My friend Roy and I reminisced last night about LA sports radio man Jim Healy and we laughed hard until my heart hurt.
My Dad introduced me to Jim Healy in 1990. Jim Healy did quick current sports report with amusing reactions/sounds from spliced in interviews.
We used to cackle hilariously listening to him as we commuted and even on days off. We got to a point where even though we KNEW the jokes that were coming (“Who goofed? I've GOT to know!”) we STILL laughed really hard!
Sometimes we’d be at a restaurant or the golf course or the mall and pull a Jim Healy zinger out and laugh even harder.
We always made sure to schedule it so we could hear it. I remember RUNNING out of the office with him to the car to catch the whole show as we faced the commute.
Jim Healy died in1994 and I’ve never found another one like it (and I listen to LOTS of them).
And it goes beyond the show.
The thing is the show was a thread that wound my Dad and I together. It was sports, entertainment, laughter in the context of a tough time for my family and a time of hope for me at 20 years old.
I had some notion that times were tough and yet he always could let that go during the show.
The joy of the show was so pure and innocent.
My Dad’s health and memory is failing. Unfortunately remembering the show or even me is challenging. My heart strings were pulled quite tautly as I realized I will never get that time back (yes I can be grateful for it as well).
It was our running inside joke and a virtual soundtrack to a life neither of us took to seriously. I’ve passed this incredible gift onto my daughter. We even have our inside jokes that both of us know and even when we know they’re coming we still laugh really hard.
And still it doesn’t replicate how sports connect a Dad and son, nor should it. So while I’ve taken some time today to listen to it and had several big laughs, I can feel the tears behind it.
Jim Healy Show
No surprise, I used to listen to Jim and his sound effects back when I was growing up in LA! I had no idea that you had been there as well.
Posted by: Chris Yeh | January 11, 2017 at 11:29 AM