Coughlin Unplugged

Old Friends

Goodbye, Zip

Submitted by Dan Coughlin on Mon, 01/04/2010 - 11:18am

As you know by now, former Plain Dealer sportswriter Dick Zunt died of cancer Saturday morning. The final week was not easy, so it was a blessing when he took his final breath. The visitation will be Tuesday, Jan. 5, from 2-4 and 6-9 at Chambers Funeral Home, Rocky River Drive and Puritas Rd., Cleveland. Funeral Mass is Wednesday, 10 a.m., St. Patrick's Church across, the street from the funeral home, the church where Dick ushered for over 40 years.

For my out of town readers, both of you, you probably didn't see the terrific sendoff Dick got in The Plain Dealer. Terry Pluto did a terrific column on him and Mike Peticca wrote a wonderful obit. Their themes reinforced Dick's personna -- the nicest guy in the world. There were two words he could never utter. He could not say "no" and he could not say "goodbye."

I've been asked to deliver the eulogy, which is a great honor, but Pluto and Peticca already used the good stuff.

Lotta Bad News Today

Submitted by Dan Coughlin on Fri, 01/01/2010 - 9:26pm

Just learned of the passing of Mary McCrone, first producer of the Sports Page TV show at Channel 8 which I co-hosted with Mark Schroeder and John Telich in the mid-1990's. She was found dead in Los Angeles the day after Christmas. What a piece of work she was, and I say that with affection and admiration. She was imaginative and dynamic. She discovered Tony Rizzo on radio and opened doors that led him to television on Fox 8. In a previous life she was married to Michael Stanley.

That's just the start.

Bob Nold, baseball writer for the Akron Beacon-Journal in the 1970's, died last week. A wonderful fellow. I remember him as the most accurate reporter I ever went up against. He was a student of the game and a gentleman.

Earlier this week network sportscaster Dave Diles died in Athens, close to his beloved Ohio University. Dave anchored the Progressive College Scoreboard every football Saturday on ABC TV in the 1960's. His son is athletic director of Case-Western Reserve and his grandson played high school football at Chagrin Falls.

The Old Sportswriter in Hospice

Submitted by Dan Coughlin on Wed, 12/30/2009 - 12:31pm

Our old pal Dick Zunt, 77, who covered high school sports for half a century at The Plain Dealer, has moved from Fairview Hospital to the Hospice of the Western Reserve. It's located at the north end of E. 185th Street on the lake behind Villa Angela-St. Joe High School where Dick covered many basketball games. The move was made Tuesday night by ambulance.

The Bridge to Nowhere

Submitted by Dan Coughlin on Tue, 11/10/2009 - 9:29pm

I read in The Plain Dealer that the City of Cleveland will waste $5 million to build a pedestrian bridge at the opening of North Coast Harbor and I ask, why a bridge hardly anyone will use?
This is to span a little bit of water behind the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, from the tip of a pier on the west to Voinovich Park on the east. Not many people go back there, a few in the summer, none in the fall, winter and spring.

There are a few concerns about the height of the bridge because it will open in the middle and rise 135 feet high to allow boats to pass through. Among the concerns is that it will reach into the glide path of Burke Lakefront Airport.

I'm guessing that it also will be a gathering spot for gulls, whether the bridge is open or closed. Be careful walking across that bridge. You might slip and fall off due to the gull droppings.