Sid Hartman

Sid Hartman
Hartman covering the 2013 Minnesota Gophers Spring Game
Born (1920-03-15) March 15, 1920
Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
Occupation Sports journalist
Years active 1945-present[1]
Notable credit(s) Star Tribune
Children Chad Hartman

Sid Hartman (born March 15, 1920) is an American sports journalist for the Minneapolis Star Tribune and the WCCO 830 AM radio station. He was also a 20-year panelist on the weekly Sports Show with Mike Max, which aired Sunday nights at 9:30 p.m. on WUCW 23 in the Twin Cities metro area.[2]

Background and early career

Raised in north Minneapolis and dropping out of high school when he started delivering papers for the Minneapolis Tribune,[3] Hartman received no formal writing training. Hartman penned his first column for the Minneapolis Daily Times on September 11, 1945, and continues to report, now for the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Minneapolis Lakers

As a 27-year-old in 1947, Hartman became the acting general manager of the Minneapolis Lakers. Hartman helped build what would become the first dynasty in the NBA.[4]

Sports columnist

Sid Hartman has been a popular and widely read sports columnist throughout his career. Hartman's columns have always been strong on reporting, while the writing is less admired. Dick Cullum, Hartman's first editor, explained it this way: "Writers are a dime a dozen, but reporters are impossible to find." Steve Rushin of Sports Illustrated, noted, "English sometimes appears to be his second language." [5]

Hartman has also appeared as a radio sportscaster and commentator for years on Minneapolis's WCCO Radio. One of the elements of his style - often caricatured by local comics and other radio personalities - is his habit while interviewing a sports figure of referring to him or her as "my close personal friend". Over the years, his "close personal friends" have included the likes of George Steinbrenner, Bobby Knight, Lou Holtz, and Carl Yastrzemski.

Works

Hartman has published two books:

  • Sid!: The Sports Legends, the Inside Scoops, and the Close Personal Friends is an autobiography of Sid Hartman[6] The book discusses many of the events in the Minnesota sports scene from 1940 onward.
  • Sid Hartman's Great Minnesota Sports Moments

Tributes

On Oct. 10, 2010, a statue of Hartman was unveiled outside of Target Center in Downtown Minneapolis.[7]

The Minnesota Vikings honored Hartman by naming the media entrance at U.S. Bank Stadium after and with photos adorning the media entrance of U.S. Bank Stadium, plus named the interview room at their new practice facility in Eagan, MN after Sid Hartman.[8]

At the (now-defunct) Italian restaurant Vescio's in Dinkytown, Minneapolis, a pizza, the Sid's Special, was named in tribute of him.

Personal life

Hartman's name was among tens of thousands on Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff's client list. It is not publicly known how much money, if any, Hartman lost with Madoff when the $50 billion fraud was exposed late in 2008.[9]

Hartman's son Chad Hartman also has a radio show on WCCO.

In December 2016, Hartman was hospitalized in Minneapolis after falling and breaking his right hip.[10] He underwent surgery to repair his hip the following day. As a result, Hartman announced his columns will be placed on hiatus.[10]

On January 13, 2017 Sid was back to work attending the news conference for new Gophers football coach PJ Fleck.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 http://www.startribune.com/c-j-a-month-after-breaking-hip-sid-hartman-is-back-in-action/410686255/
  2. ↑ "Sports Show Hosts - Mike Max Bio - Sid Hartman Bio - Patrick Reusse Bio - Dark Star Bio - The Sports Show". sportsshowonline.com. Retrieved 2016-06-30.
  3. ↑ http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/03/12/sid_hartman
  4. ↑ The Dynasties: Minneapolis Lakers By Alex Sachare From the Official NBA Encyclopedia, Third Edition
  5. ↑ Prince of the Sports Page by Steve Rushin
  6. ↑ Levy, Paul (July 27, 1997). "Simply Sid; Sid Hartman says in his new autobiography that he doesn't think there are enough geniuses to duplicate his imprint on the newspaper business". Star Tribune. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
  7. ↑ WCCORadio (2010-10-07), Sid Hartman Statue Unveiled in Downtown Minneapolis, retrieved 2016-06-30
  8. ↑ http://m.vikings.com/news/article-1/Vikings-Dedicate-Sid-Hartman-Interview-Room-at-TCO/97753786-7801-42a9-a86c-515e33f10cd3
  9. ↑ "Hundreds in Minnesota are Madoff clients," Minneapolis Star Tribune, February 5, 2009
  10. 1 2 Andy Greder (December 18, 2016). "Star Tribune columnist Sid Hartman, 96, hospitalized". Twin Cities Pioneer Press.com. Retrieved December 29, 2016.
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