May 28, 2024 • 37 mins
In the first hour, Dave Softy Mahler and Hugh Millen reflect on the life and legacy of Bill Walton, who sadly passed away yesterday, then talk to Pac-12 Network broadcaster Roxy Bernstein about Bill and their career together before they get to Fun with Audio.
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(00:00):
Where one of the great athletes toever come out of Roosevelt High School,
our friend Huey Millan. And forDahnson, how are you? Yeah,
go a bumbler? Yeah, I'mdoing great. Uh yeah, well said
on on your comments and thoughts aboutthe Memorial Day. You know, I
urged my kids, Hey, watcha war movie tonight. You know my
(00:20):
my three favorite are Saving Private Ryanand Platoon. Ye, and how about
it Apocalypse? Now you like thatone? Apocalypse And that's a good one.
Uh, you know, the DeerHunter is a good one. I'm
any of them just you know,just kind of let it sink in just
the uh, you know, theenormity of their sacrifice and so at any
(00:44):
rate. Uh yes, Will said, well, I appreciate that. Man.
It's good to have you back onthe show. We got a lot
to get to between now and seveno'clock. Steven Suz is gonna join us
at four talk some baseball. RoxyBernstein, who did a bunch of telecasts
on the PAC twelve network over theyears with Bill, will join us at
three twenty eight. I gotta behonest with you. I was kind of
texting with him last night about this, and he was not in a good
(01:07):
spot. I'm not sure how manypeople, Hugh that worked with Bill Walton
even knew he had cancer. Seventyone years old. Last did a broadcast
like three months ago, I thinkin February was his last college basketball broadcast.
And Dave Pash, who does alot of games within on ESPN Roxy
with the PAC twelve network, I'mnot sure if these people even knew that
(01:29):
Bill Walton was sick. And Igot to tell you, man, how
unbelievably appropriate is it? And maybeeven in some ways coincidental that the PAC
twelve as a conference has their lastsporting event on Friday and Bill Walton passed
away on Saturday. Bill Walton hedid not want to live in a world,
Hugh without the Conference of Champions.He said, if they're done that,
(01:52):
I'm done. It's amazing he skippeduniverses. He's in a place where
they still have the Pac twelve right, and he's enjoying all those games.
Yeah, I'll tell you I canremember him playing at UCLA and the longest
win streak in my lifetime was UCLAbasketball. And I can only read about
the other ones, Bud Wilkinson andOklahoma in the fifties, but that didn't
(02:15):
top I mean, you're talking aboutan eighty eight game win streak, and
I can remember when Notre Dame snappedthat, and of course and that you
know, they were just the mediafor younger people. It was just a
completely different way of consuming sports.And obviously there's no Internet, but there
was really not even highlights, andyou know, half of the way you
(02:37):
consume news was just wait for SportsIllustrated, and of course was on the
cover of Sports Illustrated. But youknow, here was a guy that was
a three time Nate Smith Award winnerthe best college player, and he in
a final game went twenty one fortwenty two at Memphis against Memphis State.
(02:57):
And that was before they allowed dunks. So you know, if you were
in a position to dunk, youjust had to like drop the ball,
like set it over the cup andthen just drop it right. So you
can imagine the field goal percentages werea little bit lower because he couldn't dunk.
Big men weren't allowed. But justa completely different era, and you
know, I can just you know, I'm just getting started on my memories
(03:19):
of him as a player, butthat's that's kind of the college component of
just how dominant he was. Yeah, well, I don't have any memory
really of him playing college basketball.My memories of Bill Walton or him in
a Boston Celtic uniform and him callinggames on the NBA on NBC with Bob
costas Snapper Jones guys like that,right, So I really kind of knew
(03:44):
Bill Moore as a broadcaster than abasketball player. And I'll just say this
about Bill Walton at six pm tonighthere we're going to replay our final conversation
with him, which March I believeearly April of twenty nineteen Final Four.
I think we may have been inMinneapolis. I'm not a thousand percent sure,
but the last time we had atalk with Bill was about five years
ago when he was on with usat the Final Four. And every year
(04:06):
I would see Bill Walton, BillWalden had no reason to know who I
am, no reason to give adamn who I was. And every year
it would be three hundred and sixtyfour days between visits, he would come
by our table. Oh softie,It's like he knew who we were,
as if somebody was telling him whowe were. Maybe somebody was, but
(04:27):
Bill Walden had this unbelievable ability tomake everybody feel like they were the most
important people in the room, andhe was your buddy. It was unreal.
And I've never met honestly, Hugh, and you and I both know
Dick Bard very well. Dick Baird, and you'll agree, is one of
the most positive people walk in theface of the earth. I would say
he's right behind Bill Walton because I'venever seen a angry Bill. I've never
(04:53):
seen a frown from Bill, andI've never heard anybody say a bad word
ever a out Bill Walton. Okay, so this guy was the most positive
person I've ever met in my life. He made you feel important every time
you saw him. I've got memoriesof the folks at Westwood One how to
follow him around with a gigantic recliningchair because his back was so bad he
(05:14):
couldn't sit in the chairs that weuse for our radio broadcast. But just
seeing him every year, man,it was like he was your buddy.
And I'll miss talking to the guybig time. Well, what you just
said is way more important than anythingI could offer, because I didn't know
that about him. No, No, the type of person in his regard
obviously you know, you throw onhis height, that that just compounds is
his fame. So everybody knows whohe is and any he's certainly in any
(05:38):
sports arena, right, and Idon't just mean a physical arena, just
any sports fear. Everybody knows whoBill Walton is. Right. My memory
of as a player, so youjust mentioned him waving towels for the Celtics.
He was a bit, you know, he was a vital six man
of the sixth man. He mighthave been the sixth man of the year.
He got to look that up.So he was an important part.
(05:58):
But I remember, at least Iwas thirteen years old when the Blazers won
the title in seventy seven. Nowthis is coming off a period of time
when the Sonics had a great programwith the Seattle Public schools where they would
give the away tickets for next tonothing, and I can remember buying Sonic
tickets for five bucks and taking abus down with my buddies to this coliseum
(06:19):
and just watching something like it waslike quasi season tickets because they were just
giving it away. So this wasa day and age in the seventies when
if you're if you can only rememberthe three point line, and certainly if
you're you know, just the modernway of playing with just jacking threes.
It was a totally different era.There was no three point line and everything
(06:41):
was about you had to have theseven foot center. I mean, obviously
there was Jabbar, but in thatera yet Will Chamberlain was just closing out
artists Gilmore, Bob McAdoo, BobLaneer. The Sonics drafted Tom Burleson,
a seven foot four guy out ofNorth Carolina State. They had they had,
actually, as we're talking about Holtonin seventy four, they beat here.
Walton was a three time Nasmith Award. Whenever it only a two time
(07:04):
NCAA championship because they got upset byDavid Thompson and Tom Burlison. But the
game was dump it into the sevenfoot center, dump it into him,
and then how good is his postgame moves? And can he pass out?
What was what was something that Ihad never seen was in seventy seven
(07:25):
when the Blazers, and it wasa catastrophe. Now I didn't look it
up. I just remember the namesyou had, Lionel Hollins, Dave towards
It, Maurice Lucas. I meanThey had what appeared to be a dynasty,
a merging dynasty, and Walton wasat the center of it, literally
and figuratively. He was down inthe post and nobody had ever seen passing
out of the post like him.This guy had the highest basketball IQ,
(07:49):
the gift for passing and finding cuttersand finding open men. Nobody had ever
passed out of the post like BillWalton. And I just thought, oh
my god, you know these areyou know, they were on the verge
of like a Lakers or Celtics run. But it was his foot injury at
the after that the Sonics were ableto just a year later overtake him.
(08:09):
In seventy eight go to the thetitle, loses to the Bullets, and
then in seventy nine, of coursethey beat the Bullets. So but but
just I want you to imagine Davean era no three point line. Everything
centers are. It's like the waywe would say quarterbacks are central and vital
to winning the Super Bowl. That'show you would say you got to have
(08:31):
a good seven footer in the postif you have any chance. Now I
don't know if that was true,but that was the the you know,
the feeling and Walton just had aunique brand. He was a hell of
a center. Now, the whatyou remember at the Celtics is way different
than the guy that was at theBlazers. Something the passing ability in the
high basketball like you nah, trustme, I'm well aware of the Blazers
(08:52):
and the controversy where he claims helost trusts with the Blazer ownership and their
medical team over how they were handlinginjury and forced to trade. And I
think, if I have my statsright, he sat out the year the
Sonics won the NBA title. Thatwas the year that Bill Walton sat out.
If I'm not mistaken, Well,OK, there was food injuries involved
in this, right, So maybeit's a combination. And maybe he felt
(09:15):
like he got faulty medical advice andthey threw him in the lineup, or
my memory is fuzzy in that regard, But I know that the foot injuries
played a pivotal poll in a rolerather than his demise. Yeah, And
that was the first couple of years, and he got over it. He
became a great player in the NBA. And then obviously you know, again,
the guy that I know is notthe guy that you know. Because
(09:35):
I was four years old when theywon the championship with the Placers in nineteen
seventy seven. I have no memoryof that whatsoever. I barely have any
memories of the seventy nine Sonics,for God's sakes, I got no memories
of that team. But I knewhim as a broadcaster. I knew him
as a person. He always hada smile on his face. He was
just a phenomenal dude. And nowhe's gone. And I don't know Hugh
obviously or honestly, if there's amore. I mean, look, we
(09:58):
can talk about beloved athletes in thecountry, you know, Babe Ruth,
Guys like that, obviously, right, Maybe Kareem turned some people off with
his activism and things like that.I have no idea. But on the
list of just the universally beloved athletes. And we used to have conversations on
the air. And Jackson knows thisabout Bill Walton, good or bad for
Sports TV? Does he annoy thehell out of you? Do you like
(10:20):
him? I used to love him. I had no problem with Bill Walton
whatsoever. He was unique. Hewould go off on these tangents that nobody
else could even go off on.So I love the guy. So maybe
from that perspective, people were buggedby him as a broadcaster. Some folks
foun him annoying. But for me, if there's a list of universally beloved
athletes where everybody no matter who theyrooted for, no matter their favorite school,
(10:41):
their favorite pro team, Bill Walton'sgot to be on that list.
I mean, there's some people thatthink that Bill Walton, as you said,
three time college basketball Player of theYear, some folks think he's the
best player of all time in thehistory of college basketball. Well, he
has a resume that he has aseat at the table in that argument.
I hope you're right in what youjust said that that he's universally beloved.
(11:01):
I'm not certain that you are.I think that's good that you gave a
little uh tacit voice to what maybesome people to say, Hey, this
guy annoys the hell out of me. I got to turn him off.
I mean I was an activist too, right, Bill Bill. Bill got
behind a lot of social causes,did he not a hundred percent? And
you know, look, he wasa San Diego hippie, uh you know,
(11:24):
with his long red hair and andhe he was he was a hippie
through and through, and and Ithink, you know, I think people
often emerging out of those times,you know, there was more reason arguably
for social activism then that of courseis debatable, but I think that was
an era when you know that alot of young people you're just wrapping up
the civil the the Vietnam War andand civil rights issues were still getting settled.
(11:48):
So I think there was some realserious agenda items for people so inclined.
And certainly he was, you know, a bright guy, and and
and thoughtful and introspect and he wasn'tafraid to share his opinion. And when
you talk about the positive positivity hehad, how he dealt with people behind
the scenes, that's really good toknow on a day like today. No
(12:11):
question, he was a sweetheart ofa guy, and he was a stable
the final four. I mean,it wasn't every year we had him on,
but for the most part there wasI think Dick and I had like
a nine or ten year run wherehe was there probably eight or nine times.
Maybe one year we would miss him, you know, one year there'd
just be too many interviews to do, and he would take his time and
go around to every single radio showon Final Four Radio Row and Final Four
(12:33):
Radio Row has gotten a bit smallerin the last few years, but back
when they were twenty five thirty stations, he would be there all day and
take as much time as possible tomake sure everybody got a chance because he
knew people were there to talk tohim. He knew people of all the
guests they had to get on theair that day or that week from the
Final Four. He was the bigfish, and he was working for Westwood
One doing the radio broadcast for them. Phenomenal dude. We'd have you know,
(12:54):
dinners with sponsors and he was there, always a smile on his face,
never seemed annoyed by any of it. So going to the Final Four
and now not being able to seeBill Walton and expect to see him there
is a huge, huge downer.So the guy that did many games here
with him on the Pac twelve network. Roxy Bernstein's going to join us at
three twenty eight, steven SUSA comingup at four, John Wilner at five.
(13:18):
The last time we had John on, you were on the air with
us on Friday when this big agreementcame down. Twenty billion dollars going to
be directed to players in college sportsover the next ten years. And we
had John on the air with uson Friday, I think right before you
came on, and there were somany unanswered questions, Right, what does
this mean for the future of thenon revenue sports? What does it mean
(13:41):
for title nine? I'm hoping thatJohn has some answers for us coming up
at five o'clock tonight. But wegot a couple minutes left in this segment,
Hugh, and this is a conversationthat you would have loved to have
had with Bill, by the way, as well, all these changes to
college athletics. You have long beena proponent for the players to get at
least a bigger pece of the pie. Is this maybe going a little bit
(14:03):
too far, because as somebody saidon Friday, I think it was John,
amateurism in college sports is now officiallygone. Well, I do think
that there's there the decades old argumentfrom the NCAA, which was self serving
of course, because they had amodel where everybody was making money. The
players weren't making money. Now youand I had a fun little argument off
(14:28):
air afterwards. I don't know,yelling at me Jackson. Basically, what
it was yeah, No, No, I think I think you said that.
I said that the players had beengetting nothing, right, And and
I challenged you. I said,I'll buy you the big best burger in
town if you can produce audio whereI said the players were getting nothing.
I never said. Didn't you justsay, like thirty seconds ago, they
(14:50):
weren't getting anything? No, no, in terms of in no, the
stipend, in terms of of this, well, if we're talking about the
the latest ruling, no, no, no. If we're talking about revenue
sharing, they've been getting zero,right right, Well, well, no,
they've been getting they've been getting astipend, and they've been getting scholarships.
(15:11):
I understand they've been getting but interms of the change that went down,
they have been Whatever they've been gettingthey've had has had value. The
scholarship has had value. But whatthe courts have said is that they are
getting far less on the open market. Like let's just say, for example,
(15:33):
let's say you're making a million dollarsfrom KGr. Now I doubt that's
the case, but you deserve it, all right, So okay, hey,
that's between me and my boss.Keep that between us. Come on,
okay, now, if you wereonly making eighty thousand, there's a
hell of a lot of people wouldsay, well, that's more than nothing.
That's a lot of money just toyack about sports. There's a lot
of people would say that, andand that's a subjective claim, but the
(15:56):
point would be that if you wereonly making eighty thousand, because all of
the radio stations in the locally andnationally had got together to say, hey,
let's collude and suppress the wages.Let's horizontally price fix radio talent.
And so you were making eighty aton of people would say, damn,
I'll do eighty that's a lot.But if your market value is a million,
(16:19):
then you are a victim of arestraint of the free action of the
free market. So that's what theplayers were experiencing. The scholarship had value,
but they but they also were notgetting the value that they had and
in the free market, in thein the the workings of the free market,
(16:41):
saying nothing in relative terms. Itotally get that, no question about
it. I think the question is, now, what does college basketball,
what does college football, softball,golf, track and field, swimming,
volleyball, the non revenue sports,What is this all going to look like
and then next five or ten years. So we'll talk more about this here
(17:02):
with you and me. We'll discussthis as well. John at five Roxy
Bernstein, who was Bill Walton's partnerfor a long time on the PAC twelve
network. He'll join us next onninety three three KJRFM live from the R
and R Foundation Specialist broadcast Studio.Now back to Softie and Dick on your
home for the Huskies and the CreekingSports Radio ninety three point three KJR FM.
(17:25):
I'm not into being remembered. Ilearned from yesterday. I dream about
jamorrow, but I try to maketoday my masters. Tried my best to
be better, to do better,and then to do more. I'm the
luckiest guy in the world, allright. That is the voice of Bill
Walton, who passed away over theweekend at the age of seventy one.
(17:48):
His longtime broadcast partner from the PACtwelve network, Roxy Bernstein, will join
us in no matter of seconds.Hu Milling in for Dick Faine Jackson felt
here until seven o'clock tonight. StephenSusa will be with us at four o'clock
today talking to going for another winagainst the Astro's going to send them four
and a half games back in thestandings Tonight Luis Castillo versus Hunter Brown.
(18:08):
Dallas Mavericks can join the Boston Celticsin the NBA Finals with a win tonight
against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Dallas.John Wilder will join us at five pm
this evening and then coming up tonightfive forty five. Brian Schmetzer on the
radio show, and I said thisearlier. He will say it again in
the six pm hour, about sixto zero five. Then I we're going
to replay our final conversation with BillWalton. It was always kind of a
(18:32):
funny thing between Dick and I.We would always wonder how many questions we
would get in during a conversation withBill, and the joke was all you
had to do was say hello,take off and walk away. He'd come
back. He's still talking. Sohe was one of the greatest interviews ever
because he would give you the entiresegment and fill it with amazing content every
(18:52):
single time. And what did yousince he felt the most passionate about people.
He loved people, man, Hejust loved every buddy around him.
Basketball obviously was number two. Butpeople was number one, not even okay,
so be more specific, like like, what what about just like generally
just hanging out? Or was theresomething that he liked to did he like
to get you know, uh uh, you know smoke, smoke herb and
(19:15):
and and and burn saying I say, you know, incense and and and
have great conversations. I mean,like in what regard. But maybe maybe
Roxy'll be able to tell us onthat one. Yeah, I think that's
a great question for our next guestbecause joining us now on the radio show
a guy that I've known him foreverand I know that he knew Bill Walton
for a long damn time, justhundreds, if not thousands of broadcasts over
the years with Bill Walton, hislongtime partner from the PAC twelve network,
(19:38):
our friend Roxy Bernstein's with us,Roxy, how are you man? Softy?
I've been better, but you knowwhat, he'd be mad at me
if I was depressed today, Soto honor our buddy, I can't let
myself go down that rabbit hole.Well, I love that, and I
appreciate that. I know the weekendwas really hard for you. And why
(19:59):
do you first of all just tellus kind of your reaction, man,
when you got the news, becausewe had no idea. I think the
general public had no idea that Billwas battling cancer. The people that were
closest to him, that worked withhim, guys like you and Dave Pash.
Were you aware that he was goingthrough this fight. I was.
I didn't know the extent of it, and he didn't want to burden us.
(20:22):
And that's the way Bill looked atit. He wanted us to just
live our lives, and he was. He and Laurie were really private about
it, and I respected that hekind of he let it slip to me
almost by accident, maybe was intentionalbecause of Bill. You never know.
So I've known for a little bitthat he was battling and I was prepared
(20:45):
for it. Unfortunately, last weekone of our good friends told me that
he was afraid we were going tolose him. And so when I got
the call Monday morning from someone tellingme that Bill had passed, I wasn't
shocked. I wasn't surprised. Ihad kind of anticipated and had myself prepared
(21:08):
for it. But at the sametime, it's still a punch in the
gut. It's still as crushing asever and devastating that you lose such an
iconic figure. But my friend andthe most engaging, welcoming person I've ever
known, and it was yesterday morning. Was really tough, guys, to
(21:30):
be honest with you, was reallyhard. Well, obviously you're in a
grief state, and as anybody whoknows him would, and I think to
some extent all of us who justloved his work, we are as well.
But I want you to imagine two, three, four, or five
years from now, when some ofthe you know, the immediate sting kind
of wears off, and somebody playsword association, somebody says Bill Walton,
(21:52):
and they're curious how you think heimpacted either you or the world. What
Like, what's the most important thingyou could say about him? As you
envisioned that conversation. A few yearsfrom now, conferenceive Champions here we go.
But to be honest, I'm abetter person because of Bill than because
(22:15):
he was a friend of mine.Just getting to be around him and know
him, and how tremendous he wasnot just to me, but to my
family, to my kids, likefor example, I mean, this is
the type of person that Bill is. So we were doing the Malley Invitational.
I don't know, like six yearsago, whatever it was, and
(22:37):
we're doing the morning games and everymorning at six am, and he told
me he wanted to do this.I'm like, oh, yeah, sure,
right, Bill, you know he'sgot to come over. He knocked
on my door at six am everymorning. He wanted to take my kids
to breakfast. That's who he isand so genuine, so welcoming, so
engaging, and he was so curiousabout people. And that's the thing that
(23:02):
look this guy on television who waswildly entertaining and bizarre, whatever adjective you
want to throw at him, butdeep down, he's as good a person
as I've ever been around, andprobably has had as big an impact on
my life as anybody that I've beenhanging around with my life. Yeah,
I'd say you and Dave Pash,no doubt. And going back to Bob
(23:25):
Costas and Snapper Jones back in theday, I mean, he had partners
in the broadcast booth and you werecertainly one of them. But Roxy Bernstein
is with us on the radio showtalking about Bill Walten's passing over the weekend,
and Hugh asked me, Roxy,just right before you came on about
what Bill's passions were, what wasmost important to him? And I said
people, And he said, well, what do you mean by that?
And I think I would say andI want to get your thoughts on this.
(23:47):
He wanted to please everybody he wasaround, and he liked doing that.
He liked putting a smile on people'sfaces. So if I asked you
the same question, what was hepassionate about the most, what would you
say? That is so true,softy. And he was curious and he
made everybody feel when they were talkingto him like they were the most important
(24:10):
person in the world, and didn'tmatter who that person is, from what
walk of life, they were importantand he was curious to know about them
and what drove them, what madethem tick. He had this insatial,
insatiable appetite for knowledge, and hewas just it was so genuine. And
(24:33):
for example, people might be intimidated, scared to come up to Bill Walden,
and he had this disarming manner,where what's your name, Joe,
Joe, I'm Bill with two l's, how are you? But that was
his way of breaking the ice andmaking people feel at ease. And you've
seen it, you guys, havebeen at games. When Bill's done with
a game, he's not done forthe night. He would be there.
(24:56):
There would always be a long linepeople that wanted autographs, taking pictures,
just the chance to meet Bill.And he didn't leave no matter what arena
it was until every person on theline was taken care of. It didn't
matter how long that Bill stayed there. He made sure everybody got a piece
(25:17):
of meeting Bill Walton. And Ihad so much respect for him and the
way he lived his life, consideringwhat he went through with all the physical
ailments and surgeries and the depression thathe went through. Every place he was
was the place to be. Itdidn't matter if we're doing Arizona and UCLA.
(25:38):
We could be doing North Dakota againstSouth Dakota and Bill. We would
never do that because they're not theconference champions, obviously, but every game
that was the game of the millennium, that was the place to be.
And he celebrated life and lived hislife that way. Well, I'd love
(26:00):
to hear the stories about how heconquered his physical suffering, But I'm curious
when you said that, he wasjust so curious, and you know,
he wanted to learn about things andand correct me if I'm wrong. I
said, I'm prior to you comingon. I said, you know he
was a hippie, and I don'tuse that term disparagingly at all. You
know, he grew up in anera, you know, say, you
(26:22):
know, he's a San Diego kid, and I know at some level he
he got at odds with John Wooden, maybe over facial hair or something silly.
But but but you know, throughall of that curiosity he had to
arrive on opinions about whether it's politicalor religion or some serious topics in life.
(26:44):
There had to be something upon whichyou said, man, Bill really
feels strongly about this. What isit that the result of all that curiosity
and such a bright guy, youyou got an impression of, man,
this is really important to Bill.What was that? Well? He was
so well read and cultured, andyou talked about with the way he looked
(27:07):
at at life. And it wasn'tjust basketball, whether it was politics,
whether it was music. And thegreatest characteristic maybe for Bill in that regard
is his respect for others and theirviews. He may not have agreed with
you, but he was willing tolisten, and he was willing to have
the conversation, which a lot ofpeople aren't these days. But that's what
(27:29):
made Bill so special. And regardlessof how you felt about him, or
you may disagree with him on things, but the respect that people had for
him, I think came from Billhimself and the way he carried himself.
And look, Bill made no bonesabout where he sat politically and his beliefs
on certain issues. And if youwere at the complete opposite end of the
(27:52):
spectrum, he wouldn't just write youoff and say, oh, I can't
talk to this person please. Hewanted to hear what they had to say,
and he'd value what they had tosay, and he still may not
agree with it, but that's theway he respected people and their views.
And he truly believed that everybody's opinionmattered. Yeah, yeah, no doubt,
no doubt, and you said ityourself. He made everyone feel like
(28:15):
they were the most important person inthe room. And I got to ask
you roxy before you go, becauseyou know, I used the word coincidence
and he was right. It's almostkind of eerie that the final day of
the PAC twelve, the day afterthat, Bill Walton passed away. He
did not want to live in aworld without the Conference of Champions. So
tell us behind the scenes the demiseof the PAC twelve how much did that
(28:38):
bother him? Behind the scenes,it crushed him to his soul. It
really did softy because it looked,yes, it may have been his caricature
and this actor he was playing inconference in completely overstating things and sensationalizing stuff.
He truly believed it to his core. And he was so proud of
(28:59):
the tradition the conference, and notjust for the success that his team had
at UCLA, but the steps forwardjust as civilization and an American way of
life that the PAC twelve of theimpact, but people like Jackie Robinson,
Don Barksdale, we go on andon, Kareem Arthur Ash, all these
people that I think Bill took somuch pride in that, and it really
(29:23):
hurt him and it really disappointed himwhen the news came out when UCLA and
USC left the league, and hewas despondent about it, and for there's
a while where people wanted to hearfrom him and what he was going to
say, and Bill wouldn't talk publiclyuntil he knew he had to because the
basketball season was going to start,and then he unloaded and he made it
(29:47):
very uncomfortable for Martin Jarman, theUCLA Athletic director after the decision was made,
and he really made life miserable forMartin Jarmon. Whether it be at
UCLA functions, nobody looked to theMidwest for salvation please, yeah, and
it really aided him. And whetherit was the failed leadership from the commissioners,
(30:08):
the school president's chancellors. He heldeverybody accountable and he just couldn't comprehend
how they let the league die.And and there maybe it's poetic, maybe
it is cosmic that this is howit all transpired this weekend, and maybe
he didn't want to live in aworld where there wasn't the Pac twelve as
(30:29):
we know it in the Conference ofChampions. It really was a special place
for him and he lived it tothe fullest. Yeah. It was his
thing, for sure, and heowned it better than anybody. Roxy,
you're the man, great stuff.Condolences man and the loss of your paler.
Thank you, appreciate the you doingthis and we'll talk soon. Man,
all right, buddy, you guys, thank you, Steh, thank
(30:49):
you. Got Roxy Bernstein with uson the radio show we gotta break a
little fun with audio John Wilner atfive right here on ninety three three KJRFM.
It's now time for Softy and Diggsone with audio Jimmy g Pawd Star
Jimmy mister garoppolo. Now let's havesome fun with audio. Alrighty, Safia,
(31:11):
Dick and Jackson with Hue Ian forDick Fane on this Tuesday afternoon,
time for a little fun with audioSlash. Hey did you hear that?
Hey, Hugh, did you happento hear that? What's that? Dick?
We start on Saturday night here thefinal PAC twelve sporting event was played
the Baseball Conference tournament between Arizona andUSC. Our guest last segment, Roxy
Bergstein called the dramatic end of thefinal game of the one hundred and eight
(31:33):
year old conference. Love let fairpase hit charging as well. Here comes
Coronta tral to play say for theArizona wins. The eighth walk off of
the season for the Wildcats. Oneless PAC twelve after dark. That's how
the PAC twelve comes to a conclusion. The Arizona Wildcats not only are PAC
(31:56):
twelve champions, their PAC twelve tournamentchampions. All right, heree, you've
been a fan of this conference fora long time, going back to the
pack eight days obviously, do youfeel anything, you have any emotional connection
reaction to the final PAC twelve eventever on Saturday night. Well, I
think the majority of my grief inthat regard I've already had to process.
(32:21):
But I think that each time youget a little hallmark along there, and
it's a reminder. Yeah, it'sjust a sad time. I don't know
that I really blame any of theparticipants. I think USC and UCLA were
the catalysts. And people forget thatColorado they left the conference before Washington,
(32:42):
Oregon, right, correct, ButUSC and UCLA were the catalysts. And
and you know, in my mind, just thinking a little bit like an
economist, I just think USC finallyacted like Notre Dame. Obviously Notre Dame
is an independent, but I thinkthey started the and hey, we got
to think a little bit more ofour own, our own direction. And
(33:07):
as Adam Smith, the godfather ofthe free market and capitalism, he said,
the economy works with those acting intheir own rational self interests. And
I think USC, for over onehundred years they were willing to subsidize.
I was gonna say, o'rek instate in Washington State, but that wouldn't
be that would be true, butnot entirely telling the picture, because they
(33:30):
were subsidizing Washington and every other teamin the conference because they were the most
valued asset in the conference. Sowhen they finally said we don't want to
subsidize anymore, Notre Dame doesn't subsidizePurdue in Indiana, they thought a little
bit more like Notre Dame. Andof course I'm aware that they were in
a conference and there's a distinction there, but but but they're still an analogy
(33:52):
and and so they just finally actedlike capitalists, and so I don't really
blame them. I'm just saddened byit. Well, I think you got
also member, and I know youdo. The perception of the PAC ten
PAC twelve excuse me two years agowas in the gutter. Like you know,
if you would have gone to anyother PAC twelve school two and a
half three years ago and said,hey, there's an offer for an invite
(34:13):
on the table for the Big ten, would you take it? Every single
one would have said absolutely. Ithink people have a little recency bias with
the way things went in this lastyear football wise for the conference. But
this conference was it was pathetic.The reputation of the pac twelve was in
the toilet. So I don't blameanybody forgetting out all right, Hey,
Hugh, did you happen to hearthat? What's that? Dick? After
(34:34):
the Pacers got knocked out from theNBA Playoffs with a Game four lost to
Boston yesterday, Indiana head coach andformer Sonic color analyst Rick Carlisle talked about
Bill Walton helping him get together withhis wife when the guys played together on
the Celtics back in eighty seven.I have him to think probably also for
me being married to my wife,Donna. Our first date was to a
(34:58):
Dead Show in Washington in DC,and I had called Bill and I said,
look, I got a date witha girl that I think is pretty
cool. I'd love to go tothe Dead Show at Capital Center. I
don't have any tickets. Can youhelp? And he said, Uh,
just go to the back door askfor Dennis mcinally, tell him you're Rick
(35:19):
Carlisle from the Boston Celtics and everythingwould be just fine. I said,
really, I said, oh yeah. So you know, I drove up
to the loading dock and so Donnawas with me. We hadn't known each
other that long. I said,just wait here a second. She's like
what. The whole thing ended upworking out. I walked back up the
loading dock ramp with two all accesslamin. It's one said Bill Walton and
(35:44):
one said Susie Walton. And soso we were set up for the show,
and we were we were actually onstage watching the show, and during
the break we just kind of wekind of just wandered into the back and
just opened up a door and endedup sitting down with Jerry Garcia, Bob
Weird and Mickey Hart for about fifteenminutes just tooot. I mean, it
was it was an unbelievable night.And you know, obviously it's a it's
(36:07):
a it's a good first eight.You know. It's funny, Hugh,
you think about some of the greatcelebrity relationships over time. Sure, Howard
Cosell, Muhammad Ali right would cometo mind. Bill Walton and The Grateful
Dead is up on that list.For me, it's got it's got to
be a perfect marriage, right,Like, like, who what athlete.
Would you want to try and andand coax a concert out of other than
(36:31):
Bill Walton for the Grateful Dead likethat? That's just I mean, can
you imagine Jerry garciaan Bill Walton smokingdope in a hotel room together. I
can imagine doing a lot of stuff, you know, shrooms, tablets under
the tongue. You know. Idon't know what he's into, but I
imagine, you know, growing upin the early seventies, I that he's
into a lot. Unbelievable. Man, He's gonna be missed for sure.
(36:52):
All Right, we've got to breakSteven Susan junior join us talks in baseball
MS Astros Game two of four,and Major League Baseball, by the way,
is making a gigantic change to howthey memorize and memorialize and count.
Statistics will fill you in coming upon ninety three three KJRFM
Where one of the great athletes toever come out of Roosevelt High School,
our friend Huey Millan. And forDahnson, how are you? Yeah,
go a bumbler? Yeah, I'mdoing great. Uh yeah, well said
on on your comments and thoughts aboutthe Memorial Day. You know, I
urged my kids, Hey, watcha war movie tonight. You know my
(00:20):
my three favorite are Saving Private Ryanand Platoon. Ye, and how about
it Apocalypse? Now you like thatone? Apocalypse And that's a good one.
Uh, you know, the DeerHunter is a good one. I'm
any of them just you know,just kind of let it sink in just
the uh, you know, theenormity of their sacrifice and so at any
(00:44):
rate. Uh yes, Will said, well, I appreciate that. Man.
It's good to have you back onthe show. We got a lot
to get to between now and seveno'clock. Steven Suz is gonna join us
at four talk some baseball. RoxyBernstein, who did a bunch of telecasts
on the PAC twelve network over theyears with Bill, will join us at
three twenty eight. I gotta behonest with you. I was kind of
texting with him last night about this, and he was not in a good
(01:07):
spot. I'm not sure how manypeople, Hugh that worked with Bill Walton
even knew he had cancer. Seventyone years old. Last did a broadcast
like three months ago, I thinkin February was his last college basketball broadcast.
And Dave Pash, who does alot of games within on ESPN Roxy
with the PAC twelve network, I'mnot sure if these people even knew that
(01:29):
Bill Walton was sick. And Igot to tell you, man, how
unbelievably appropriate is it? And maybeeven in some ways coincidental that the PAC
twelve as a conference has their lastsporting event on Friday and Bill Walton passed
away on Saturday. Bill Walton hedid not want to live in a world,
Hugh without the Conference of Champions.He said, if they're done that,
(01:52):
I'm done. It's amazing he skippeduniverses. He's in a place where
they still have the Pac twelve right, and he's enjoying all those games.
Yeah, I'll tell you I canremember him playing at UCLA and the longest
win streak in my lifetime was UCLAbasketball. And I can only read about
the other ones, Bud Wilkinson andOklahoma in the fifties, but that didn't
(02:15):
top I mean, you're talking aboutan eighty eight game win streak, and
I can remember when Notre Dame snappedthat, and of course and that you
know, they were just the mediafor younger people. It was just a
completely different way of consuming sports.And obviously there's no Internet, but there
was really not even highlights, andyou know, half of the way you
(02:37):
consume news was just wait for SportsIllustrated, and of course was on the
cover of Sports Illustrated. But youknow, here was a guy that was
a three time Nate Smith Award winnerthe best college player, and he in
a final game went twenty one fortwenty two at Memphis against Memphis State.
(02:57):
And that was before they allowed dunks. So you know, if you were
in a position to dunk, youjust had to like drop the ball,
like set it over the cup andthen just drop it right. So you
can imagine the field goal percentages werea little bit lower because he couldn't dunk.
Big men weren't allowed. But justa completely different era, and you
know, I can just you know, I'm just getting started on my memories
(03:19):
of him as a player, butthat's that's kind of the college component of
just how dominant he was. Yeah, well, I don't have any memory
really of him playing college basketball.My memories of Bill Walton or him in
a Boston Celtic uniform and him callinggames on the NBA on NBC with Bob
costas Snapper Jones guys like that,right, So I really kind of knew
(03:44):
Bill Moore as a broadcaster than abasketball player. And I'll just say this
about Bill Walton at six pm tonighthere we're going to replay our final conversation
with him, which March I believeearly April of twenty nineteen Final Four.
I think we may have been inMinneapolis. I'm not a thousand percent sure,
but the last time we had atalk with Bill was about five years
ago when he was on with usat the Final Four. And every year
(04:06):
I would see Bill Walton, BillWalden had no reason to know who I
am, no reason to give adamn who I was. And every year
it would be three hundred and sixtyfour days between visits, he would come
by our table. Oh softie,It's like he knew who we were,
as if somebody was telling him whowe were. Maybe somebody was, but
(04:27):
Bill Walden had this unbelievable ability tomake everybody feel like they were the most
important people in the room, andhe was your buddy. It was unreal.
And I've never met honestly, Hugh, and you and I both know
Dick Bard very well. Dick Baird, and you'll agree, is one of
the most positive people walk in theface of the earth. I would say
he's right behind Bill Walton because I'venever seen a angry Bill. I've never
(04:53):
seen a frown from Bill, andI've never heard anybody say a bad word
ever a out Bill Walton. Okay, so this guy was the most positive
person I've ever met in my life. He made you feel important every time
you saw him. I've got memoriesof the folks at Westwood One how to
follow him around with a gigantic recliningchair because his back was so bad he
(05:14):
couldn't sit in the chairs that weuse for our radio broadcast. But just
seeing him every year, man,it was like he was your buddy.
And I'll miss talking to the guybig time. Well, what you just
said is way more important than anythingI could offer, because I didn't know
that about him. No, No, the type of person in his regard
obviously you know, you throw onhis height, that that just compounds is
his fame. So everybody knows whohe is and any he's certainly in any
(05:38):
sports arena, right, and Idon't just mean a physical arena, just
any sports fear. Everybody knows whoBill Walton is. Right. My memory
of as a player, so youjust mentioned him waving towels for the Celtics.
He was a bit, you know, he was a vital six man
of the sixth man. He mighthave been the sixth man of the year.
He got to look that up.So he was an important part.
(05:58):
But I remember, at least Iwas thirteen years old when the Blazers won
the title in seventy seven. Nowthis is coming off a period of time
when the Sonics had a great programwith the Seattle Public schools where they would
give the away tickets for next tonothing, and I can remember buying Sonic
tickets for five bucks and taking abus down with my buddies to this coliseum
(06:19):
and just watching something like it waslike quasi season tickets because they were just
giving it away. So this wasa day and age in the seventies when
if you're if you can only rememberthe three point line, and certainly if
you're you know, just the modernway of playing with just jacking threes.
It was a totally different era.There was no three point line and everything
(06:41):
was about you had to have theseven foot center. I mean, obviously
there was Jabbar, but in thatera yet Will Chamberlain was just closing out
artists Gilmore, Bob McAdoo, BobLaneer. The Sonics drafted Tom Burleson,
a seven foot four guy out ofNorth Carolina State. They had they had,
actually, as we're talking about Holtonin seventy four, they beat here.
Walton was a three time Nasmith Award. Whenever it only a two time
(07:04):
NCAA championship because they got upset byDavid Thompson and Tom Burlison. But the
game was dump it into the sevenfoot center, dump it into him,
and then how good is his postgame moves? And can he pass out?
What was what was something that Ihad never seen was in seventy seven
(07:25):
when the Blazers, and it wasa catastrophe. Now I didn't look it
up. I just remember the namesyou had, Lionel Hollins, Dave towards
It, Maurice Lucas. I meanThey had what appeared to be a dynasty,
a merging dynasty, and Walton wasat the center of it, literally
and figuratively. He was down inthe post and nobody had ever seen passing
out of the post like him.This guy had the highest basketball IQ,
(07:49):
the gift for passing and finding cuttersand finding open men. Nobody had ever
passed out of the post like BillWalton. And I just thought, oh
my god, you know these areyou know, they were on the verge
of like a Lakers or Celtics run. But it was his foot injury at
the after that the Sonics were ableto just a year later overtake him.
(08:09):
In seventy eight go to the thetitle, loses to the Bullets, and
then in seventy nine, of coursethey beat the Bullets. So but but
just I want you to imagine Davean era no three point line. Everything
centers are. It's like the waywe would say quarterbacks are central and vital
to winning the Super Bowl. That'show you would say you got to have
(08:31):
a good seven footer in the postif you have any chance. Now I
don't know if that was true,but that was the the you know,
the feeling and Walton just had aunique brand. He was a hell of
a center. Now, the whatyou remember at the Celtics is way different
than the guy that was at theBlazers. Something the passing ability in the
high basketball like you nah, trustme, I'm well aware of the Blazers
(08:52):
and the controversy where he claims helost trusts with the Blazer ownership and their
medical team over how they were handlinginjury and forced to trade. And I
think, if I have my statsright, he sat out the year the
Sonics won the NBA title. Thatwas the year that Bill Walton sat out.
If I'm not mistaken, Well,OK, there was food injuries involved
in this, right, So maybeit's a combination. And maybe he felt
(09:15):
like he got faulty medical advice andthey threw him in the lineup, or
my memory is fuzzy in that regard, But I know that the foot injuries
played a pivotal poll in a rolerather than his demise. Yeah, And
that was the first couple of years, and he got over it. He
became a great player in the NBA. And then obviously you know, again,
the guy that I know is notthe guy that you know. Because
(09:35):
I was four years old when theywon the championship with the Placers in nineteen
seventy seven. I have no memoryof that whatsoever. I barely have any
memories of the seventy nine Sonics,for God's sakes, I got no memories
of that team. But I knewhim as a broadcaster. I knew him
as a person. He always hada smile on his face. He was
just a phenomenal dude. And nowhe's gone. And I don't know Hugh
obviously or honestly, if there's amore. I mean, look, we
(09:58):
can talk about beloved athletes in thecountry, you know, Babe Ruth,
Guys like that, obviously, right, Maybe Kareem turned some people off with
his activism and things like that.I have no idea. But on the
list of just the universally beloved athletes. And we used to have conversations on
the air. And Jackson knows thisabout Bill Walton, good or bad for
Sports TV? Does he annoy thehell out of you? Do you like
(10:20):
him? I used to love him. I had no problem with Bill Walton
whatsoever. He was unique. Hewould go off on these tangents that nobody
else could even go off on.So I love the guy. So maybe
from that perspective, people were buggedby him as a broadcaster. Some folks
foun him annoying. But for me, if there's a list of universally beloved
athletes where everybody no matter who theyrooted for, no matter their favorite school,
(10:41):
their favorite pro team, Bill Walton'sgot to be on that list.
I mean, there's some people thatthink that Bill Walton, as you said,
three time college basketball Player of theYear, some folks think he's the
best player of all time in thehistory of college basketball. Well, he
has a resume that he has aseat at the table in that argument.
I hope you're right in what youjust said that that he's universally beloved.
(11:01):
I'm not certain that you are.I think that's good that you gave a
little uh tacit voice to what maybesome people to say, Hey, this
guy annoys the hell out of me. I got to turn him off.
I mean I was an activist too, right, Bill Bill. Bill got
behind a lot of social causes,did he not a hundred percent? And
you know, look, he wasa San Diego hippie, uh you know,
(11:24):
with his long red hair and andhe he was he was a hippie
through and through, and and Ithink, you know, I think people
often emerging out of those times,you know, there was more reason arguably
for social activism then that of courseis debatable, but I think that was
an era when you know that alot of young people you're just wrapping up
the civil the the Vietnam War andand civil rights issues were still getting settled.
(11:48):
So I think there was some realserious agenda items for people so inclined.
And certainly he was, you know, a bright guy, and and
and thoughtful and introspect and he wasn'tafraid to share his opinion. And when
you talk about the positive positivity hehad, how he dealt with people behind
the scenes, that's really good toknow on a day like today. No
(12:11):
question, he was a sweetheart ofa guy, and he was a stable
the final four. I mean,it wasn't every year we had him on,
but for the most part there wasI think Dick and I had like
a nine or ten year run wherehe was there probably eight or nine times.
Maybe one year we would miss him, you know, one year there'd
just be too many interviews to do, and he would take his time and
go around to every single radio showon Final Four Radio Row and Final Four
(12:33):
Radio Row has gotten a bit smallerin the last few years, but back
when they were twenty five thirty stations, he would be there all day and
take as much time as possible tomake sure everybody got a chance because he
knew people were there to talk tohim. He knew people of all the
guests they had to get on theair that day or that week from the
Final Four. He was the bigfish, and he was working for Westwood
One doing the radio broadcast for them. Phenomenal dude. We'd have you know,
(12:54):
dinners with sponsors and he was there, always a smile on his face,
never seemed annoyed by any of it. So going to the Final Four
and now not being able to seeBill Walton and expect to see him there
is a huge, huge downer.So the guy that did many games here
with him on the Pac twelve network. Roxy Bernstein's going to join us at
three twenty eight, steven SUSA comingup at four, John Wilner at five.
(13:18):
The last time we had John on, you were on the air with
us on Friday when this big agreementcame down. Twenty billion dollars going to
be directed to players in college sportsover the next ten years. And we
had John on the air with uson Friday, I think right before you
came on, and there were somany unanswered questions, Right, what does
this mean for the future of thenon revenue sports? What does it mean
(13:41):
for title nine? I'm hoping thatJohn has some answers for us coming up
at five o'clock tonight. But wegot a couple minutes left in this segment,
Hugh, and this is a conversationthat you would have loved to have
had with Bill, by the way, as well, all these changes to
college athletics. You have long beena proponent for the players to get at
least a bigger pece of the pie. Is this maybe going a little bit
(14:03):
too far, because as somebody saidon Friday, I think it was John,
amateurism in college sports is now officiallygone. Well, I do think
that there's there the decades old argumentfrom the NCAA, which was self serving
of course, because they had amodel where everybody was making money. The
players weren't making money. Now youand I had a fun little argument off
(14:28):
air afterwards. I don't know,yelling at me Jackson. Basically, what
it was yeah, No, No, I think I think you said that.
I said that the players had beengetting nothing, right, And and
I challenged you. I said,I'll buy you the big best burger in
town if you can produce audio whereI said the players were getting nothing.
I never said. Didn't you justsay, like thirty seconds ago, they
(14:50):
weren't getting anything? No, no, in terms of in no, the
stipend, in terms of of this, well, if we're talking about the
the latest ruling, no, no, no. If we're talking about revenue
sharing, they've been getting zero,right right, Well, well, no,
they've been getting they've been getting astipend, and they've been getting scholarships.
(15:11):
I understand they've been getting but interms of the change that went down,
they have been Whatever they've been gettingthey've had has had value. The
scholarship has had value. But whatthe courts have said is that they are
getting far less on the open market. Like let's just say, for example,
(15:33):
let's say you're making a million dollarsfrom KGr. Now I doubt that's
the case, but you deserve it, all right, So okay, hey,
that's between me and my boss.Keep that between us. Come on,
okay, now, if you wereonly making eighty thousand, there's a
hell of a lot of people wouldsay, well, that's more than nothing.
That's a lot of money just toyack about sports. There's a lot
of people would say that, andand that's a subjective claim, but the
(15:56):
point would be that if you wereonly making eighty thousand, because all of
the radio stations in the locally andnationally had got together to say, hey,
let's collude and suppress the wages.Let's horizontally price fix radio talent.
And so you were making eighty aton of people would say, damn,
I'll do eighty that's a lot.But if your market value is a million,
(16:19):
then you are a victim of arestraint of the free action of the
free market. So that's what theplayers were experiencing. The scholarship had value,
but they but they also were notgetting the value that they had and
in the free market, in thein the the workings of the free market,
(16:41):
saying nothing in relative terms. Itotally get that, no question about
it. I think the question is, now, what does college basketball,
what does college football, softball,golf, track and field, swimming,
volleyball, the non revenue sports,What is this all going to look like
and then next five or ten years. So we'll talk more about this here
(17:02):
with you and me. We'll discussthis as well. John at five Roxy
Bernstein, who was Bill Walton's partnerfor a long time on the PAC twelve
network. He'll join us next onninety three three KJRFM live from the R
and R Foundation Specialist broadcast Studio.Now back to Softie and Dick on your
home for the Huskies and the CreekingSports Radio ninety three point three KJR FM.
(17:25):
I'm not into being remembered. Ilearned from yesterday. I dream about
jamorrow, but I try to maketoday my masters. Tried my best to
be better, to do better,and then to do more. I'm the
luckiest guy in the world, allright. That is the voice of Bill
Walton, who passed away over theweekend at the age of seventy one.
(17:48):
His longtime broadcast partner from the PACtwelve network, Roxy Bernstein, will join
us in no matter of seconds.Hu Milling in for Dick Faine Jackson felt
here until seven o'clock tonight. StephenSusa will be with us at four o'clock
today talking to going for another winagainst the Astro's going to send them four
and a half games back in thestandings Tonight Luis Castillo versus Hunter Brown.
(18:08):
Dallas Mavericks can join the Boston Celticsin the NBA Finals with a win tonight
against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Dallas.John Wilder will join us at five pm
this evening and then coming up tonightfive forty five. Brian Schmetzer on the
radio show, and I said thisearlier. He will say it again in
the six pm hour, about sixto zero five. Then I we're going
to replay our final conversation with BillWalton. It was always kind of a
(18:32):
funny thing between Dick and I.We would always wonder how many questions we
would get in during a conversation withBill, and the joke was all you
had to do was say hello,take off and walk away. He'd come
back. He's still talking. Sohe was one of the greatest interviews ever
because he would give you the entiresegment and fill it with amazing content every
(18:52):
single time. And what did yousince he felt the most passionate about people.
He loved people, man, Hejust loved every buddy around him.
Basketball obviously was number two. Butpeople was number one, not even okay,
so be more specific, like like, what what about just like generally
just hanging out? Or was theresomething that he liked to did he like
to get you know, uh uh, you know smoke, smoke herb and
(19:15):
and and and burn saying I say, you know, incense and and and
have great conversations. I mean,like in what regard. But maybe maybe
Roxy'll be able to tell us onthat one. Yeah, I think that's
a great question for our next guestbecause joining us now on the radio show
a guy that I've known him foreverand I know that he knew Bill Walton
for a long damn time, justhundreds, if not thousands of broadcasts over
the years with Bill Walton, hislongtime partner from the PAC twelve network,
(19:38):
our friend Roxy Bernstein's with us,Roxy, how are you man? Softy?
I've been better, but you knowwhat, he'd be mad at me
if I was depressed today, Soto honor our buddy, I can't let
myself go down that rabbit hole.Well, I love that, and I
appreciate that. I know the weekendwas really hard for you. And why
(19:59):
do you first of all just tellus kind of your reaction, man,
when you got the news, becausewe had no idea. I think the
general public had no idea that Billwas battling cancer. The people that were
closest to him, that worked withhim, guys like you and Dave Pash.
Were you aware that he was goingthrough this fight. I was.
I didn't know the extent of it, and he didn't want to burden us.
(20:22):
And that's the way Bill looked atit. He wanted us to just
live our lives, and he was. He and Laurie were really private about
it, and I respected that hekind of he let it slip to me
almost by accident, maybe was intentionalbecause of Bill. You never know.
So I've known for a little bitthat he was battling and I was prepared
(20:45):
for it. Unfortunately, last weekone of our good friends told me that
he was afraid we were going tolose him. And so when I got
the call Monday morning from someone tellingme that Bill had passed, I wasn't
shocked. I wasn't surprised. Ihad kind of anticipated and had myself prepared
(21:08):
for it. But at the sametime, it's still a punch in the
gut. It's still as crushing asever and devastating that you lose such an
iconic figure. But my friend andthe most engaging, welcoming person I've ever
known, and it was yesterday morning. Was really tough, guys, to
(21:30):
be honest with you, was reallyhard. Well, obviously you're in a
grief state, and as anybody whoknows him would, and I think to
some extent all of us who justloved his work, we are as well.
But I want you to imagine two, three, four, or five
years from now, when some ofthe you know, the immediate sting kind
of wears off, and somebody playsword association, somebody says Bill Walton,
(21:52):
and they're curious how you think heimpacted either you or the world. What
Like, what's the most important thingyou could say about him? As you
envisioned that conversation. A few yearsfrom now, conferenceive Champions here we go.
But to be honest, I'm abetter person because of Bill than because
(22:15):
he was a friend of mine.Just getting to be around him and know
him, and how tremendous he wasnot just to me, but to my
family, to my kids, likefor example, I mean, this is
the type of person that Bill is. So we were doing the Malley Invitational.
I don't know, like six yearsago, whatever it was, and
(22:37):
we're doing the morning games and everymorning at six am, and he told
me he wanted to do this.I'm like, oh, yeah, sure,
right, Bill, you know he'sgot to come over. He knocked
on my door at six am everymorning. He wanted to take my kids
to breakfast. That's who he isand so genuine, so welcoming, so
engaging, and he was so curiousabout people. And that's the thing that
(23:02):
look this guy on television who waswildly entertaining and bizarre, whatever adjective you
want to throw at him, butdeep down, he's as good a person
as I've ever been around, andprobably has had as big an impact on
my life as anybody that I've beenhanging around with my life. Yeah,
I'd say you and Dave Pash,no doubt. And going back to Bob
(23:25):
Costas and Snapper Jones back in theday, I mean, he had partners
in the broadcast booth and you werecertainly one of them. But Roxy Bernstein
is with us on the radio showtalking about Bill Walten's passing over the weekend,
and Hugh asked me, Roxy,just right before you came on about
what Bill's passions were, what wasmost important to him? And I said
people, And he said, well, what do you mean by that?
And I think I would say andI want to get your thoughts on this.
(23:47):
He wanted to please everybody he wasaround, and he liked doing that.
He liked putting a smile on people'sfaces. So if I asked you
the same question, what was hepassionate about the most, what would you
say? That is so true,softy. And he was curious and he
made everybody feel when they were talkingto him like they were the most important
(24:10):
person in the world, and didn'tmatter who that person is, from what
walk of life, they were importantand he was curious to know about them
and what drove them, what madethem tick. He had this insatial,
insatiable appetite for knowledge, and hewas just it was so genuine. And
(24:33):
for example, people might be intimidated, scared to come up to Bill Walden,
and he had this disarming manner,where what's your name, Joe,
Joe, I'm Bill with two l's, how are you? But that was
his way of breaking the ice andmaking people feel at ease. And you've
seen it, you guys, havebeen at games. When Bill's done with
a game, he's not done forthe night. He would be there.
(24:56):
There would always be a long linepeople that wanted autographs, taking pictures,
just the chance to meet Bill.And he didn't leave no matter what arena
it was until every person on theline was taken care of. It didn't
matter how long that Bill stayed there. He made sure everybody got a piece
(25:17):
of meeting Bill Walton. And Ihad so much respect for him and the
way he lived his life, consideringwhat he went through with all the physical
ailments and surgeries and the depression thathe went through. Every place he was
was the place to be. Itdidn't matter if we're doing Arizona and UCLA.
(25:38):
We could be doing North Dakota againstSouth Dakota and Bill. We would
never do that because they're not theconference champions, obviously, but every game
that was the game of the millennium, that was the place to be.
And he celebrated life and lived hislife that way. Well, I'd love
(26:00):
to hear the stories about how heconquered his physical suffering, But I'm curious
when you said that, he wasjust so curious, and you know,
he wanted to learn about things andand correct me if I'm wrong. I
said, I'm prior to you comingon. I said, you know he
was a hippie, and I don'tuse that term disparagingly at all. You
know, he grew up in anera, you know, say, you
(26:22):
know, he's a San Diego kid, and I know at some level he
he got at odds with John Wooden, maybe over facial hair or something silly.
But but but you know, throughall of that curiosity he had to
arrive on opinions about whether it's politicalor religion or some serious topics in life.
(26:44):
There had to be something upon whichyou said, man, Bill really
feels strongly about this. What isit that the result of all that curiosity
and such a bright guy, youyou got an impression of, man,
this is really important to Bill.What was that? Well? He was
so well read and cultured, andyou talked about with the way he looked
(27:07):
at at life. And it wasn'tjust basketball, whether it was politics,
whether it was music. And thegreatest characteristic maybe for Bill in that regard
is his respect for others and theirviews. He may not have agreed with
you, but he was willing tolisten, and he was willing to have
the conversation, which a lot ofpeople aren't these days. But that's what
(27:29):
made Bill so special. And regardlessof how you felt about him, or
you may disagree with him on things, but the respect that people had for
him, I think came from Billhimself and the way he carried himself.
And look, Bill made no bonesabout where he sat politically and his beliefs
on certain issues. And if youwere at the complete opposite end of the
(27:52):
spectrum, he wouldn't just write youoff and say, oh, I can't
talk to this person please. Hewanted to hear what they had to say,
and he'd value what they had tosay, and he still may not
agree with it, but that's theway he respected people and their views.
And he truly believed that everybody's opinionmattered. Yeah, yeah, no doubt,
no doubt, and you said ityourself. He made everyone feel like
(28:15):
they were the most important person inthe room. And I got to ask
you roxy before you go, becauseyou know, I used the word coincidence
and he was right. It's almostkind of eerie that the final day of
the PAC twelve, the day afterthat, Bill Walton passed away. He
did not want to live in aworld without the Conference of Champions. So
tell us behind the scenes the demiseof the PAC twelve how much did that
(28:38):
bother him? Behind the scenes,it crushed him to his soul. It
really did softy because it looked,yes, it may have been his caricature
and this actor he was playing inconference in completely overstating things and sensationalizing stuff.
He truly believed it to his core. And he was so proud of
(28:59):
the tradition the conference, and notjust for the success that his team had
at UCLA, but the steps forwardjust as civilization and an American way of
life that the PAC twelve of theimpact, but people like Jackie Robinson,
Don Barksdale, we go on andon, Kareem Arthur Ash, all these
people that I think Bill took somuch pride in that, and it really
(29:23):
hurt him and it really disappointed himwhen the news came out when UCLA and
USC left the league, and hewas despondent about it, and for there's
a while where people wanted to hearfrom him and what he was going to
say, and Bill wouldn't talk publiclyuntil he knew he had to because the
basketball season was going to start,and then he unloaded and he made it
(29:47):
very uncomfortable for Martin Jarman, theUCLA Athletic director after the decision was made,
and he really made life miserable forMartin Jarmon. Whether it be at
UCLA functions, nobody looked to theMidwest for salvation please, yeah, and
it really aided him. And whetherit was the failed leadership from the commissioners,
(30:08):
the school president's chancellors. He heldeverybody accountable and he just couldn't comprehend
how they let the league die.And and there maybe it's poetic, maybe
it is cosmic that this is howit all transpired this weekend, and maybe
he didn't want to live in aworld where there wasn't the Pac twelve as
(30:29):
we know it in the Conference ofChampions. It really was a special place
for him and he lived it tothe fullest. Yeah. It was his
thing, for sure, and heowned it better than anybody. Roxy,
you're the man, great stuff.Condolences man and the loss of your paler.
Thank you, appreciate the you doingthis and we'll talk soon. Man,
all right, buddy, you guys, thank you, Steh, thank
(30:49):
you. Got Roxy Bernstein with uson the radio show we gotta break a
little fun with audio John Wilner atfive right here on ninety three three KJRFM.
It's now time for Softy and Diggsone with audio Jimmy g Pawd Star
Jimmy mister garoppolo. Now let's havesome fun with audio. Alrighty, Safia,
(31:11):
Dick and Jackson with Hue Ian forDick Fane on this Tuesday afternoon,
time for a little fun with audioSlash. Hey did you hear that?
Hey, Hugh, did you happento hear that? What's that? Dick?
We start on Saturday night here thefinal PAC twelve sporting event was played
the Baseball Conference tournament between Arizona andUSC. Our guest last segment, Roxy
Bergstein called the dramatic end of thefinal game of the one hundred and eight
(31:33):
year old conference. Love let fairpase hit charging as well. Here comes
Coronta tral to play say for theArizona wins. The eighth walk off of
the season for the Wildcats. Oneless PAC twelve after dark. That's how
the PAC twelve comes to a conclusion. The Arizona Wildcats not only are PAC
(31:56):
twelve champions, their PAC twelve tournamentchampions. All right, heree, you've
been a fan of this conference fora long time, going back to the
pack eight days obviously, do youfeel anything, you have any emotional connection
reaction to the final PAC twelve eventever on Saturday night. Well, I
think the majority of my grief inthat regard I've already had to process.
(32:21):
But I think that each time youget a little hallmark along there, and
it's a reminder. Yeah, it'sjust a sad time. I don't know
that I really blame any of theparticipants. I think USC and UCLA were
the catalysts. And people forget thatColorado they left the conference before Washington,
(32:42):
Oregon, right, correct, ButUSC and UCLA were the catalysts. And
and you know, in my mind, just thinking a little bit like an
economist, I just think USC finallyacted like Notre Dame. Obviously Notre Dame
is an independent, but I thinkthey started the and hey, we got
to think a little bit more ofour own, our own direction. And
(33:07):
as Adam Smith, the godfather ofthe free market and capitalism, he said,
the economy works with those acting intheir own rational self interests. And
I think USC, for over onehundred years they were willing to subsidize.
I was gonna say, o'rek instate in Washington State, but that wouldn't
be that would be true, butnot entirely telling the picture, because they
(33:30):
were subsidizing Washington and every other teamin the conference because they were the most
valued asset in the conference. Sowhen they finally said we don't want to
subsidize anymore, Notre Dame doesn't subsidizePurdue in Indiana, they thought a little
bit more like Notre Dame. Andof course I'm aware that they were in
a conference and there's a distinction there, but but but they're still an analogy
(33:52):
and and so they just finally actedlike capitalists, and so I don't really
blame them. I'm just saddened byit. Well, I think you got
also member, and I know youdo. The perception of the PAC ten
PAC twelve excuse me two years agowas in the gutter. Like you know,
if you would have gone to anyother PAC twelve school two and a
half three years ago and said,hey, there's an offer for an invite
(34:13):
on the table for the Big ten, would you take it? Every single
one would have said absolutely. Ithink people have a little recency bias with
the way things went in this lastyear football wise for the conference. But
this conference was it was pathetic.The reputation of the pac twelve was in
the toilet. So I don't blameanybody forgetting out all right, Hey,
Hugh, did you happen to hearthat? What's that? Dick? After
(34:34):
the Pacers got knocked out from theNBA Playoffs with a Game four lost to
Boston yesterday, Indiana head coach andformer Sonic color analyst Rick Carlisle talked about
Bill Walton helping him get together withhis wife when the guys played together on
the Celtics back in eighty seven.I have him to think probably also for
me being married to my wife,Donna. Our first date was to a
(34:58):
Dead Show in Washington in DC,and I had called Bill and I said,
look, I got a date witha girl that I think is pretty
cool. I'd love to go tothe Dead Show at Capital Center. I
don't have any tickets. Can youhelp? And he said, Uh,
just go to the back door askfor Dennis mcinally, tell him you're Rick
(35:19):
Carlisle from the Boston Celtics and everythingwould be just fine. I said,
really, I said, oh yeah. So you know, I drove up
to the loading dock and so Donnawas with me. We hadn't known each
other that long. I said,just wait here a second. She's like
what. The whole thing ended upworking out. I walked back up the
loading dock ramp with two all accesslamin. It's one said Bill Walton and
(35:44):
one said Susie Walton. And soso we were set up for the show,
and we were we were actually onstage watching the show, and during
the break we just kind of wekind of just wandered into the back and
just opened up a door and endedup sitting down with Jerry Garcia, Bob
Weird and Mickey Hart for about fifteenminutes just tooot. I mean, it
was it was an unbelievable night.And you know, obviously it's a it's
(36:07):
a it's a good first eight.You know. It's funny, Hugh,
you think about some of the greatcelebrity relationships over time. Sure, Howard
Cosell, Muhammad Ali right would cometo mind. Bill Walton and The Grateful
Dead is up on that list.For me, it's got it's got to
be a perfect marriage, right,Like, like, who what athlete.
Would you want to try and andand coax a concert out of other than
(36:31):
Bill Walton for the Grateful Dead likethat? That's just I mean, can
you imagine Jerry garciaan Bill Walton smokingdope in a hotel room together. I
can imagine doing a lot of stuff, you know, shrooms, tablets under
the tongue. You know. Idon't know what he's into, but I
imagine, you know, growing upin the early seventies, I that he's
into a lot. Unbelievable. Man, He's gonna be missed for sure.
(36:52):
All Right, we've got to breakSteven Susan junior join us talks in baseball
MS Astros Game two of four,and Major League Baseball, by the way,
is making a gigantic change to howthey memorize and memorialize and count.
Statistics will fill you in coming upon ninety three three KJRFM
Dave 'Softy' Mahler and Dick Fain News
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