{image1}This writer was a young kid, just breaking into the Milwaukee sports market. While walking on Tuckaway Country Club covering the GMO, I ran into another writer.
He was friendly, open to the new kid on the block (or 14th hole as it was) and spelled his name almost like mine. He was Dale Hofmann, then a sportswriter for the Milwaukee Sentinel, before the two newspapers merged.
For the next couple decades, Dale and I had the relationship most sportswriters have. We jabbed each other whenever we could, sometimes with a rather acetic tone, yet also shared the late hours, bad food, deadline pressure and fun that can come with writing about kids' games for a living.
During the years I taught at UW-Milwaukee, Dale would say, "so how much is this costing me?" every time I would go on a trip -- as if the tax man was yanking his wallet out of his pocket and taking the money for the trip right out of it. I always told him that he needed spelling lessons because he lacked an "f."
I also told him I was his biggest market for a sports business book he once wrote, because I bought a couple dozen books for a class I taught at UWM. That money came directly from the pocketbooks of the students.
Like everybody else, I jabbed Dale about the athletic program of his alma mater -- Northwestern.
Back in the days when Michael Bauman wrote for the Journal, we'd get some pretty good three-way jousting sessions going. I've known Bauman since college and "stood up" for him at his wedding (I told Kathleen she should too still marry the guy no matter what others said).
Humor always is a big part of relationships between sportswriters. Between Dale and me, mutual respect also has been part of it. I can say that in public now because Dale is retiring this coming Sunday.
I say mutual respect because Dale always consented to speak to my UWM class. We would talk about writing, especially in more recent years when two frustrated novelists -- like all journalists are -- have been working on some fiction projects.
So, I assume Dale has at least minimal respect for me and my work. I have a great deal of it for his.
Dale is a true wordsmith, who can be descriptive, moving and funny all in one column. He's won enough national and state awards to paper the walls of his office. He's always looked for the human aspect in sports stories, which is more important than the stats and steroids. Dale also understood the economics of the sports industry and could write about them with the astuteness of a business writer.
I am not alone in having this respect with an acetic twist feeling for Dale. Consider this from MJS baseball writer and WAUK talk show host Drew Olson:
"It's easy to call Dale a throwback, because he's been around a long time and it's no longer politically correct to use the phrase 'old-timers.' Until very recently, Dale thought that 'Google' was a Parker Bros. board game with letter cubes and that 'Web site' was the corner of his basement where the spiders hang out.
"If you walk across the street from the Journal Sentinel offices, you'll see a historical marker denoting the spot where Christopher Latham Sholes invented the typewriter in the late 1860s. Ten minutes after the first patent was granted, Dale spilled a Coke on the machine. As soon as it dried out, he used it to bang out another lilting column that read like a summer breeze even in the dead of a Wisconsin winter.
"In an era when sportswriters get paid to scream at each other and the ones who yell loudest are often deemed the best, Dale anchored the left side of our sports front with an understated grace and dignity. Instead of using a sledgehammer to bludgeon his subjects, he used a scalpel. In some columns, he'd construct his sentences so artfully that some of his subjects didn't know they were being ripped. Other times, he acted like an older brother who was duty-bound to protect the average sports fan from the forces of evil -- greedy owners, slimy agents and TV execs obsessed with the bottom line. In recent years, Dale was one of the few columnists who tried to protect fans from their own foibles.
"Whether they agreed with him or not, readers will miss those reminders and they'll miss waking up with Dale.''
And read this from Steve "The Homer" True:
Dale Hofmann has always done things with the highest quality in every aspect of his personal and professional life. I can only admire it because there's no way I can live by that standard. He is old school in caps. His Achilles heel had always been an exaggerated view of the Northwestern athletic programs. Then the Mildcats went out and got to a Rose Bowl. He has been unbearable ever since that unexpected, unthinkable event.
Homer is right about Dale and Northwestern. He's also right about how Dale went about his work.
This Hoffmann with the additional f also is Old School and has already gone into "semi-retirement." Enjoy yours, Hofmann lacking an f.
Player of the Week
Catcher Chad Moeller gets this week's honor after hitting around .400 during a stretch where he played every day filling in for the injured Damian Miller. Give Bill Hall and newly called-up Rickie Weeks some special mentions.
Hall has played well enough to make Brewers' management feel comfortable in trading Junior Spivey and calling up Weeks. The latter has shown he can swing a bat in his first few games.
Hot Tix
The Brewers are in Toronto this weekend where they will try to see if leaving the country makes them a better road team.
They return to Miller Park, where they have played well, for two I-94 Rivalry -- South and North -- series in one week. First, the Cubs come to town for a week day series. Expect a lot of Chicago fans for this one since the kids are now out of school. Crowds were smaller than normal for Wrigley North in a series earlier this season when school was still in.
Following the Cubs come the Twins for a weekend series June 24-26. The Twins continue to battle the White Sox for first place in the AL Central Division. They too usually bring a sizeable contingent of fans with them.
Action is rather sparse in other sports this weekend. Wave United starts its season, but you'll have to go to Stout to watch WU play the Minnesota Thunder on Sunday. WU opens at home on June 25 at 1 p.m. vs. Polonia SC at Uihlein Soccer Park. Wave United will play a "festiva" home schedule this year as they tie into the various Lakefront Festivals. Next weekend is Polish Fest, thus the match with Polonia SC. The 2005 MISL Champion Milwaukee Wave will be honored at halftime. Also, Champions from all over the state will be invited to participate in the halftime presentation.
The Milwaukee Marauders semi-pro football team will host the Mid States Steel at 7 p.m. Saturday at Valley Field. The Milwaukee Momentum, a women's football team, hosts the St. Louis Slam at 7 p.m. Saturday at Hart Park.
