I was sitting in my sad dorm room and the phone rang. Glenn Ordway was on the other end of the line, and asked me to contribute to this new Internet show he was launching. Much to my amazement, he sounded exactly like he did on the radio — the same inflection, tone and energy. It was a surreal moment for this sports talk-obsessed college kid, who spent his early teenage years glued to "The Big Show," even though their producer would hang up on me when I tried to call in.
Nobody has elevated more radio careers in this town than the Big O. His talent tree stretches from Gerry Callahan to Michael Felger, with dozens of names in between. On Tuesday's OMF, Lou Merloni recounted how NESN originally wouldn't give him a call back, until he started appearing on Glenn's show. Suddenly, they were interested in hiring him.
He's far from the only one. If you turn on any sports show in this town, there's a high probability that somebody sitting at the table was once a "Big Show" fixture.
Glenn announced Tuesday he's going to retire from his daily radio duties with OMF later this summer. He'll continue hosting "The Real Postgame Show" with Steve DeOssie and Fred Smerlas (who used their "Big Show" fame to open a successful steakhouse), and develop a podcast with Audacy Sports.
But for the first time in nearly 50 years — outside of the short spell he was arguing with me about the Yoenis Cespedes trade in his attic — Glenn Ordway won't be on the radio every day in Boston.
"I actually did the math about a month ago, because I didn't even realize it was 48 years I've been in this business. I had no clue," Ordway told me on the phone Tuesday night. "So that gives you an idea. You just do it every day, you love what you do, and you don't keep a tally. So you keep on doing it, and you wake up one day, and say, 'Holy s---. I've done this for almost 50 years.' That's pretty much what happened."
Glenn's biography is well known: He did Bruins games in the 1970s before switching over to the Celtics, where he eventually succeeded Johnny Most as the team's radio play-by-play voice. After 14 years of doing that, Ordway became WEEI's program director, and turned the station into a legacy brand. "The Big Show" was rated No. 1 among men 25-54 for 11 years straight.
It was a legendary show, which often sounded more like an episode of "Monday Night Raw" than a talk show. There were screaming matches, feuds and co-host drama. Each program ended with "The Whiner Line," the most listened to 15 minutes on Boston radio for over a decade.
"The Whineys" became so popular, they were eventually moved to the TD Garden.
Ordway revolutionized sports talk in this city, with his rotating cast of characters and hilarious bits. His fingerprints are all over every show on the air today.
But to me, the most impressive achievement of Glenn's incredible run happened in 2014, when I met him in his aforementioned attic. One year earlier, he was replaced on WEEI afternoon drive, and trying to resuscitate his career. It was quite the fall from radio greatness: sometimes the wind would knock our stream off the air. But I never sensed any bitterness from Glenn. He still watched every game, showing up to his makeshift studio each day with reams of handwritten notes.
One year later, Glenn was back at WEEI, and began a second act with Merloni and Christian Fauria on OMF.
Three years after that, he was back in afternoon drive. That, my friends, is longevity. Glenn never burned out.
It takes a lot of talent to last 50 years in this crazy business, but more importantly, it takes really thick skin. Ordway never takes radio stuff personally, which is much easier said than done. You can call him anything on the air, and when the mics turn off, he dives right back into yammering about whatever gossip is on his mind that day. As a former actor, Glenn knows sports talk radio is all about entertainment.
Working with Glenn helped prepare me for my run at WEEI, where I always tried to keep that mantra in mind.
"You have to have self-deprecating humor," he said. "That's got to be part of what you are as a host. You can't take any of this s--- seriously. Even in a sports argument, people will start calling you names. That's what they do."
Since Glenn is staying on until August, there is still plenty of time for ribbing and name-calling. He always envisioned his shows as just a bunch of friends sitting around at the bar.
In other words, it was a good time. Maybe that's the secret to lasting almost 50 years.
"I always thought it was just like you were sitting with a bunch of other guys, and just ragging on each other," Ordway said. "I always thought it was fun."
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What's going on at ESPN?: Last week, Jay Williams erroneously tweeted that Ime Udoka will be the first Black coach in Celtics team history (and ridiculously said he was hacked). Now this week, Jalen Rose is apologizing for saying Kevin Love made Team USA due to "tokenism."
On a podcast, Rose said the U.S. is afraid to send an all-Black team to the Olympics, even though that's exactly what happened in 2016 — the last Summer Olympic Games. Rose also lamented that Love made the team over Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton, who represents the Bahamas in international competition.
It's great to have strong opinions about sensitive topics, but you've got to get the facts right. Williams and Rose fell short on both counts.
Perk goes too far: With that in mind, Kendrick Perkins should've dialed it down this week when defending Jason Kidd and Chauncey Billups over their unsavory histories with women. On ESPN Monday, Perkins said we all have "skeletons in our closet," and on Twitter, dismissed the renewed interest in their cases as a "smear campaign."
Sorry, but reviewing old news articles about Kidd's domestic violence arrest or the rape accusation levied against Billups isn't a smear campaign, and no, we don't all have these kinds of skeletons in our closets.
Perkins' overall point was that Black coaches are scrutinized more heavily than their white counterparts, which is correct. But man, talk about delivering it poorly.
Red Sox more popular than Patriots?: On "The Greg Hill Show" this week, our dotcom extraordinaire Rob Bradford has been arguing the Red Sox could overtake the Patriots in popularity this year, especially if they struggle through another subpar season.
While this Red Sox team is immensely likable, the NFL is just too big of a monster to overtake. I don't think there is a single city where its NFL franchise isn't the most popular team in town.
Boston isn't going to become the first, especially after six Super Bowls. We'll need to see Cam Newton rifle balls into the dirty for many more years before that happens.
