Musings

2 good friends of mine passed away within 24 hours of each other-Rich Bircumshaw, the Play By Play voice of the Colorado State University Rams, and Glen Gondrezick, basketball analyst with the UNLV Radio Network. I saw both 6 weeks ago in Las Vegas at the Mountain West Conference Basketball Tournament. "Gondo" had a heart transplant in the summer of 08. He looked good and told me he was feeling great. The doctors now think his body rejected his new heart. Rich had a stroke Tuesday night, and died Wednesday evening. I called Rich because his company, Clear Channel Communications had laid off 950 people, and his job was very much up in the air. I got his answering machine. Two good guys, who loved their jobs and loved their schools. It makes you both sad and sick. Rich was under the gun every single day. He did, and this is not inflated, 54 newscasts every day Monday thru Friday for his radio stations in Fort Collins. He was worried about his job. Seems like there's a lot of that going around. Did the pressure of his job, of the radio business in general, have anything to do with his passing? I don't know. We never will. I know Rich made a lot of sacrifices to call games, because he loved the job. I will miss Rich and "Gondo." I hope we all slow down a little and smell the roses. Death calls 24-7 and you never know when you will be tapped on the shoulder and asked to step out of the line.
I will miss them a lot.