Very few people visit this blog…mostly people who know me…maybe some stumble upon it on their constant sojourn on the web looking for God knows what…but I have to relate this story to all of you that do stop here and perhaps take a few minutes to read my gibberish.
In this day and age of technology I’m sure we have all “seen” or “heard” it all; our resources are countless in regards to information…I actually beleive my mind we are LOST in the respect of what is available to us with a few taps of our thumbs or hands as we type. I’m not a “text-messaging” person…not that I can’t do it…it just seems like another way that the “Brave New World” funds itself. I’m very sure that thumb covers with advertising on them will come next…if you are old enough to remember this…PF Flyers had a commercial way back when when I was a kid proclaiming how if you wore them you could “run faster”, “jump higher”, and all that good stuff. Guess what? I was just a little kid, and I started a campaign with my Mom on how I HAD to have these shoes. She loved me so much I got them. To this DAY I remember the first time I laced them on…I ran about 30 or 40 yards up the sidewalk…stopped…and convinced myself I actually ran faster. And yes, I leaped in them too and came to the same conclusion. In the meantime, I probably put my Mom out some monies she needed to support the house and keep us safe, fed, warm and dry. That was the neat thing about my Mom…and I’m sure about your Mom too. The purpose of telling you this story? Read on…
I listen to a TON of sports-talk radio besides doing it myself. I was an ardent ESPN listener for years…then I gradually egressed to Fox Sports Radio. Why? I felt ESPN was becoming too big for the listener…that they seemed to forget all about the listener. As for me, I have ALWAYS put my listeners above my agenda as a so-called “sports-talk person”…just ask them. I always spent and tried to devise ways to make them happy they tuned in to listen…prizes and giveaways were my best ways to express my gratitude. That will NEVER change with me. Simply put…I LOVE my following. They are a very important part of my life. Family to me. Period.
All of the people who do Fox Sports Radio suffered a tremendous loss last week when Andrew “The Gorilla” Ashwood passed away at 51 from a massive heart attack after battling cancer for over 1 1/2 years. I’m sure you’ve heard of people dying this way before. It happens every day. But this was different…so very different. Everyone from Jim Rome and down the line ALL said the same thing about this man. He was a pioneer in sports-talk radio, and always tried to bring out the best in people…not just people that did sports-talk…but EVERYONE he met. Word has it that if he walked on an elevator he made friends with everyone on it before they left it. He was a constant people person as the Fox people tell it. He had a credo that went something like this…”Dare to be great!” I think it is something we can all live by. He also stressed how improtant it was to be yourself to them and for them to be themselves and “connect” with their listeners. Express their emotions…cry, laugh, be happy, be sad, show your emotions. I have NEVER seen such an outpourng of love as I have seen for Mr. Ashwood. He passed away at age 51…I’m 51…and when you read about someone passing that is your age…beleive me…it sends a jolt through you right to your very soul. My heart goes out to the Ashwood family, and all the people he influenced in his so very short time on this Earth. I often wonder where all these people go after they pass. Does God need them so bad? I think we need them more…right here on Earth.
In closing, as I have in several E-Mails to Fox Sports Radio people I have befriended…I express my strongest condolensces to the Ashwood family and to all the people that are feeling the sting of losing your mentor and friend…a great video by Don Harris…just one of many who loved this man. Here is the link. http://www.woai.com/sports/story.aspx?content_id=d0e2492c-95c8-4308-92f7-464b955693b3
Filed under: General
