Mike Kahn dies

Oh, and real quick, my most memorable Kahn moment.

One night around midnight, a huge NBA trade goes down. The Mavericks ship Jason Kidd and some stiffs to Phoenix for A.C. Green, Sam Cassell and Michael Finley. We don't have any columnists working that late, and we can't get ahold of any of them at home, so I offer to write one myself.

I proceed to shred the Suns for the deal, predicting that Kidd's temperament is going to be a problem in Phoenix, and that Finley is going to be a perennial All-Star for the Mavs.

The next afternoon, I get into the office and Kahn quickly pulls me aside. He says, "Great job getting that column up. That's exactly the kind of thing we need to do ... we need to advance the story before ESPN even thinks about it."

I gleefully accept the compliment. Then he says, "But you're dead wrong on your column."

And as it turns out, I was.

 

I had one more thought on Mike, and Ira touched on it.

I read a book recently called The Four Agreements. I'm not a deep thinker on such things, but I had read that Tom Brady (of all people) had read the book and been affected by it. So I figured what the hell and bought the book.

As I figured, it was a little deep and metaphysical or whatever. Not the Agreements themselves, which are pretty simple, but just all the philosophy behind them.

Anyway, the fourth agreement is, "Always do your best."

And that's what it comes down to. Mike wasn't perfect; he could be a pain sometimes, and his copy could be tough, and we got into some fairly roundabout discussions about said copy, and he pushed back harder on some of his prose more than most writers I've dealt with, sometimes exasperatingly so. "Mike, the readers won't get this." Mike: "Of course they will, it's there in black and white."

But here's the thing: From where I sit, Mike always did his best. As best as I can tell, as a family guy and a father. As a friend and a movie expert and a fan of Ohio teams and as a golfer (some of our best talks were about golf). And without a doubt, as a reporter and columnist. He always gave the best he had. And really, when all is said and done, that's not a bad thing to have achieved.

 

For anybody who hasn't already found this:

http://www.thenewstribune.com/sports/columnists/mcgrath/story/572254.html

 

I knew Mike Kahn way back as students at Ohio State University, and we overlapped 2 years. Mike and I were fraternity brothers, and I vividly recall Mike as an active Hell Week participant. But mostly, I recall Mike as gregarious, loving life, friendly to us "newbies", and enjoying the athletics at Ohio State. I was not all surprised to learn that he followed his dream, into Sports Journalism, and while I only spoke with Mike a few times in the past 20 years, I consider his death a real tragic loss personally, and professionally. :-[

 

Question: Was it Mike's love of the Pacific Northwest that prompted him to not be working for CBSSportsline anymore? Given his Internet vision and chops, I remember being surprised when I heard he had gone to work for the Seahawks while doing some FOXSports stuff.

 

I was long gone when Mike went back West. From what I recall he was still working for SportsLine out there ... maybe managing the writers from out there. And then he got hit in one of the rounds of layoffs during the Dot Com bust. At least that's what my foggy memory tells me. Someone who was still there at the time would know better.

 

I've known and worked with Mike for damned near two decades, and all that has been said is both accurate and generous in spirit. He was and will be remembered by all right-thinking people as an unsung hero in an industry that needs all it can get.

 

It was noted above that Mike got this quote from Boz's mother:

"It's a good thing Brian wasn't our first child. If he had been our first child, he'd have been an only child."

I'm so ticked off with myself right now. That's long been my favorite quote in sports but I had never taken the trouble to sift out whose story that appeared in. Having worked with Mike briefly not too long ago, I'm really disappointed that I was never able to tell them how much those two simple sentences meant to me.

 

Same here, KY, same here. And Pete, I caught that post on Jim Moore's blog before I even saw this thread. Great, great stuff.

RIP, Mr. Kahn. I never had the privilege to meet you or work with you, but you are one of the many TNT brethren who have my utmost respect. My best to his family and friends, including some former coworkers.

 

I can't even begin to explain how wonderful it has been to read all of these postings about my dad. Throughout my childhood I'd had a love-hate relationship with his job -- as you've all noted so rightly, his dedication was outstanding, and to me, often took my dad away. But as I grew older, I came to realize the real nature of his job. Not only was he doing it for the love of sports and writing, but he was doing it for me, and the rest of our family. Beyond this, his dedication to our family was always his highest priority.

I've always had an inkling of his importance to the journalistic community, especially in regards to his early endeavors into the internet, but the outpouring I've seen in this thread has fully solidified his legacy in my mind. It's really incredible that not only is the internet buzz this big, but that his impact on the journalistic community spread far beyond the web. In fact, one of my closest friends heard about my father's passing while listening to the radio before I had a chance to talk to him about it myself.

Thank you all so much for sharing your stories and kind thoughts. I'm sure I've met more than one of you (it was definitely my swim meet Bangs attended), and I know for certain that as important as you've all voiced my father was to you, you were to him. His love for his job extended far beyond his passion for sports, and this thread is a testament to that. I think his love for his friends and coworkers is the most clear point tying all of these stories together. It's just amazing, as his son, to be able to see the true fruit born of these relationships.

 

Wow. That's an amazing post. So sorry for your loss, Andrue.

 

Andy:
I remember you when you were "only this high" but I can tell you without hesitation or reservation, that your dad's love of sports and sportswriting -- as great and infectious as it was -- ran a far distant second to his love for you, Sarah and your mom. He kept me updated on all your exploits through the years and the mere mention of any of your names would generate that incredible dazzling smile so many of us remember him for.
In situations like this, the only salve for the grief is to remember the good times. As my fellow posters have demonstrated, we have a ton of them as I'm sure you do, too. But, if you ever want to hear about a few more, just holler.
Pete