Picking up from last week’s post, here are some other names for my list of people I would like to meet, or would like to have met. And I do confess to a somewhat (though not completely) sports-heavy list.  Guilty as charged.  But you didn’t expect me to rattle off a roster of Food Network hosts now, did you? So let’s get to it.

Ben Franklin. “Here comes the orator, with his flood of words and his drop of reason.” In these days of persistent political perversity provoking the patient populous, producing particularly painful perturbances, few descriptions apply so aptly to today’s political candidates than these centuries old words of Ben Franklin.

Henri Richard. Over our respective hockey careers, “The Pocket Rocket” and I combined for a record total of 11 Stanley Cup Championships. I’m pretty proud of our effort.

Bud Collins. Why this walking, talking, tennis encyclopedia was ever removed from the broadcast booth and “replaced” by John McEnroe is utterly beyond my ability to understand. Collins has the capacity to provide any tennis fan, no matter how knowledgeable, with the who, what, where, when, and why of practically any high-level tennis event in history, and to do it in an understandable, entertaining manner with undying enthusiasm and good cheer. And he does it in some of the most obnoxious pants on the planet. If you’re a tennis fan, you gotta love Bud Collins. If you’re not a tennis fan, listen to him for five minutes, and he’ll make you one.

Now, technically Mr. Collins doesn’t qualify for this list because I did meet him briefly once on a practice court at the International Tennis Hall of Fame at Newport, Rhode Island. But I’d love to meet him a second time. So Bud, if you’re reading GDAT!! every day like all the other really smart people, be sure to swing by the house next time you’re in Florida. The welcome mat is always out.

Bill Russell. Over our respective basketball careers, Russell and I combined for a record total of 11 NBA Championships. I’m pretty proud of our effort.

Red Auerbach. Who would not want to sit and listen to just one more fantastic story from the mastermind of the Boston Celtics?

Dr. Isaac Cowen. I still want to know what was in that bag.

Fred Cusick. What Bobby Orr was on the ice, Fred Cusick was behind a microphone. Those of us lucky enough to have heard Cusick call a game or interview a sports figure witnessed a man unmatched in his preparation, dedication, exuberance, and love for his profession. For those who never had the chance, one of Cusick’s early and important interviews can be seen as a DVD special feature to the Disney movie, The Greatest Game Ever Played, where a young Cusick’s extraordinary 28 minute walk-and-talk with Francis Ouimet in 1963 is the only existing recorded interview of the former caddy who became the unlikely 1913 U.S. Open golf champion. If you like golf history, I recommend it very strongly.

Cusick’s career ranged from time as a copy boy at the Boston Globe, to commanding sub chasers during WWII. Along with my schoolboy friends, I came to know Cusick in the early 1970s as the TV-38 play-by-play announcer for the Boston Bruins. Unlike today’s announcers who are spoon-fed inane statistics to regurgitate into their microphones, Cusick worked tirelessly to prepare himself for every broadcast. He made no false allusions toward neutrality between the Bruins and their opponents, yet always spoke frankly of the performances of players on either bench. When the Bruins won, you knew exactly why, and felt as if you were part of the victory. More importantly, when they lost, you not only knew why, but also got a lesson in humility and good sportsmanship. This man’s broadcasts were of supremely high quality, and each one made you look forward to the next game.

Stick handling up and down the driveway as a twelve year old on squeaky metal roller skates, I can’t begin to count the number of Bruins goals I recreated in those glory days of New England hockey. But I do know that every last one of them was to the re-play in my head of the previous game's call by Fred Cusick.

There are still a few more important folks that I have to put on the list, and I’ll get to them soon. If I don’t post again before Sunday, let me wish everyone a very safe and Happy Easter.