Palmer's Playground: 17. SID

SID

Introduction

One of my recurring roles here on the playground is to act as a roving reporter. The management team at "The Ground" has given me free reign to report on any event that I think may be of interest to the general public. Hopefully after reading my blog site resume you will realize that there is a very good chance that what I find interesting will not match up to the interests of normal adults. With that in mind, please proceed with caution.

Note - This prattle is intended to be informational as opposed to being funny and/or entertaining. (not that my other prattles are all that funny or entertaining....but I do try).

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LOCAL ICON HONORED

Dateline.....Minneapolis, MN......October 6, 2010

There are very few people in the state of Minnesota who can be immediately identified by just saying their first name. Some examples that come to mind are Hubert, Jesse, Bud and Bronko. There is however another name that probably stands alone in this category and that name would be SID. If you don't know who Sid is then apparently you've been using the sports section of the newspaper to line your trash can and MPR is programmed on every button of your car radio.

Sid of course is the long time Star Tribune sports columnist and WCCO radio personality who has covered sports in Minnesota for the last 55+ years. Even though Sid recently celebrated his 90th birthday he continues to work full time at the Star Tribune and WCCO radio. The very busy work schedule that Sid still maintains on a daily basis at his advanced age is somewhat amazing. Sid is out there working the local sports beat everyday, still looking to get that big "scoop."

Sid has often been called......"A Living Legend"......."An Icon"..... "A Minnesota Treasure"........"The Dean of Minnesota Sports" ......"Grandpa Sports". As with all public figures Sid still has his many detractors. This group of critics of course use terms to describe Sid that are not very complimentary. (I'll keep this a positive article and refrain from printing those terms). Probably the biggest criticism that Sid receives is that he is too much of a "homer" when it comes to covering the local sports teams. His shameless support of the local teams is often ridiculed by the public and other members of the media.

WCCO radio personality Steve Cannon coined the phrase "My Close Personal Friend" when working with Sid on Steve's radio show back in the 1970's. Sid adopted this phrase as his own and he has been using it ever since to describe his relationship with any famous sports figure. One thing that can't be disputed is that Sid really is "close personal friends" with some of the real heavy weights in the world of sports. Bobby Knight, the late George Steinbrenner, Lou Holtz and Bud Grant are four people who Sid always touts as his closest personal friends. Sid is very well connected and he always claims that he is capable of getting a one on one interview with any sports figure in the country. Love him or hate him.....you have to respect him for what he has done and what he continues to do at age 90.

The people close to Sid wanted to honor him for all of his accomplishments and find a way to properly recognize him for the work he has done to promote sports in the state of Minnesota. Sid's employers, family, friends and community leaders put a plan in motion to place a life size bronze stature of Sid at the corner of 6th Street and 1st Avenue North in downtown Minneapolis. Once the statue was completed Sid's friends scheduled the unveiling ceremony for Wednesday afternoon, October 6th at 4:30 pm. As it turned out the planning committee couldn't have picked a better day for this ceremony. The people who came downtown to witness the unveiling were treated to a beautiful October afternoon. The perfect weather provided the ideal back drop for the scheduled ceremony.

A large crowd of people had gathered around the statue area long before the the official program was scheduled to start. By 4:15 pm the only place left to stand was out in the middle of the street. You could really feel the excitement as more and more people descended into downtown Minneapolis during the afternoon. The buzz throughout the crowd was at an all time high because there was much more to be excited about than just Sid's statue. Minnesota sports fans were jacked up because of two other big events of the day.

The following two events had put the eyes of the entire sports world squarely on Minneapolis:

1. Twins vs. Yankees - Game 1 of the playoffs (wherever the Yankees are playing in the post season is automatically the center of the sports universe...just ask the management team at ESPN)

2. Randy Moss had been traded back to the Vikings that morning.......big news....surprising news....Vikings fans were giddy...visions of TD's were dancing in their heads....Favre and Moss together?.....dreams do come true....I do believe in miracles..I do, I do, I do....

Add Sid's statue unveiling ceremony into the mix and you have one very eventful and exciting day in Minneapolis.

Some of the notables who were in attendance at the statue unveiling ceremony...... Harvey McKay, Rod Carew, Dave Mona, Dave Lee, Mike Max, Joe Schmidt, Brian Cashman (Yankee GM) and Hal Steinbrenner (George's son and Owner/Chairman of the Yankees).

Across the street from statue unveiling ceremony there was a huge pre-game party taking place at Kiernan's Irish Pub. The hype, the hoopla, the pomp, the pageantry and the ballyhoo that all of these events generated made downtown Minneapolis the place to be for all die hard sports fans. The huge patio that Kiernan's provides for their customers was packed with people wearing Twins garb from head to toe. The best word to describe the atmosphere downtown that afternoon was"electric."

The remaining portion of my news report will rely on the old saying.... "A Picture Paints a 1,000 Words"

The following pictures tell the story........

-Mike Max (WCCO radio and TV) is the MC
-Dave Mona (WCCO radio) assists
-Mike Max may be the heir apparent to Sid
-October 6, 2010 declared "Sid Hartman Day" in Minnesota
-Dave Mona delivers a great "vignette" about Sid's life
(like the vignettes Dave gives before Gopher football games)

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-Sid invited Rod Carew to be his special guest....
-The Twins Hall of Famer speaks
-Sid took Rod under his wing during his rookie year with the Twins

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-Sid addresses the crowd before the statue is unveiled
-Thanks all of the people who helped him
-This high school drop-out did okay
-Offends all vacuum cleaner salesman....
...without help he would have been selling vacuum cleaners
-Dave Mona later apologizes to all vacuum cleaner salesman

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-Sid unveils his life size bronze statue
-Very good likeness of Sid

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-SID....the bronze statue

-The corner of 6th Street and 1st Avenue N
-In front of the Target Center
-Mary Tyler Moore.....eat your heart out!

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-For all of you who listen to "The Sports Huddle" on Sundays
-Sid and Dave Mona (and Dave's wife)
-Sid and Dave have done their radio show for 25 years

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-For all of you who listen to WCCO radio in the early morning.....
-Sid and Dave Lee.....
-Sid and Dave talk sports every morning
-6:40 am...7:40 am.....8:40 am

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