Lifetime experiences

I met Ernie Harwell on Friday and I've been driving around with him ever since.

I can't say I'd ever thought much about Mr. Harwell before last week. I knew who he was. I was aware of his importance. I had heard some clips of his radio broadcasts for the Detroit Tigers. I'd seen some features before on him.

But Ernie was just one of those distant figures until he came home to his birthplace of Washington, Georgia, to be honored on the eve of being inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame. So I went to talk to him and didn't expect much more than that.

I certainly didn't expect to leave as one of his biggest fans. I didn't expect to borrow $20 so I could buy his four-disc audio scrapbook that has been mesmerizing me through the dashboard CD player. I certainly didn't expect to ponder my own life habits and how I need to change them so I might be as swift of mind and energetic of step when I turn 90 years old.

Mr. Harwell was simply one of the nicest, most fascinating people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. In just a few short minutes I found him captivating. I was wishing we had more time to talk and not as many other people around fishing for autographs.

A few days after our encounter, Mr. Harwell sent me a thank you note - a simple matter of etiquette that has been largely lost since his generation. That he delivered it via email shows just how current he is for a 90-year-old man.

"Dear Scott-- I am home now in Michigan and really enjoyed the column you wrote so well about me. You were more than kind and I deeply appreciate your comments. All my best --ernie harwell."

Now that Ernie Harwell has vaulted to the top of my list of unexpected pleasures in life, something else he said stuck with me. He quoted the "right-handed English poet" Alfred Lord Tennyson (really, how many people involved in sports do such things?) with a line from Ulysses -- "I am a part of all that I have met."

In a career where I have met and interviewed many of the modern giants of the game - Tiger Woods, Wayne Gretzky, Michael Jordan - there have been just a few who stand just a bit above the rest as truly special experiences. Here are my top-5 in addition to Mr. Harwell (in no particular order).

Lou Brissie: Maybe it is something about their generation (Mr. Brissie also sent a hand-written thank you note) that truly makes them the greatest. But listening to the World War II veteran and former major league all-star talk about his life experiences in the living room of his North Augusta home was enthralling. I look forward to visiting again.

Sam Snead: When I was working in Greensboro, I spent nearly five hours alone with Snead in his winter Florida home, and it was the best five hours I've ever enjoyed. He recounted many of the famous tales and shared many others I had never heard before. He cried talking about his late wife and his favorite dog who had recently passed. He curled a 50-pound dumbell, challenged me to "hit me in the stomach" to prove how tight he was at age 86 and showed me how he tries to fill in all the O's on a book page to exercise his deteriorating eyes. Then he drove me back to my car in his brand new Lexus that was delivered during our interview and thanked me for spending the afternoon with him.

Jim Whittaker: If you know who he is, you know more than I did when I was a college student and went to an outdoor outfitter in Charlottesville, Va., to interview another retired athlete. But for more than an hour, Whittaker kept me riveted with stories of being the first American to reach the summit of Mt. Everest (a feat he accomplished the year before I was born). Very cool.

Jim Murray: This wasn't actually an interview. It was just dinner. While sitting alone in the hotel restaurant in San Francisco on the eve of the 1998 U.S. Open, a friend and fellow reporter (Ron Green Jr. of Charlotte) came in and asked me to join their party for dinner. At the table (along with all of their spouses) was his father, Ron Green Sr., Ed Pope of Miami, Larry Guest of Orlando and Jim Murray. The available seat was nearest to Murray and his wife, Linda. I don't know if I said anything beyond "Pleased to meet you," but I do remember sitting there for a couple of hours just listening to more collective wisdom than I've ever been in the company of since. The next day in the media center, I was walking out when Mr. Murray walked in and said - and this is an exact quote - "Hello Scott. Dinner was a pleasure." I don't remember much else that happened that day. A month later I was sitting in a hotel room in Spartanburg, S.C., working on an NFL training camp story when a news bulletin on the TV said that venerable L.A. Times columnist Jim Murray had died. I just started weeping uncontrollably.

Jack Nicklaus: We can only dream that Tiger Woods will ever become as engaging and accessible as the man he will soon surpass as golf's greatest. Among the countless encounters with Mr. Nicklaus - including one outside the R&A Clubhouse at St. Andrews when he turned and threatened me if I was ever to repeat a quip he just made regarding a certain golf course, which is when I realized he knew who I was and where I worked - my favorite was nearly three hours spent in the back of a pickup truck as he surveyed the progress of his nine holes at Champions Retreat. During that time we learned architectural philosophy, the history of Redan holes and I believe that there is a pine tree that remains standing and another that was turned into mulch on the fourth hole based on my amateur recommendation. In lieu of a check, the occasional invitation to play would be appreciated.

I could go on and include Byron Nelson (nicest man EVER!), Arnold Palmer (always cool), Sam Rutigliano (only coach to ever buy me an ice cream), George Simkins (dentist who challenged racial discrimination in Greensboro, NC) and Charles Barkley (you never know what is going to come out of his mouth next), but I promised only five plus Mr. Harwell.

My wife tells me I'm an old man, and I guess this list proves it. But if we all are a part of who we meet, I feel truly blessed.