Years ago, a general manager told me when Mark Berman got a scoop on his team, other sportscasters would call him to complain and accuse the team of spoon-feeding Berman stories. They didn't want to admit how hard Berman worked to develop sources and how much time he devoted to being where the action was.
This particular sports anchor told the general manager it was easier for Berman to get scoops for FOX 26 because he did only one sportscast per night compared to the two shows other stations had to do.
The GM told him, "The reason Berman gets stories on my team is because he's here just about every day, and I never see you. I'd have to draw you a map so you could find my office."
That about summed up Mark Berman as a reporter – the best I've ever seen, print or broadcast – and his relationship with local sports teams. Nobody outworked Berman, who had to cover every team in town. I covered the Oilers and Texans, and I can't imagine what it would be like to devote the same hours to the Astros, Rockets and our other professional, college and high school programs.
But Berman did.
He was everywhere.
Berman won't be everywhere anymore. He retired on Monday night when he did his last sportscast on KRIV before the station did a one-hour special devoted to his career. On top of the one-hour show the station did live on Monday morning. I was honored to participate in both shows because I've known Berman since 1979, his first year at KIKK Radio, where he worked for eight years before Ch. 26 hired him as its sports anchor. He's been one of my closest friends for 40 years.
Former Oilers cornerback Cris Dishman was the first player to call Berman, "Scoop," a nickname that's stuck through the decades. I can't tell you how many times NFL players who played here, went to college here or grew up here have asked me how "Scoop" is doing.
Berman is the first to admit that through the decades he seldom had an opinion. Criticism wasn't his strength. He wasn't about editorials. He was all about scoops, news stories, for his readers. He lived and breathed getting scoops on Houston teams. It used to drive our teams crazy. But even though it did exasperate them because they couldn't figure out who his sources were, the owners, GMs, coaches and players developed respect for Berman and how hard he worked. Before his retirement, every team in town honored him in some fashion.
What drove them the craziest was how Berman would find out when players and coaches were coming to Houston and would meet them at the airport to get stories. They tired hard to find out how he got flight information, but he never divulged his sources. It got to a point where they expected Berman to be waiting on them, and they were stunned – and perhaps a little disappointed – when he wasn't.
Berman had enemies, too, usually reporters he beat on stories. He didn't give a hoot what his competition thought of him. If they didn't like him, fine. If they did, that was fine, too. His competition may not admit it, but I guarantee you they're relieved he's gone because they no longer have to worry about him breaking stories.
One time a player told me he was careful about going through a door at his facility because he was afraid Berman would be on the other side wanting to ask him questions. Rockets guard Steve Francis got some dental work after hours and was told he could go out the front door since nobody would be there. He told the dentist he'd take the back stairs because he was worried Berman would be out front. At 2 a.m.
When the Oilers moved to Nashville after the 1996 season, general manager Floyd Reese told me a story about calling Berman to give him a hard time about a story he read in "The Tennessean." He told Berman the story had a Houston station's call letters in it, and it wasn't KRIV.
Berman asked if Reese was busting his chops for getting beat on a story about the Oilers, who still had that nickname in 1997 and 1998, their first two seasons in Tennessee. Reese gave Berman grief for getting beat on the story. Berman responded by telling Reese he was going to call the GM after every loss the next season and bust his chops over losing. Reese protested, insisting, "Losing a game isn't the same as getting beat on a story."
Berman told him it was. And to Berman, it most definitely was. That's how serious he took his job.
Another time Reese lamented to Berman how he missed the Houston media "because it was easier to lie to you and McClain, but the reporters up here aren't buying my (BS)."
Once in the Rockets' locker room Charles Barkley was sitting in his chair in front of his locker surrounded by media. Berman's pager kept going off, and he didn't check it. Finally, Barkley called him out and told him to "Turn that damn thing off." Berman looked at his pager and said, "It's your wife," to which Barkley replied, "You can't afford her."
In 1998, the season in which the Astros may have had their most talented team but lost to the Padres in the playoffs, Berman was in the locker room at the Astrodome before a game, sitting next to Jeff Bagwell. He told Bagwell he was in a slump and needed a scoop. The next thing Berman knew, the players tied him up with tape, put shaving cream all over him and deposited him at home plate.
A coach from the Reds came running up to Berman from the visitors' dugout, telling him he could file a lawsuit. He had no intention of filing a lawsuit because Berman knew it was all in fun. Afterward, manager Larry Dierker let him shower in the team's locker room so Berman could get back to work.
Covering the Astros wasn't always fun for Berman. Before another game at the Astrodome, John McMullen, the Astros' owner who was reviled by fans and media, was sitting in a golf cart with commissioner Fay Vincent. Berman asked a question McMullen didn't like, and he reached out and tried to kick Berman and missed.
I was part of one of my favorite Mark Berman stories. After the 1993 season in which the Oilers made the playoffs for the seventh consecutive year and failed to advance beyond the divisional round again, the NFL implemented the salary cap for the first time. Quarterback Warren Moon, the highest-paid player on the team, was destined to be their first cap casualty.
Moon was going to be traded. Minnesota coach Dennis Green got permission from the Oilers to Houston to meet with him. I got a tip from a reporter who covered the Vikings that Green was seen at the airport getting on a flight to Houston. I told Berman and I met him and his longtime cameraman Doug Biggers. Green ignored us when we found him at the airport and requested an interview. Doug was driving our SUV when Green got into a chauffeured Lincoln Town Car, and we followed him to Moon's house in Sweetwater.
Along the way, it became a chase scene. We didn't know if Green was meeting Moon at his home or another place, so we followed. At one point, the driver tried to lose us, but Biggers was able to stay close behind. Green's limo pulled up to Sweetwater Country Club and tried to make us think Green got out, but Berman wasn't buying it. We stayed close, reaching high speeds and watching Green roll around in the backseat when the driver made sharp turns at high speeds. Finally, he arrived at Moon's house. The gate opened for Green and closed on us. But Moon did wave to us as he escorted Green inside.
After Green's long meeting with Moon, he got back in his ride and returned to the airport. We went back inside, and we tried unsuccessfully to get him to talk. When he went into the men's room, Berman stood just outside the door. When Green emerged, he was ready to talk to Berman. And, thankfully, me, too.
I could go on and on with stories about Mark Berman. I do believe he's retired and won't be standing outside restrooms at the airport anymore. He's going to be missed by so many people who've watched and listened to him and read his scoops on Twitter. His motto has been "Tweet it or read it," and that philosophy worked quite well for 4 ½ decades covering Houston sports. Berman is going to be missed by many. And he's going to miss them, too.
John McClain can be heard Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday on SportsRadio 610 and Thursday on Texans Radio. He writes three columns a week and does two Houtopia Football Podcasts for SportsRadio610.com.
