Mad Dog Remembers the Day He Became Friends With Ernie Harwell

Years ago I had the distinct pleasure of meeting legendary broadcaster Ernie Harwell. Ernie was the guest speaker at the Kellogg Center for one of the local hospitals. He was a close friend of Channel 10’s Fred Heumann.

Fred and I had really just met when we worked together at The Ticket. That was the other sports radio station years ago. Fred was responsible for getting Ernie as the guest speaker too. I asked Fred if there was any way I could sit at Ernie’s table, and he hooked me up.

One thing you need to know about Ernie Harwell is that he was a tremendous individual and just loved people period. I was lucky enough to sit next to him at this function. Ernie had been on my show a few times before, so he did know who I was. But I had never had an opportunity to have a great conversation with him.

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He asked me how I broke into broadcasting, and I told him I was a caller on a national show. I parlayed that into The Mad Dog Show. He thought that was something else. I couldn’t believe that he thought that was unbelievable. I really was elated about his interest in how I got on the air. I said, "Ernie are you serious?" He said, "Absolutely, I think that’s a great story."

This is Ernie Harwell telling me this. I just couldn’t believe what I was hearing. But it made me feel real good, that’s for sure.

Ernie Harwell was one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met, especially in broadcasting. That was a night to remember too! I will always have total respect for the legendary Ernie Harwell.