My first car is the one I remember the most. It wasn’t until my junior year in college when I actually bought my own. I couldn’t afford one, so we found a friend who had an 1964 Opel Station Wagon that had been on blocks for about 10 years. They put the tires on, my buddy checked the engine out and told me it was good. That was the best $250 I’ve ever spent. It was immediate freedom; I could go wherever I wanted to go, whenever I wanted to go. I drove that car everywhere.
I live 40 minutes away from the Tigers’ Stadium, and a lot of people think that’s a long drive. But what I love is the silence – letting my brain drift on the freeway. Thinking about storylines I might want to talk about during the game or conversations I’m going to have.
What I love is the silence – Letting my brain drift on the freeway. Thinking about storylines I might want to talk about during the game.
This job that I’m in feels like a legacy job. Ernie Harwell handed this role off to me after 50 years; I have to live up to that legacy, and then pass it off to the next person. You are the voice of something. And it’s different in Detroit than it is in other parts of the country; here, people are outside in the summer and they live for sports. I love hearing where everyone’s listening and love being the background noise, or soundtrack, of their summer.
I used to cover the Auto Show for WWJ back in the 90’s – in its heyday – and there was such a buzz and excitement unlike anything else. This was the industry, this was Detroit, and that showroom floor at Cobo was electric.”