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Mention any of the celebrities who will be in Salisbury this weekend for the 42nd annual National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Convention and Barbara Lockert gets emotional.
Different emotions for different people, but emotional all the same.
Bring up John Steadman’s name and Lockert gets a bit misty-eyed. The NSSA Hall-of-Famer died Jan. 1 and he was one of her favorites.
Bring up ESPN’s swami Chris Berman and she gets emotional again. Only this time, the tears turn into laughter.
“Chris is Chris,” she said, going on to tell a story of how he called her once just to say he had to bathe in the kitchen sink.
Ah, the tales Barbara Lockert can spin.
Jim Nantz? “He’s such a nice guy. Very warm. Very friendly.”
Bob Costas? “He is sharp. He has a knack for recalling stories.”
George Vecsey? “He is truly a gentleman.”
Rick Reilly? Once, Marv Albert and Costas were getting so many laughs you’d have thought the Depot Restaurant was the Improv. And why were they getting laughs? Because Reilly manufactured the entire routine.
“He couldn’t play golf because he was writing the material for them,” Lockert pointed out.
Actually, you can be from Rhode Island or Idaho or New Mexico. You don’t have to be a nationally-known sportswriter or sportscaster for Lockert to know a story or two about you.
So who is Barbara Lockert, you’re asking?
She’s a sportswriter’s and sportscaster’s best friend.
“I’ve never met one I didn’t like,” she says.
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Claude Hampton is the executive director of the NSSA. He is the more visible one. He is the P.R. schmoozer. Lockert is the one behind the scenes you don’t see very much. She usually sequesters herself back in her office. Her desk is cluttered with photos, letters of appreciation, phone numbers .. you name i t.
Her son Chuck might be in there putting name plates on plaques. Her daughter Cassandra, has become an assistant to Mom. Even Madison, a cutey of a granddaughter, is on hand and under foot.
But Lockert never flinches. A hundreds things to do? Heck it’s better than yesterday when there were 200 things to do.
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Ask Lockert her title and she says, “chief cook and bottle washer.”
Her official moniker is program coordinator — quite a step up from when she began in 1968 as a volunteer.
“But I was putting in so many hours for so many years, I said, ‘You all need to pay me.’”
Every business has a Barbara Lockert — a tireless worker who responds quickly. And don’t think the national figures haven’t noticed.
“My satisfaction is having them say what a good time they had,” she said. “They can’t believe the southern hospitality and they can’t believe people go out of their way to welcome them. They’re not used to that.”
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One of the charms of the NSSA being in Salisbury, Lockert feels, is the easy-going nature of the area.
“We’re laid back,” she says. “We’re not glitzy. We’re not New York.”
But she remembers when it used to be that way — “tuxedos, the whole nine yards.”
Celebrities like Bob Hope would visit just to perform. But the NSSA powers that be realized the sportswriters and sportscasters could entertain and create a roar of laughter on their own.
“Now, you can write anything in the paper but there was a time you couldn’t,” Lockert said. “Women weren’t going to it (back in the 70s) so the sportswriters would tell the stories they couldn’t write about.”
Imagine listening to the likes of Curt Gowdy, Chris Schenkel, Ray Scott, Will Grimsley, Furman Bisher (one of this year’s speakers) and Jim Murray, all in the same afternoon, taking turns with some stories that, at times, were graphic as well as hilarious.
“I stood outside the door and loved it,” Lockert said. “But there’s a lot of stories about the NSSA.”
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It has become a year-round job for the First Lady of the NSSA. The association sponsors the SGMA(Sporting Goods Manufacturing Association) Heroes Award, the Powerade Award, the Bear Bryant Coach of the Year Award voting and now the National Athletic Trainers Award.
But this one weekend is where she can sit back and reap the benefits. She sees the absolute joy in the eyes of these guests as they play tennis and golf, ride in cars at high speeds around Lowe’s Motor Speedway, drink, eat, talk and be merry.
Of course, the best part is when they walk into the Hall of Fame and are awestruck at the tribute to their profession.
“It’s such a different Hall of Fame,” Lockert beams proudly. “It’s the only one like it in the world.”
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Whether she likes it or not, Lockert has become an NSSA celebrity too. Her quotes have made it all the way to London.
Seems one of this year’s winners, Phil Mushnick of the New York Post, won’t be coming down. He is not one, let’s say, to pussyfoot around once those talented fingers begin pounding the keyboard. And his disdain of Nike, which sponsors some events, led to him staying home.
The New York Journal called Lockert about Mushnick and Nike.
“I said, ‘I’m sorry Mr. Mushnick has a problem. I understand he has other problems too.’ Well, they quoted me! It ran in the Daily Mirror in London!”
Lockert probably gulped when Mushnick called about her quotes.
But get this. He wasn’t upset with her. He was afraid the NSSA was mad at him. Mushnick is a past winner and was overwhelmed by Lockert and that unique southern way of treating people.
“Phil’s great,” Lockert chuckled. “I dearly love all these guys.”
And then, it appeared she was getting emotional again. Thirty-two years of being around wacky, wacky sports guys has helped her form a bond that will last a lifetime.
Mushnick should have no fears of the NSSA being angry with him for not attending this year’s event.
He is a sportswriter. And how can Barbara Lockert get mad at one of her best friends?
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Contact sports editor Ronnie Gallagher at 797-4256 or rgallagher@salisburypost.com
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Ronnie
