There is a chorus of grief today from those of us who work, or worked, at ESPN
Howie Schwab was an unlikely on-air cult figure but long before then he was one of those who truly built the place: diligent, professional, and more importantly endlessly friendly and supportive to everybody (including the new, lost, anchor in from LA, or the prodigal anchor returning 20 years later)
Simply, ESPN never rises to the heights it did, nor exists today, without him. He died this morning and the memorials and "#RIPs" are insufficient - but they'll have to do.
And as the creator of the research department he'd have been satisfied: the description of his impact, and of the uniform grief at his loss, were both succinct and accurate.
Thank you, Howie.
I miss country music. The real kind, where a guy in a lime suit and lime cowboy boots shows up with a blood-alcohol content of .35. Or maybe he doesn’t show up because he’s doing coke in the backseat of a Cadillac Eldorado with a stripper named Mary Lou he met at a Waffle House.
Judd Apatow put together an amazing documentary tribute about the unlikely friendship between Bob Newhart and Don Rickles. You can watch it by clicking on the link below
https://t.co/zeRJ3iwDdH
Finally got to see the Willy DeVille documentary “Heaven Stood Still” last night in Montclair. It’s worth the wait. Some great performances included, but it also shows how frustrating Willy could be (and I’m a massive fan). Seek it out if you can.
“Ok, the Gilligan’s Island movie. Let’s hear your ideas. Bill?”
“The Harlem Globetrotters’ plane makes an emergency landing on the island.”
“Yeah, I’m not sure ...”
“Then they suit up Gilligan and play a team of fucking robots.”
“Are you having a stroke? Also, let’s do that.”