Column: Sports and the Shoe

By Tim “Shoe” Sullivan

I love sports.

Never played a minute of team sports in high school, but I still have had my share of thrills in the sporting world.

Some things were just meant to be. Sometimes it came down to just being in the right place at the right time. And sometimes it was just plain luck.

I’m reading a book now about the Milwaukee Braves. A great book. And I can actually remember watching them play in 1957 at Milwaukee County Stadium.

Hank Aaron. Eddie Mathews. Joe Adcock. Lew Burdette. Warren Spahn.

I saw them all play.

I was in the stands in 1968 when Harmon Killebrew of the Twins smacked a home run at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minnesota. Also watched Rod Carew in action.

I watched rookie Reggie Jackson of the Oakland A’s play in the same ballpark. Just missed catching a foul ball of his.

Sparky Lyle of the Red Sox tossed me a baseball.

I was in the stands when Al Kaline and Mickey Lolich played for the Detroit Tigers. I saw “Yaz” go deep for Boston.

I was at Milwaukee County Stadium when Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers won his 300th game. And I was in the Texas dugout shooting the breeze with Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez and Dean Palmer.

I was eating a bratwurst when Robin Yount pinch-hit in the 9th to win a game for the Brew Crew.

Like I said, a lot of luck, but I ended up in the locker room at County Stadium (just as a fan) and “interviewed” Lew Burdette, Johnny Logan, Ron Santo, Bill Mazeroski, and Kenny Keltner.

Hank Aaron, the all-time major league home run king, called me at home more than once. It was about his No. 755 home run baseball. That was a thrill.

Joe Garagiola of NBC Sports had my buddies Ma Pesch, Randy Wievel, and I on his national TV show in 1975. We filmed it at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

I was in the softball card sets of the Unique Bar and later Dave Koch Sports.

National broadcaster Bob Costas sent me cards and called a few times. He also mailed me a check for $1,000 to help honor Ma Pesch.

Ray Nitschke of the Packers was my boss for 14 years at Ray Nitschke’s Packer Report. I met Ray frequently and he gave me a signed copy of his book Mean on Sunday.

I watched Rocky Bleier of Appleton Xavier help beat my high school (Pacelli) in football for three straight years. Rocky later played in several Super Bowls for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Letters came to me from Bear Bryant, Lou Holtz, Red Auerbach, Regis Philbin (he went to Notre Dame), Bill Veeck (White Sox owner), John Madden, Pete Rose, and several others.

A slice of sports history here. A slice of sports history there.

I ate Desmond Howard’s meatballs at DeBot Center when the Jacksonville Jaguars trained in Stevens Point in 1995.

I was standing on the sidelines at Goerke Field next to New Orleans Saints placekicker Morten Andersen when Ironhead Heyward almost ran us over.

Lee Remmel of the Packers gave my buddies and me free tickets to Packer home games in the ’70s. We went to Lambeau and watched the Oakland Raiders crunch the Pack, 28-3. That was on Sept. 17, 1978.

We sat right behind the Raiders bench and had a great view of Stabler, Biletnikoff, Branch, Casper, Upshaw, Shell, Villapiano, Tatum, and John Madden. I just missed hitting Raider QB Jim Plunkett with a paper airplane. Stabler threw four interceptions and only completed six passes. David Whitehurst was 10 for 28.

Sports fans my age also had the opportunity to watch so many “legends” on television over the years. You could start with Vince Lombardi. Then Nitschke, Starr, Hornung (I interviewed Paul), Butkus, Namath, Unitas, Montana, Payton, Peyton, Favre, and so many more.

And we could see Wilt Chamberlain, Julius Erving, Jerry West, Michael, Magic, and Bird. And of course Auerbach’s awesome Boston Celtics.

I liked to watch Larry Costello’s Milwaukee Bucks, the NBA champs. No. 33 Lew Alcindor (UCLA); No. 1 Oscar Robertson (Cincinnati); No. 10 Bob Dandridge (Norfolk State); No. 14 Jon McGlocklin (Indiana); and No. 4 Greg Smith (Western Kentucky).

We were spoiled by Hall of Fame announcers like Eddie Doucette (Bucks), Earl Gillespie (Braves), Bob Uecker (Brewers), and Ray Scott (Packers).

My journey just goes to show that a little effort and a lot of luck can go a long way.

And I’ll never forget when the late sports editor of the Detroit Free Press, Joe Falls, invited us over to his apartment in Troy, Michigan, for some pizza.

And on the local front, it was a thrill having a brew with Scottie Krueger and John Zellmer, two local radio studs who should both be in the Sports Radio Hall of Fame (if they aren’t already).

And I enjoy my friendships with Jack Bennett, coach of the champion UWSP Pointers, and wearing the NBA jersey of Blaine “Goose” Reichelt, who was a referee for 25 years in the NBA.

Gotta go now. Penn State is playing Boise State.

Hope your team wins.