I Heard Bob Sheppard's Voice in My Dream

A strong influential voice in my life, Bob Sheppard, passed away today. God, bless him.

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A memory...

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I heard Bob Sheppard’s voice in my dream.

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The Yankee Stadium public address announcer would be on one side of my head making player announcements and on the other side, Marty Glickman would be splitting a mike with Mel Allen giving me the play action. This happened a lot. A Yankee game and Giant football game going on in my head at the same time. It made things exciting on the grass field.

It was hard to get to sleep in my house. Dad loved TV loud and stayed up late doing art.

The bedrooms had no doors. My nerves were shot. To offset this, I’d remember a favorite Giant or Yankee game and channel the play by play in my head along with player introductions by Bob Sheppard. I’d create enough action in my head that eventually it would drown out the TV racket. If the TV was moderately loud, I’d only need one game at a time.

“Marty Glickman, here folks on WNEW radio. The Giants are down by five points with 11 seconds left. They have the ball, fourth down on the forty yard line. The team is moving toward the closed end of the Stadium. It’s their last chance. The Giant fans are on the edge of their seats. Here we go, Tittle leans over the center and takes the snap. He drops back and lofts a spiral down the right sideline. Shofner has it… at the fifteen, ten, five, touchdown! The Giants go ahead 20-19 with no time left on the clock.”

I’d drift away...

A Bob Sheppard video tribute in today's New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/07/12/sports/baseball/20100712-sheppard.html?ref=baseball