Jake O'Donnell. There was a kid on my daughter's soccer team w/that name; somehow, even though her dad was a sports fan; had no idea his son had the same name as a NBA ref.
Johnny Most would be 100 today
- Thread starter bosockboy
- Start date
Saw him around Framingham a couple times in the 70s (so, 10-15 years before his death). He looked horrible then, nothing like he did in the early 60s when he was on TV doing a scoreboard show after Sox games.
Celts and Bruins radio kept me company on so many freezing nights in the gas station kiosk that I was manning. One offhand remark about Player X (probably Laimbeer) still kills me:
“How is this criminal still in the game? He’s fouled every single person in the building except me and you, Glen! How is he out there??”
“How is this criminal still in the game? He’s fouled every single person in the building except me and you, Glen! How is he out there??”
I also grew up listening to Johnny on the radio.. I think I would set the sleep timer so the radio would go off after I fell asleep.. but I'd often extend the time as I would get into the games.
I met Johnny very briefly at a charity softball game in Needham where I grew up.. there were some old Red Sox, Celtics and Bruins.. I think I got Dom DiMaggio's autograph, Johnny's, Rick Miller, Dave Cowens, Jim Nance?, Rick Middleton.. But I think I was most excited to see the man who made me love the Celtics..
I think it's probably why I have so much trouble listening to announcers now.. especially national.. they just don't love the Celts the same way he did.. they're not as colorful or creative.. they don't even try to be. Him and Tommy.. the absolute homers that they were really spoiled us in a way.. and I'm not sure anyone could even do the same way of announcing anymore without seeming forced, inauthentic and a cheap imitation.
I met Johnny very briefly at a charity softball game in Needham where I grew up.. there were some old Red Sox, Celtics and Bruins.. I think I got Dom DiMaggio's autograph, Johnny's, Rick Miller, Dave Cowens, Jim Nance?, Rick Middleton.. But I think I was most excited to see the man who made me love the Celtics..
I think it's probably why I have so much trouble listening to announcers now.. especially national.. they just don't love the Celts the same way he did.. they're not as colorful or creative.. they don't even try to be. Him and Tommy.. the absolute homers that they were really spoiled us in a way.. and I'm not sure anyone could even do the same way of announcing anymore without seeming forced, inauthentic and a cheap imitation.
A friend of interviewed Most for a magazine profile in the ’80s. Most admitted in the interview he smoked six packs a day. My friend and I did the arithmetic and figured he must’ve got up repeatedly in the middle of the night to smoke.
After my dad passed away, my mom got into the habit of falling asleep to the local AM station. One morning she called me to say that she was awakened by a crazy announcer yelling during a Celtics game. I told her about the legendary Johnny Most. My mother wasn’t much of a sports fan, but she actually used to tune in to the Celtics radio broadcast just to hear Johnny. Looking back, I guess it was because Johnny’s voice and words conveyed just how much he cared about the Celtics and what he was describing.
Last edited:
6 packs a day is a difficult accomplishment. The guy had to have just been chain smoking every minute he was awake. My dad was a 2-3 pack a day smoker, and I thought he smoked a LOT. Coincidentally my Dad died at age 70, shortly after having surgery…for lung cancer.
I just read somewhere that the average price for a pack of cigarettes in MA is $9.08. At that price, Most's six-pack-a-day habit in today's dollars would cost him $19,885/year.
Now, I don't know whether the $9.08 accounts for cartons (cheaper to buy by the carton, which he assuredly must have done), and it probably wouldn't have been too much of a burden for him to buy them in a state where they're cheaper (looking at you NH), but even at $5.00 /pack, which is probably too low, his yearly cost in today's dollars would be ~$11,000. That's sad.
Yeah, I know -- I'm old and I used to sell them at Cumby Farms back in the 80s!
I was thinking about how frickin' expensive that would be now.Last pack I bought in MA was in 2011, and it was $10. Even up here in the cheap state of NH they are over $8 nowYeah, I know -- I'm old and I used to sell them at Cumby Farms back in the 80s!