When I was in ninth grade at Madison high school my physical education/health/gym teacher was Dick Newman. That was 1972. It was Dick Newman’s first year teaching at Madison, before that he had been at Bellingham high school. Today Dick is one of my good friends and a co-worker at KLQP radio. Saturday we celebrated and recognized Dick for doing the Saturday morning Coaches’ Show for 40 years!

Former teachers and coaches at Madison high school Sharon Redepenning and Tim McNamara joined us on the Coaches’ Show to reminisce about doing the show for forty years. The hour just flew by and it was so much fun listening to Dick, Sharon and Tim talk about the early days of the Coaches Show. In the early days the show was recorded in the locker rooms, the smallest and quietest rooms in the school or in Dave Nibbe’s office. Dick had a trusty old tape recorder that he used for almost 20 years.

I really liked what Sharon said during the Coaches Show, that it was so important, especially for girls sports which were just starting out, to get the recognition that they deserved. Sharon started the girls basketball program at Madison high school in the 1970’s. She thought it was important to let the public know what was happening in girls athletics at Madison high school, and the Coaches’ Show played a big part in that. She said all the coaches were very close and had so much fun every Saturday being on the Coaches’ Show.

Tim McNamara was the first sports broadcaster at KLQP radio. It was actually Tim’s idea to start a Coaches’ Show on Q92. I asked Tim if he remembered his very first sports broadcast and to my surprise he did. He said KLQP had only been on the air for two days when the Madison boys basketball team hosted the Ortonville Trojans in a playoff game. The gym was packed and loud Tim said, and Ortonville won by one point.

Over the years Dick has been inducted into wrestling and baseball hall of fames and has received many awards. He has played a major part in all of the baseball programs in Madison. Dick has put many hours in doing the Coaches’ Show over the years and has done an outstanding job. Like I said earlier, Dick was my teacher and coach and now has become a very good friend. So thank you Dick for your dedication and commitment every Saturday morning to the Coaches’ Show. Job well done!