Rich Eisen and John Nash play supporting roles in this post.
To be honest, I had a different post planned,
Much different. I started writing it earlier. When an idea comes, I try to get something jotted down, so as to not leave it to the chance of my fumbling, decaying brain.
It was called "The Voice," and I decided it was time to (vaguely) address my disdain for the term "The Voice."
You see, Mel Allen was "The Voice." He was the first to be known as "The Voice."
"The Voice of the Yankees."
After that, everyone has been a pretender.
Yes, we had the "Voice of God" (Bob Sheppard and John Facenda) and myriad other people who are voices. Every broadcaster thinks they're "The Voice."
I've been fortunate enough to have people deem me "The Voice" of one thing or another, such as a New York-based baseball team in 2020.
In each case, I was given the title, whether I wanted it or not.
I never bought them, and I didn't think they were for sale. I didn't think someone could just claim it.
Silly me. Everything is for sale.
So, no. This wasn't the avenue I wanted to go down tonight.
Yet, I was taught by my dad that, when punched, it's OK to punch back, and I've been getting punched like a cheap palooka for a long time. Sometimes, we punching bags get tired of it.
As you probably know, respect is a huge thing to me. I give it and I'm sort of big on receiving it.
Now you know why last night's post was so short.
So, what does Rich and John have to do with this?
I've been binge-watching a phenomenal British TV show called Broadchurch (look it up if you haven't seen it). Three seasons, 24 episodes, great cast. It gets my seal of excellence.
My phone buzzed a few minutes ago as I was watching it.
It was John Nash (co-conspirator), tweeting a video at me
"@double5 -- Thought you'd appreciate this."
The video was a tweet from Rich Eisen, the sports broadcaster now with the NFL Network, who had once worked at ESPN. He also hosts a popular talk show.
Regardless of that, Rich lost his father on Friday, and spoke about as elloquently as anyone ever could on the topic.
The message is very simple. Love each other and show compassion.
When Rich spoke of his dad being his number one fan, well, that about did it for me. When Rich spoke about now being "a part of a world that I did not know really existed...," let's just say I get that, and have gotten that for 30 years.
I've called it being in a club, and whether it was Tim Parry or Paul Silverfarb or anyone else, I welcomed them into that club.
It's not a good club, and there's no rule about not not talking about it.
My condolences to Rich and his family. I hope his dad is continuing to watch the show from a comfortable place.
Welcome to the club, Rich.
To close out today's show, @richeisen addressed the passing of his father Joel and, in his loving memory, made a request of us all: pic.twitter.com/qcDDeR4ysh— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) December 17, 2019
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