WTMJ ""BIRTH OF A LEGEND""&Dedicatio

[Bretsky]

This Sunday afternoon, when Green Bay normally would be playing from 12-3, Radio Station 620 WTMJ decided to air the birth of Brett Favre's Legendary Status.

Since it was less than 24 hours after the Death of Max McGee, WTMJ also decided to dedicate this broadcast to the great Max McGee

It was truly interesting to listen to this broadcast and I thought I'd share some of the player information and follow it be my own viewpoints of Jim Irwin and Max McGee as opposed to today's announcers.

The 1992 game was against the Cincinnati Bengals. Here are some highlights along with some misc commentary.

THE PLAY THAT STARTED THE ADVENTURE:
Just a normal passing play that one of our very own heroes, Tim Krumrie (All American Nose Tackle for the UW Madison) crashed through the middle to put a hit on Don the Majkowski. He went low and gave the Majic man a pretty sever ankle twist. I remember Krumrie to be one tough mean SOB; a former state champion as a wrestler, I believe. As Majic was on the turf, the announcers noted that Krumrie continued to twist Majkoski's ankle like he was trying to hurt him more. A couple OL went after Krumrie when he did this.

Good ole WI Badger started the Creation of a Legend

A couple other notes:

TERRELL BUCKLEY

As much as I was not a Terrell Buckley fan, the fans of Green Bay absolutely loved this guy. Ron Wolf and the announcers did a great job hyping this guy to be the next great player to come through. He showed a bit of glory and stink in this game. He returned a punt for a TD, but then almost fumbled the game away late in the season

STERLING SHARPE

The Packers have had a lot of wonderful WR's to step foot on Lambeau Field, but the most talented WR to put on a Packer jersey was Sterling Sharpe. He made some great plays against the Bengals. He was just flat out a great playmaker who would have put up Hall of Fame Numbers had he stayed healthy. I never liked Sterling Sharpe's attitude or personality. Still don't. But once the game started he was Great. If he puts in a whole career IMO Brett Favre would have a couple more titles and more would argue he is the greatest ever

BRETT FAVRE
It was a very telling day of relief that would foreshadow his first few years.
He was all over the place. He made some throws Bart Starr could not have dreamed of making; and then he missed some easy ones. At one point Max McGee commented that I wish we had the other guy in here because I know he's at least get something going. Shortly after that comment, Favre, almost like he heard somebody doubting him, led Green Bay to two late fourth quarter touchdowns to win that game.

On the last one, he took the ball approximately 92 yards (after Robert Brooks made the terrible mistake of catching the ball right on the sideline and having his momentum carry him out of bounce on a kickoff) in about two minutes with no timeouts. VINTAGE FAVRE.

Great Game, Great Broadcast, it was truly

THE BIRTH OF THE LEGEND

[Bretsky]

And now, some heart felt commentary toward Max McGee

I MISS JIM ERWIN AND MAX MCGEE

Listening to the Birth of the Legend game brought back many fond memories of listening to WTMJ Broadcasts

Erwin and McGee represented the Absolute Opposite of the Modern Day NFL Broadcasting

While Larivee and Larry Mac do a very good job breaking down the game and adding quality football analysis, what Jim and Max represented were two down to earth Homers who had a great time living and dying with the success of the Green Bay Packers.

I'm not one to want the X's and O's constantly explained to me; I understand that stuff and to be honest the breakdowns of crap like safeties sneaking up in the box or failure to run in Cover Two becomes pretty boring.
But that is the reality of this day.

Back in the good ole days,
Jim and Max were fun
Football Experts could listen to Jim and Max
Wives could listen to Jim and Max and be entertained
Non Football Fans could listen to Jim and Max and Laugh

Max was always successful in adding color to some very dark games in some very dark times. He was the Jimmy Kimmel broadcasting the Green Bay Packers with inside information on the team and real life experiences to share. He was a men among boys when it came to entertainment while adding football value to a broadcast.

You rarely see that anymore. You rarely hear that anymore. In fact, my wife really enjoyed going to games when she could listen to you to partying those Packer victories up and making jokes while the Packers were getting hammered.

Would I want to spend a day sitting down and talking with Larry Mac or Wayne Larivee ? Heck no.

But Max McGee; he'd be one of the first guys I'd choose to meet and spend an afternoon sucking some beers with at a bar.

Life of every room he walks into
Rest in Peace Max; I wish there were more like you

[Bretsky]

McGee could light up a room
Posted: Oct. 21, 2007

Michael Hunt
E-MAIL


The last time I saw Max McGee was on a plane a little more than a year ago. I was connecting in Minneapolis and McGee was on his way to Milwaukee to make an appearance with Jim Irwin.

McGee had the seat next to mine. When he sat down everyone looked his way. He was wearing a gigantic Super Bowl ring, but it wasn't necessary for identification. McGee was one of those charismatic guys who immediately commanded attention whenever he walked into a room or, in this case, an airline cabin.

He said the Milwaukee gig was going to be easy money. Fly in, meet and greet fans at a restaurant near the airport the next day while the Packers were on TV, and fly back home to the Twin Cities the morning after, all expenses paid. He was looking forward to it, he said, mostly because he had not seen his old broadcasting partner recently.

They were going to get together that evening for dinner, Jim and Max, and McGee was happy about that. He said he had not been to Milwaukee for a number of years, not since the Packers had last played in County Stadium, and he spoke fondly of the city. He tried to recall the name of his favorite restaurant on the east side near the lake, and though I wasn't much help because I didn't grow up in Milwaukee, we agreed it was probably Sally's Steak House.

McGee then told me he was struggling with a disease and went into some detail of how he was coping with it. I asked if I could write about his story, but he said his wife would object, so we left it at that.

It was McGee's Texas drawl, the one that captivated radio listeners for so many years, that began to take me back. So many memories of a Hall of Fame talent and an endearing living-large character to match, one that could even melt Vince Lombardi when necessary.

In his landmark book, "Instant Replay," legendary Packers guard Jerry Kramer wrote about McGee's fondness for sneaking out of training camp after curfew. Lombardi caught him the first time and fined him $125.

Like that was going to stop McGee. Kramer wrote that a year or two went by before Lombardi caught McGee again. The fine increased to $250.

A year later, McGee went over the St. Norbert's wall again and was nabbed speeding by the state police. When the story made the newspapers, Kramer wrote what happened the next morning in the locker room:

" 'MAX!' Vince said. 'That's $500.' Coach was really shaking; he was very, very upset. He seemed to be fighting a losing battle, and Lombardi does not like to lose at anything. 'MAX!' he yelled. 'I said that would cost you $500 and . . .' Vince turned purple . . . 'if you go out again, it'll cost you a thousand.'

"The room was totally silent, hushed. Lombardi stopped shaking and actually managed to grin a little. 'Max,' he said, softly, 'if you can find anything worth sneaking out for, for $1,000, hell, call me and I'll go with you.' "

Beautiful, as Kramer might say, just beautiful.

McGee showed me his itinerary and asked about the hotel. I said it was near the airport and asked if he needed a ride. He said he had a car waiting and made his way through the terminal. People stopped to look and talk. They always followed Max McGee.

[b bulldog]

One week late B