100 years. 100 things. All about Sid Hartman.
March 14, 2020 at 11:23PM
- 1
- Sid was born March 15, 1920 at 10:15 a.m. in Minneapolis' Asbury Methodist Hospital. He had three siblings — Bernice, Harold and Saul.
- 2
- Sid Hartman's father, Jack Hechtman, immigrated to the U.S. from Russia at age 16 and changed his last name to Hartman after he arrived.
- 3
- His dad was a delivery man and could not read English. Sid never convinced his father, who died in 1972, that pro wrestling was staged.
- 4
- Sid's mother, Celia Weinberg, immigrated from Latvia at age 9. She ran a women's apparel shop.
- 5
- Sid has said his family ate chicken almost every night growing up. He has avoided it ever since.
- 6
- In third grade, he heard a teacher say people should get jobs where they don't watch the clock, that the hours they put in don't mean a thing.
- 7
- Sid played the trumpet in the school band at Minneapolis' Harrison Elementary.
- 8
- His first newspaper job was selling them on street corners in downtown Minneapolis at age 9.
- 9
- Sid sold newspapers and watched Bronko Nagurski carry the ball in 1929. Ninety years later, he covered Rodney Smith topping 4,000 yards.
- 10
- Sid made money hawking newspapers, but lost a lot of that money playing craps in back alleys. He felt guilty and hasn't gambled for more than 70 years.
- 11
- Jack Doyle's restaurant had a gambling operation upstairs. Sid met all the characters; they all had nicknames. His was "Blackie" because of his dark hair.
- 12
- His first newspaper gig was with Lincoln Life, the Lincoln Junior High student paper.
- 13
- Sid dropped out of Minneapolis North High School as a junior and accepted a job in the circulation department of the Minneapolis Tribune in 1936.
- 14
- Sid had a lot of side jobs but was laid off from his circulation job at the Tribune in 1941.
- 15
- He has lived the rest of his newspaper career worried that he was going to get fired.
- 16
- Sid's first car was a 1929 Oldsmobile he bought for $50.
- 17
- After a brief stint selling vacuum cleaners, Sid went to work in the circulation department of the Minneapolis Times.
- 18
- Sid got to know baseball star Ted Williams when Williams played for the minor league Minneapolis Millers in 1938.
- 19
- Williams and Sid became pals, and eventually he would introduce a suspicious Williams to another close friend, Indiana basketball coach Bobby Knight.
- 20
- Sid tried to enlist to fight in World War II, but was rejected because he had bad bouts with asthma.
- 21
- Sid was hired by Dick Cullum for the Minneapolis Times sports department in 1944.
- 22
- Sid told Cullum, "I can't spell and my grammar is worse," but Cullum said, "Writers are a dime a dozen … reporters are impossible to find."
- 23
- Sid's first byline in a daily newspaper came in the Minneapolis Times, on Oct. 28, 1944.
- 24
- His first daily newspaper column came in "The Roundup," in the Minneapolis Times, on Sept. 11, 1945.
- 25
- Gophers football coach Bernie Bierman didn't like reporters much, but Sid got a lot of his scoops from trainer Lloyd "Snapper" Stein.
- 26
- Sid and former Vikings coach Bud Grant are best friends. They bonded when Bud was a student athlete at the U of M and Sid would take Bud out for dinner.
- 27
- In June of 1947, Sid helped bring professional basketball to Minneapolis when Ben Berger and Maurice Chalfen purchased the Detroit Gems.
- 28
- The three of them relocated the Gems to Minneapolis, where the team became the Lakers.
- 29
- Chalfen wanted Sid to quit his newspaper job and be the team's general manager, but Sid wouldn't leave.
- 30
- Sid lined up local boxing promoter Max Winter to become the official GM of the Lakers, although Sid arranged a lot of the personnel moves.
- 31
- "Those were the days," Sid said, "where newspaper guys didn't make much money, so there was no such thing as conflict of interest ..."
- 32
- When the Minneapolis Times folded, Sid went to work for the Minneapolis Tribune. His first byline was on May 19, 1948.
- 33
- As the acting GM of the Lakers, he helped the franchise become the NBA's first dynasty.
- 34
- To land free agent superstar George Mikan, Sid was in charge of making sure Mikan missed his flight so the Lakers had more time to woo him.
- 35
- Sid drove Mikan to the airport, but went north to Anoka and Mikan never got on a plane. He signed the next day for $12,000.
- 36
- With the legendary Mikan, the Lakers won NBA titles in 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953 and 1954.
- 37
- Sid's first radio job was in the early 1950s at WLOL-AM. He did pregame and halftime interviews during Gopher football games.
- 38
- Sid began contributing to WCCO radio in 1955. He remains one of 'CCO's most recognizable voices.
- 39
- In 1957, Sid Hartman was named the Sports Editor of the Minneapolis Tribune.
- 40
- While he was sports editor, Sid wrote six columns a week. He'll still write four in a week these days during the Vikings season.
- 41
- "I tried to outwork everybody," Sid said. "I never had more fun than when I was working."
- 42
- Sid left his job with the Lakers in 1957 after Bob Short bought the team.
- 43
- Sid got the "scoop" of the decade in 1957 when he reported the formation of Control Data, a major computer company in the U.S. for the next 20 years.
- 44
- Short would move the Lakers to Los Angeles in 1960, just as Minnesota was lining up other pro sports franchises.
- 45
- After years of behind-the-scenes work to get a major league baseball team to Minnesota, Sid and others were successful.
- 46
- On Halloween Day in 1960 it was announced the Washington Senators were moving to Minnesota to become the Twins.
- 47
- The NFL also announced in 1960 that it would award an expansion franchise to Minnesota for the 1961 season, giving birth to the Vikings.
- 48
- Sid's close friend and business partner Winter was one of five owners of the team.
- 49
- The first coach of the Vikings, Norm Van Brocklin, nicknamed Sid "Cyanide Sid." The team's longtime trainer, Fred Zamberletti, called Sid "Cyanide" as a joke.
- 50
- Sid was part of a group that bought a 1961 NBA expansion team in Chicago, the Packers. They eventually became today's Washington Wizards.
- 51
- Sid covered the Super Bowl for the first time in 1970 (Super Bowl IV — Vikings vs. Chiefs).
- 52
- Between 1970 and 2001, he covered every Super Bowl but two (1990 and 1993). He's covered 31 Super Bowls.
- 53
- He served as the Twin Cities rep to the Pro Football Hall of Fame committee for decades. The committee meets the day before Super Bowls to consider nominees.
- 54
- He was famous for his insistence with the committee that they were foolish if they didn't induct former Vikings center Mick Tingelhoff.
- 55
- Before Super Bowl XLI in 2007, Sid asked Vikings media relations director Bob Hagan if Hagan could set up a meeting with that year's halftime performer.
- 56
- Sid and Hagan got behind the scenes at a press briefing. "Hey, Prince!" Sid yelled. "Hello, Mr. Hartman," Prince said.
- 57
- Sid did a daily show for many years called "Today's Sports Hero" for WCCO Radio.
- 58
- Sid's most notable "Today's Sports Hero" interview was when he followed Jets quarterback Joe Namath, into a shower for an interview.
- 59
- In 1981, Dave Mona joined Sid at WCCO (830 AM) for a Sunday morning sports show that has continued to this day.
- 60
- A big scoop came in 1974 when Sid reported Ara Parseghian would step down as Notre Dame coach. His source: Dan Devine, Ara's replacement.
- 61
- When Sid learned newly hired wordsmith Ira Berkow, on assignment at the Kentucky Derby, had "talked" with Citation: "He interviewed a HORSE!"
- 62
- Spring training reporters were puzzled as to how Sid would always scoop the Twins' final roster. His source: Ray Crump, who got names sown on jerseys.
- 63
- In 1994, Bud Grant was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. His presenter was Sid.
- 64
- Steve Cannon of WCCO coined the term "close personal friends" for famous people Sid liked to name-drop.
- 65
- When Sid calls out to you, "Hey, genius!" it's not a compliment.
- 66
- He makes a habit of sending thank you notes to famous people he interviewed. They are sincere, and often resulted in him getting well-guarded phone numbers.
- 67
- Sid was known throughout his career for his misspellings of people's names. He called Vikings offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell "Orville Berville."
- 68
- He also had some radio doozies, including mistaking Olympic figure skating gold medalist Tara Lipinski for Monica Lewinsky.
- 69
- Once he chastised a radio caller by saying, "You're from Chicago, what do you know about Minnesota sports?" The caller was from Chisago City.
- 70
- In an interview with Vikings receiver Cris Carter, Carter said he talked to God every day. "What do you talk about?" Sid asked.
- 71
- His great hope is to see the Gophers return to the Rose Bowl, something that almost happened last year.
- 72
- Bud Grant once said Sid has no idea how cars work, other than they need gas.
- 73
- Sid and Bud were driving to Superior, Wis. one night. Flat tire. No spare. Remote area. Sid started rushing toward a light. "Long walk, Sid," Bud said. "That's the moon."
- 74
- Sid had a Sinatra CD in his Cadillac. "Why haven't you been listening?'' someone asked. Sid confessed to not knowing how to open the CD package.
- 75
- Sid especially hated getting "scooped" by someone he worked with, to the point of telling athletes not to talk to writers from the Star Tribune.
- 76
- His chief "rival" was Patrick Reusse … but he respected Reusse enough to ask him to write his biography.
- 77
- Sid has yelled at referees during games. He was especially loud when sitting at courtside. For some reasons, referees ended up liking him. Well, some of them.
- 78
- Bobby Knight is one of Sid's closest personal friends. They met when Knight coached at Army.
- 79
- Among other "close personal friends" — Lou Holtz, George Steinbrenner and Howard Cosell.
- 80
- Sid's lifelong friend Al Rubinger passed away in 2016 at age 95. They were also business partners in real estate, and Sid considered him a brother.
- 81
- Al and Sid started their partnership by buying a lunch counter business in 1940 when Al was 19 and Sid was 20.
- 82
- Sid was married to the former Barbara Balfour from 1964-1972.
- 83
- Barbara had a daughter, Chris, when they got married and their son Chad was born in 1965.
- 84
- Sid's son Chad went into broadcast journalism and now has a daily show on WCCO Radio.
- 85
- Sid has five grandchildren.
- 86
- Sid hates elevators. In the old Star Tribune building, he always took the stairs. In the new Star Tribune building, he got stuck in an elevator for 30 minutes.
- 87
- The Baseball Writers Association of America issues cards to members each year. Sid is now No. 1 in seniority.
- 88
- In 2003, Sid was inducted into the media wing of the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., by receiving the Curt Gowdy Award.
- 89
- Starting in 1996, Sid was a panelist on the television show "Sports Show with Mike Max," for 20 years, joining Max, Dark Star and Patrick Reusse.
- 90
- Sid was inducted into the Minnesota Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2003.
- 91
- On Oct. 10, 2010, a statue of Sid was unveiled outside of Target Center.
- 92
- The media entrance at U.S. Bank Stadium is named after Sid, and the press box at the U's TCF Bank Stadium is named after Sid.
- 93
- In 2019, Sid was elected to the Minnesota Sports Hall of Fame.
- 94
- The University of Minnesota has had 15 men's athletic directors since Sid started covering the Gophers in 1944.
- 95
- In good health until his late 90s, Sid broke a hip and had surgery three years ago, and now uses a walker. Sid stopped driving at age 95.
- 96
- Sid has a nickname for almost everyone in the office. Mr. Shirts, Mr. Discipline, Mrs. Sporting Goods, Mr. Everywhere, Mr. Mortuary, Mr. Internet, Mr. Whatchamacallit.
- 97
- Sid always greets Tony Oliva by shouting "Mr. America,'' and then accusing him of having all his money buried in the backyard.
- 98
- Sid still makes the interview rounds, especially at the U, Vikings offices and Twins games. He comes into the office four days a week to write his columns.
- 99
- For decades, Sid used a huge tape recorder. His interviews are now recorded on iPhones and he works those transcribed interviews into column form.
- 100
- Sid has had 21,149 bylines. If a columnist started today and wanted to match Sid, it would take them, writing every day, 58 years.
Center Dawson Garcia played despite a groin injury, and starting guard Mike Mitchell Jr. and four others were absent for the Gophers. Among the results: a 14-point first half.
