RANDY SMITH
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It was last Monday in Tampa that I last saw Randy Smith. We shared an hour of sunshine at the hotel pool and talked about anything and everything. That was typical of time spent with R.Smith. Time that unfortunately ended today with his sudden death at the age of 61.
From the time I first started covering sports in the late 70's, Randy was always a friendly face and willing to talk. He was a brilliant hockey writer, covering the Whalers thru the early part of their Hartford exsistence. He became friendly with several players, including Hall of Famer Ronnie Francis, who he dubbed "Ronnie Franchise". He had his opinions and would tell them to anyone and everyone who would listen. And even at times you might not be ready to listen, Randy would tell you anyway. That was part of his charm. His colleague, Phil Chardis summed up Randy beautifully on SportsTalk when he said Randy would have been a great sportswriter in any era. He loved the games,the strategy, and everything that goes along with them. He would tangle with Jim Calhoun and Geno Auriemma but I guarantee you they respected him.
Like everyone else, I have many Randy Smith stories . For several years, we worked together on "Press Pass" ,an hour long show fashioned after ESPN's "SportsReporters". It ran on Channel 26 and featured Randy, Dave Solomon of the Register and former Courant sports writer Terry Price. We thought the show was pretty good, but if we could have ever taped the discussions before and after the shows, now that would have been must see tv. We often drove together from Manchester to New London, memorable road trips to be sure.
In 2003, six of us went to see the Braves and Marlins at Turner Field on the afternoon of the Women's Final Four semifinals.
In the first inning, the Marlins #3 hitter, Juan Encarnacion bunted. Randy bellowed "Roger Maris never bunted in 1961". Of course, the Marlins went on to win the World Series over the Yankees and to this day, I blame Randy for that.
Randy would always call me "Pluggy" when he saw me, a throwback to a phrase from our days of covering the Whalers. And Randy would always say "have a good game " when he walked by Wayne and myself at games. He always wanted to know after the game how the broadcast was and was never at a loss to make a comment when we told him.
It's appropriate that Randy's final column ran Monday afternoon about the Masters. He loved watching that event and then writing about it for J-I readers.
Covering sports in Connecticut will never be the same. I'm just thankful I got to spend as much time as I did with a true original. Thanks Randy, you'll be missed.
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