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[Teach]

“Ohhhhh Myyyyy,” the voice on the answering machine intoned. I knew immediately that I had the correct phone number. I was calling from the 44th floor of Boston’s Prudential Tower. I was then in the sports office of radio station WEEI, 590 on your dial, CBS Radio in Boston.

The year was 1980. I had taken a leave-of-absence from teaching high school history to work as WEEI’s Manager of Network Sports Operations. My main job was set up and manage WEEI’s 35-station New England Patriots Radio Network. Yet, I wore other “hats” as well.

One of my jobs was to help produce one of our two sports talk-shows. As I remember, the host of our late-night talk-show was a man named Maynard Allen. Maynard and I often consulted as to what guests we wanted to line up for the show. One day, the name Dick Enberg came up. I remember getting Dick’s number (it was probably on our sports office Rolodex). I called him. That’s when I heard Dick Enberg’s signature phrase: “Ohhhhh Myyyyy”.

As I recall I left a message with Dick that included our sports dept. telephone number. A few hours later, Dick Enberg called me back. I told Dick that we were CBS Radio in Boston (those words, “CBS Radio,” carried some clout in the radio world).
I then explained to Dick that we wanted to have him as a guest on our late-night sports talk-show. I then told him that I was the “set-up man” and that either the host himself or one of our sports talk-show producers would be in touch with him. I explained that my job was to see if our possible guest was both available and interested in appearing on the show.

As our conversation ensued, Dick was more than gracious. He told me that he’d be happy to be a guest. It was then we starting talking about sports; it was as if we were a couple regular guys sitting at a table sipping a coffee or downing a couple beers.

That evening, Dick Enberg was indeed a guest on WEEI’s sports talk-show. From all accounts (I didn’t catch the program) Enberg was the ideal guest. I was told he reminisced about his early years as a broadcaster, particularly when he called UCLA Bruins basketball, California Angels baseball, and LA Rams football

I remember that afternoon (when I initially spoke with Dick Enberg) over 35-years ago, as we were finishing our conservation, Dick recalled his days as an undergraduate at Central Michigan University. I remember that before he hung up, Dick Enberg said, “One day, they’ll (CMU) get all my money.”

Of all the sports personalities that I got to talk with – and there were many --when I worked for CBS Radio in Boston, Dick Enberg would rate right up there as one of the classiest. He was certainly one of the most talented. Rest In Peace: Dick Enberg.