Bob Lobel: The Greatest Moment of My Career
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Bob Lobel, Sports Legend
I could give you 20, maybe 15, but cutting it down to 10? Nearly impossible. Well, I guess I can just start writing and see what comes out.
I guess I would have to start with when we had Bobby Orr, Larry Bird and Ted Williams together on Sports Final back in 1992. It was a special hour-long edition, and was the first time those three Boston sports greats were all in the same room. It was amazing to be a part of.
There was so much behind that night. Originally, we had planned on doing a show with just Larry and Bobby, thinking that would be a totally unique show. Of course, it would have been, but the ante was raised about a week before the show.
John Henry Williams, Ted's son, wandered into our sports office. At the time, he was a bit more interested in one of our interns than any of us, but I'm certainly not giving up her name here. Once we got his attention back, the conversation turned to our upcoming show, and John Henry asked if we would like his dad to join the party.
That deal was maybe the quickest ever made. All John Henry wanted was exclusive photo rights. Done! What did we care? We wanted to do a show that had never been done before, and would probably never be duplicated. If you haven't seen the show, you can watch it below, or at my website here.
I could go on and on about that show, but for your time's sake, I will be brief. We wanted to keep it somewhat private, but once word got out about our three guests, it was a media frenzy. Actually, there were people at the studio that day claiming to be employees that I hadn't seen before and never saw after.
Huge in studio crowd.
I was extremely nervous, as you can imagine. It was a brutally long day that actually started with John Henry calling me at home and saying that his father was sick and wasn't coming.
I honestly don't even remember how most of that conversation went, but it ended with him telling me not to worry, and that Ted would make it after all. Having those three there for one show was incredible, each with their own power and personality.
Orr was solid, Larry was shy and Ted was the go-to guy for everybody. The other two really just wanted to talk to Ted.
Believe it or not, I have never actually watched the show. What's the point? I would only be self critical, and that's not very productive. See, now there's the problem, I mention one of my top ten and spend the entire column on it. That's why I just can't give you a top ten list.
I could have easily gone with being in Newport for its last America's Cup race in 1983. That was like going to college for two weeks and not having to study. What a time, and what made it even better was that I knew nothing about sailing, let alone those 12 meter boats. Perhaps that's another column.
Patriots games, playing between periods of a Bruins game at a packed Garden, playing goalie and staring down a Bobby Orr slapshot, the Boston Marathon, the '86 World Series, the '81 Celtics… All amazing experiences.
You know what, I would love to get your top ten sports moments. Either post them below, or send them to [email protected] because I know I've forgotten so many great ones.
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