The NHL Loses Its Mike; Sal Pal Saturday In The Locker Room

Growing up during the sixties, seventies and eighties watching and playing sports was a fantastic part of my life.  I had the luxury of watching some of the greatest players of all time perform on the biggest stage.  It was a time in sports when athletes were not billionaires and you felt a personal connection to your favorite player in each sport.  Teams' rosters didn’t change like the weather each year and the players felt like they were a part of the local community! 

I started watching games on a black and white television in an era where not every game was televised.  The other medium we had to get our sports fix was the radio. We listened to games on old transistor radios and the announcers who described the games had mesmerizing voices; The broadcasters were as big to me as the game itself.  In Philadelphia there have been some amazing broadcasters such as Gene Hart and Don Earle with the Flyers; Harry Kalas, Richie Ashburn and By Saam with the Phillies; Bill Campbell, Dave Zinkoff, Marc Zumoff with the Sixers. Nationally for the NFL there was Curt Gowdy, Lindsey Nelson, Howard Cosell, Don Meredith, Al DeRogatis, and the list goes on and on.  It seemed like the Golden Age of Sports with those voices on TV and radio. 

With the growth of Cable TV, there are now so many more games televised and too many announcers to name anymore.  But over the last forty years there has been one voice that has been synonymous with NHL Hockey: Mike Emrick.  Mike "Doc" Emrick’s voice and his ability to describe the hockey action kept you glued to the game, no matter what the score.  After four decades of calling the action, Mike Emrick retired last Tuesday; Mike's retirement marks the end of the Golden Era of my favorite sports announcers. Saturday on The Locker Room I’m honored to have Mike Emrick on the show!  

Keeping with the same theme with sports broadcasters, we will hear from another award winning ESPN NFL Journalist Sal Paolantonio.  Sal is the preeminent sports correspondent of our time with the unique ability to break news and report stories in a way that makes his job look easy.  He brings the viewer a deeper facet of the story that brings it to life for sports fans.  We will talk to Sal about his broadcasting career and what makes him the famous "Sal Pal".

It’s Cowboys weekend in The Locker Room: Scotty McKay, Ken Dunek and I will get you pumped up for the game!!  As bad as the NFC East is, this game is for first place and we got you covered all weekend!  On Sunday we will be doing our last Live remote on the Ocean City Boardwalk at ALL Campus!!  Make sure you come down and meet former Eagles Tight End Ken Dunek; Also with your purchase of any hat at ALL CAMPUS during the show, you will receive a free 973 ESPN/Locker Room coffee mug.

It’s The Locker Room with Billy Schweim, Saturdays and Sundays from 10am to noon on 973 ESPN radio.