Close Encounters

Every so often, a fad runs through Facebook that is something of a guessing game. Which musical act have I not seen? Which baseball stadium have I not visited? What's your favorite type of fruit?

Here's one that caught my eye. "List five famous people you've either met or have been within a few feet of, but ONE is a lie. Which one is it?"

One of the few advantages of reaching your 60s is that you can fill out such lists pretty quickly, particularly if you've done a little traveling over the years. Why, I once saw the Rev. Al Sharpton in the Atlanta airport. My family bumped into Bob Hastings, Lt. Carpenter in "McHale's Navy," while touring Disneyland. He couldn't have been nicer, even if he did talk about being hot and thirsty on that summer afternoon. I've met a couple of astronauts.

Could I come up with four such real encounters, and a fake one, in a few minutes? Absolutely. I even could do 10.

Jimmy Carter
Bob Costas
Mario Cuomo
Phil Donahue
Robert Kennedy
Sandra Day O'Connor
Arnold Palmer
Pete Rozelle
Leon Spinks
Mike Tyson

I mentioned that I had only shaken hands with one of them. My Facebook friends could guess that too. The first person that answered guessed Jimmy Carter for the handshake, and she was right. Jimmy spoke at Syracuse University in 1975 when he was running for President. Larry Pantages and I attended it, and hung around to shake his hand and wish him well. Come to think of it, we both said, "Best of luck, Governor," to which Larry said later, "Couldn't you have come up with something a little different?"

Let's go through the guesses in the order that they were posted, and see how everyone did.

* Arnold Palmer - I went to the 1968 United States Open at Oak Hill in Rochester with my father. I convinced my dad that we should be part of Arnie's Army for a few holes. But I got a good look at Arnie along the way.

* Sandra Day O'Connor - Jody and I paid a visit to Williamsburg some years ago. They were getting ready for the 400th anniversary of Jamestown's founding, and a big-time committee was formed to get ready for it. One of the leaders of that committee was O'Connor. We looked up and she was walking toward us on some sort of official visit, surrounded by men in suits. Jody recognized her first. Downright tiny.

* Phil Donahue - I think this dates back to 1966 or so. We were driving from Elmira to Chicago, and made an overnight stop outside of Cleveland. Our family was having breakfast when Mom recognized Donahue, who was a syndicated talk show host out of Dayton then, sitting at the table. If we needed confirmation, well, two sons were sitting with him. One of them wore a football jersey with the word Donahue on the back.

* Robert Kennedy - When you are a Senator from New York, it helps to show up in the small towns once in a great while. Bobby Kennedy came to Elmira once to speak at the Mark Twain Hotel. Mom grabbed my sister and me, and we headed for the main entrance. We were part of a small crowd that watched him get out of a car, walk briskly into the hotel, and wave to us in the process as people applauded. I've still got a letter that Kennedy sent to my father about some safety-related legislation; it's even personally signed (I think).

* Pete Rozelle - This goes back to my radio days, when I spent some time covering Bills' news. Rozelle had a news conference either before a game or at halftime, so I got pretty close to him. The quote I remember is that he talked about how other networks were counter-programming well to cut into Monday Night Football's ratings. "They're showing TV-movies like, 'I was a Teen-Age Hooker Who Found God' to get people to watch," he said.

* Mike Tyson - I was covering the Sabres when I was checking out of a hotel near the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland, around 5 p.m. That's when I look up and see Mike Tyson troll through the lobby; he had been preceded by some flunkies. Mike was scheduled to be the commentator on a fight card at the Cap Centre the next night on Showtime. Tyson is one of the widest men I've ever seen - built like a cube. By the way, boxing fans will be impressed that Dr. Ferdie Pacheco, "The Fight Doctor," was at the next table from me during breakfast that morning.

Those were all of the guesses, and they were all wrong. Let's go through the other contenders:

* Leon Spinks - The Sabres and I were in St. Louis for the pregame skate, and Leon was working on the custodial staff of the arena. When work got out that Spinks was in the building, everyone crowded around to shake his hand and pose for a photo. This was almost 25 years ago, and I can report that Leon could be barely understood, even then. Boxing ... a tough business.

* Mario Cuomo - I should have replaced him with someone else, since it would figure that he would have been in Buffalo at some point. Cuomo did something of a town hall at a downtown location, and my radio station broadcast it live. I was asked to help out with the production, and thus got a good seat to hear the Governor. He was superb at it - couldn't stump him, very articulate, etc. I was extremely impressed. I also made sure to shake hands with Senator Chuck Schumer turned up at the Allentown Art Festival, surrounded by signs that read, "Come meet Chuck Schumer."

That leaves one name - the fake one - on the list: Bob Costas. I think people assumed that I met him somewhere along the line because we both went to Syracuse, although I just missed him there. The closest we've come is that we were both listed on the program of the Daily Orange's 100th anniversary (it's the student newspaper) in 2003. Somehow, I think that his check was bigger than mine.

Upon reflection, I naturally came up with more names. Jim Kelly hosted some sort of gala athletic competition at Pilot Field around 1994 that featured Donald Trump and Fabio as guests. I covered it for AP and was part of a group interview of both. Fabio had better hair. George Foreman stood near me for a couple of minutes in the Bills' press box as he waited for a halftime interview with the ABC crew. He was bigger and wider than Tyson. I had a one-on-one conversation with Wayne Gretzky after a preseason game in Buffalo. Gordie Howe used to be part of a small media lunch in the Sabres' offices once a year after he retired in the 1980s. He'd tell stories and even refilled water glasses at one point. Magic Johnson was spotted outside the Bills' locker room after the game; he was thinner than I thought. I once sat at exactly center court at the media table for a Bulls' exhibition game in Buffalo, which meant I could have shaken hands with Michael Jordan without any effort from either of us. Warren Buffett came to The Buffalo News as part of a party for the opening of the new presses. I shook his hand, posed with him for a photo, and thanked him for what he had done for the community.

Cue the Marmalard to play "Reflections of My Life."

Buffalo's Biggest Free Agents: No. 41-60

Visit Buffalo Sports Page for a full recap of the careers of players listed:

41. John Tracey – Signed by the Bills in 1962

42. Shane Nelson – Signed by the Bills in 1977

43. Teppo Numminen – Signed by the Sabres in 2005

44. Jordan Poyer – Signed by the Bills in 2017

45. Scott Chandler – Signed by the Bills in 2010

46. Sam Adams – Signed by the Bills in 2003

47. Kyle Okposo – Signed by the Sabres in 2016

48. Dan Brouthers – Signed by the Bisons in 1881

49. Tom Day – Signed by the Bills in 1960

50. Rian Lindell – Signed by the Bills in 2003

51. Micah Hyde – Signed by the Bills in 2017

52. Pud Galvin – Signed by the Bisons in 1878

53. Mark Anderson – Signed by the Bills in 2013

54. Ray Bentley – Signed by the Bills in 1986

55. Frank Grant - Signed by the Bisons in 1886

56. Bill Brooks – Signed by the Bills in 1993

57. James Patrick – Signed by the Sabres in 1998

58. George Ratterman – Signed by the Bills in 1947

59. Matt Vinc – Signed by the Bandits in 2018

60. Dixon Ward – Signed by the Sabres in 1995

(Here's the full list)

Buffalo's Biggest Free Agents: No. 61-80

Visit Buffalo Sports Page for a full recap of the careers of these players.

61. Kenneth Davis – Signed by the Bills in 1989

62. Marlin Briscoe – Signed by the Bills in 1969

63. John Brown – Signed by the Bills in 2019

64. Cole Beasley – Signed by the Bills in 2019

65. Jim O’Rourke – Signed by the Bisons in 1881

66. Larry Centers – Signed by the Bills in 2001
L
67. Mitch Morse – Signed by the Bills in 2019

68. Deacon White – Signed by the Bisons in 1881

69. Iubo Petrovic – Signed by the Stallions in 1979

70. Sam Gash – Signed by the Bills in 1998 and 2003

71. Trey Teague – Signed by the Bills in 2002

72. Quinn Early – Signed by the Bills in 1996

73. Jordan Leopold – Signed by the Sabres in 2010

74. Star Lotulelei - - Signed by the Bills in 2018

75. Stephen Hauschka - Signed by the Bills in 2017

76. Paul Maguire – Signed by the Bills in 1964

77. Lawyer Milloy – Signed by the Bills in 2003

78. Jaroslav Spacek – Signed by the Sabres in 2006

79. George Wilson – Signed by the Bills in 2005

80. Rick Dudley – Signed by the Sabres in 1971

See the full list by going to Buffalo Sports Page. 

(Follow Budd on Twitter @WDX2BB)

Buffalo's Biggest Free Agents: No. 81-100

Visit Buffalo Sports Page for a full recap of the careers of these players.

81. Richie Dunn – Signed by the Sabres in 1977 and 1985

82. Randy Burridge – Signed by the Sabres in 1995

83. Dwan Edwards – Signed by the Bills in 2010

84. Brian Gionta – Signed by the Sabres in 2014

85. Dave Andreychuk – Signed by the Sabres in 2000

86. Bennie Anderson – Signed by the Bills in 2005

87. Glenn Bass – Signed by the Bills in 1961

88. Chris Spielman – Signed by the Bills in 1997

89. Chris Mohr – Signed by the Bills in 1991

90. Hal Chase – Signed by the Buf-Feds in 1914

91. Chris Villarrial – Signed by the Bills in 2004

92. Tim Vogler – Signed by the Bills in 1979

93. Drayton Florence – Signed by the Bills in 2009

 

94. Gary Bromley – Signed by the Sabres in 1971

95. Ed Rutkowski – Signed by the Bills in 1963

96. Steve Montador – Signed by the Sabres in 2009

97. Alan Branch – Signed by the Bills in 2013

98. Vontae Davis – Signed by the Bills in 2018

99. Paolo Rossi – Signed by the Stallions in 1980

100. Robert Daughrty – Signed by the Buffalo Bisons (NBL) in 1946

He loved the games

Gregg Mace loved to show off the tourist attractions
in the Harrisburg area. This is from 1981.

Let's start with one basic fact. Gregg Mace, my friend of more than 44 years who died on Saturday, loved to go to sporting events of any kind. I think he loved them more than anyone I've ever met. Give him a game to watch on any level to attend - high school to pro championship game - and he was happy. And he saw a lot of games in his 65 years.

Is it any wonder, then, that most of my memories about Gregg involve games? They serve as a reminder of the length and quality of our friendship.

Gregg and I met in late March of 1975. We were both students at Syracuse University. He was involved with the student radio station, WAER, and I worked at the student newspaper, the Daily Orange. We both flew out to San Diego when the Orangemen reached the Final Four. It was an easy way to become friends, as we discovered we had so much in common. He was good-natured and fun to be around. Besides, we looked a bit like each other at the time. "Say, who is that good looking guy?" one could say about the other. (This did not last, thanks to some premature graying hair on his part.)

I don't have any photos of Gregg at the 1975 Final Four
in San Diego, but a shot of our hotel for the weekend
survives. It's been remodeled since then. 

The next fall, we started to run into each other frequently at football games and the like, and became closer. Gregg and his three roommates were all radio-television types, but they put up with the visit of a newspaper person at their apartment once in a while. They were all smart and fun, and you could tell they'd do well.

Fast forward several months - I remember watching the 1976 Democratic Convention one summer afternoon, and seeing Gregg standing behind Dan Rather. I called him the next week at home - and Gregg told me that WAER letterhead had led to a press credential to the entire show in New York that year. Gregg was really good at using that stuff. As sports director, he wrote every major college and pro team asking for media guides and news releases. Gregg received more mail than any other employee of the radio station - and that still was true 10 years later. My friend Paul Peck was at WAER in 1987, and knew Gregg's name because of all of the mail.  

By our senior year, Gregg and I started having "adventures" together. Two quickly come to mind. It was a dull winter Friday night, and Gregg suggested that we head to downtown Syracuse to watch the Blazers play. That team was in the North American Hockey League, which supplied some stories for a movie called "Slap Shot" a little later. Syracuse was playing Broome County, and Gregg said on the way down there, "These games usually are kind of boring."

We got to the War Memorial, and the Blazers had proclaimed it "Noise Night." Broome County's fans filled up a few buses for the trip up from Binghamton, and apparently alcoholic beverages were served along the way. The game was filled with noisemakers, goals, fights (on and off the ice) and other bizarre occurrences. I remember a Blazer diving into the penalty box in order to avoid a pounding from one of the tougher Dusters. Syracuse scored two goals in the final two minutes to win, 7-6. I said to Gregg, "That was the most exciting hockey game I've ever seen!" He answered, "Honest, they usually aren't that good.' We talked about that game occasionally for decades.

In the spring of 1977, Syracuse qualified for the NCAA basketball tournament. Its first round game was in Baton Rouge, Louisiana against Tennessee - right at the start of an 11-day spring break. Gregg, Bill Epps and I hatched a scheme to drive to Louisiana to cover the game for our respective media outlets. We figured we'd see the game, watch Syracuse lose (the Volunteers had Bernard King and Ernie Grunfeld that year), and then spend the rest of spring break on a Florida beach looking for girls in bikinis. Remember, it was winter in Syracuse then.

Off we went in Gregg's car - changing drivers every two hours and buying the local newspaper every time we stopped. The back seat was filled with sports sections by the time we reached Alabama. I believe once we crossed the Mason-Dixon Line, we spoke in bad Southern accidents and started to address each other as "Colonel Bailey," "Colonel Mace" and "Colonel Epps."

The WAER Sports team uncovered many
developments in its full coverage of the Orangemen.

We made it to Baton Rouge, and had a frog's leg lunch sponsored by the NCAA that featured some coach from the University of Detroit as the main speaker. It was Dick Vitale, I can still recite his jokes. The game offered a surprise - Syracuse won in overtime. Therefore, it was off to Lexington, Kentucky, for the next round (which meant more newspapers) instead of Clearwater Beach.

Let me assure you that there were no bikinis in view in Lexington in March. But we did stop on the way at a place in the French Square in New Orleans that featured women wearing less than a bikini, so I guess we rebounded nicely. Gregg thought a photo outside the establishment could be a good recruiting tool for potential male members of WAER Sports. We also stopped on the drive north in Knoxville at the University of Tennessee. The three of us hopped a fence to get into the mammoth football stadium, and ran around the then-novel artificial turf before 85,000 empty seats.

In Lexington, we all got a tour of NBC's production area from their unit manager. We all even played a game of pickup ball at Rupp Arena in our dress shirts, ties and socks (no good shoes on the court, please). Alas, Syracuse got smoked in the NCAAs by Cornbread Maxwell and North Carolina-Charlotte. The three of us headed back to Syracuse, stopping in Cleveland to watch a Barons' NHL game while waiting for an ice storm to subside. Yes, even then Colonel Mace found a game to watch.

"Quiet. I'm putting" That is Gregg's roommate,
Roger Vanderhorst, waiting for his turn.

Gregg was a good-sized part of my life that year in college, and not just because he ate a lot of late-night pizza at the Varsity with me and our mutual friends. When he needed an emergency talk show guest on the air, I was on the top of his call list. We didn't have many listeners, or calls, but we had fun. When Gregg wanted to play Putt-Putt once spring sort of arrived, I was instantly ready to go along.

Graduation - mine, not his (too many games, I think) - arrived in May of 1977. I recall visiting his family in August of 1977, noteworthy for the fact that both Elvis Presley and Groucho Marx died that week. We saw the Redskins, Phillies and Colts within a week. The following spring, I met up with Gregg in Washington to take part in a workshop that could have led to jobs as press secretaries for Republican candidates for the House of Representatives. We lasted for about two days, and then both realized that if we made the cut we'd be sent to some place where a Republican didn't stand a chance of winning. We bailed early to see a game - naturally - between the Spurs and the Bullets in the NBA playoffs.

Finally, we got on some sort of career path. Gregg thought it was pretty funny that I popped up in radio for a while before moving on to public relations and newspaper work. I thought it was funny that he was the only one driving toward Three Mile Island during the nuclear meltdown, because he was doing weekend sports at Ch. 27 in Harrisburg. We both stayed in touch reasonably well, with email and social media making it easier to do so in later years. When I happened to see Gregg on ESPN's "Outside the Lines" when the Jerry Sandusky scandal broke, I called him up and he told me how it was a little odd to be doing national reports about subjects like sexual abuse involving a football coach. No matter what the circumstances, we always could pick up where we left off the last time. Kids, that's more rare than you'd think.

Gregg was too busy to clean up his apartment
when his wedding day arrived in 1983 --
at least that was his story at the time.

There were a few trips to Harrisburg along the way. I did go to his wedding there, gawking at the absolute mess in his apartment on the morning of the ceremony. All of the guests noticed that when they drove to the ceremony, they went past a billboard with giant photos of the Ch. 27 news team - meaning we had to see Gregg's head at 50 times its normal size. Another time as my friend Glenn and I drove around Harrisburg with Gregg, we were astonished at how many people would smile and wave upon recognizing him. Glenn and I started shouting at pedestrians, "Look! It's Gregg Mace!" in fun. He'd wave and say "Thanks for watching!" brightly.

My last contact with him came in August, when I wondered if he'd be at the Buffalo-Penn State football game. He wasn't going to be there, and the trip fell through at my end. There was silence about his activities until Friday, when I saw a Tweet from his son saying that Gregg was very ill and needed prayers. While his closest friends knew about his various health problems, I had no clue. Gregg died on Saturday. As Bill Russell said when Wilt Chamberlain passed away, "I am unspeakably injured."

Since then, the outpouring of love and grief on social media from Gregg's many friends and viewers has been enormous. That raises a couple of concluding points. There are always people like Gregg Mace in the media of smaller markets, pros who stay put for decades rather than working their way up the ladder. If they are class acts like Gregg, they go out of their way to be helpful to others and those in their communities - even though they probably could have gone on to bigger things professionally. Their contributions are made one person and one story at a time, and are priceless. The effort adds up over 40 years.

It's obviously sad to see Gregg leave us, and many, many people will miss him in different ways. If there's any consolation to this, it's that this was someone who did exactly what he loved for his entire adult life, and did it well while making the world around him a happier place. We all should be so lucky.