder in the Soviet Union was based on a best-selling book, and Helsinki resembled Russia in so many ways. The principal actors were William Hurt and Brian Dennehy, much decorated for their talent, before they passed away in 2022, and 2020, respectively.
The skating competition and the film were taking place at the same time, and those actors and several of the film’s staff were eager to see the best in the world compete for medals. When they suggested we could view some of the scenes being filmed if they could get tickets to the event, we readily accepted.
So one night, after our coverage ended, we witnessed a dramatic chase scene beginning at 2am at a well-lit series of streets and saw the chase scene filmed. Believe it or not, the shooting wound up at 4am. All of the time was needed to film a scene that lasted only 2 and a half minutes in the final editing. We stayed warm during the breaks in William Hurt’s trailer, but it was fascinating to view. A trade we would make any day of the week.
For most of my career, my agent was Ed Hookstratten, a Hollywood legend who represented many top stars of film, television and sports broadcasting. For some reason this man apparently had a liking to me since there was no way I would be listed among the likes of Elvis Presley, Johnny Carson, Tom Brokaw, Vin Scully, Dick Enberg, Pat Riley, and the football coach George Allen, among many others. He and his wife had lunch or dinner on virtually all my visits to Los Angeles. One afternoon, Ed called and said, “we’re going to dinner with Johnny Carson tonight”. Was I nervous? What do you think?
So we gathered at a restaurant in Century City, joined by Carson and his wife, Alexis.
The dinner was relaxed, natural and fun. My jitters evaporated quickly. Carson asked about the NBA Finals I was covering. The fact that I had worked in Pittsburgh, his wife’s hometown, was a big help. When it was over, I realized something I’ve mentioned many times. Actors and other celebrities, for the most part, just like we are. They are people who live their lives as we do. Yes, their circumstances may be on a separate level for sure, but they are not that different, other than their line of work.
I’ve seen it up close in those times I have crossed paths with celebrities of all kind.
They will all raise a toast to a new year as we will, and I take this time to wish you all a Happy New Year. May 2026 be a good one.
