It didn’t take Jerre Haskew long to recognize that his younger brother Gary had a unique gift.
“Gary,” said Jerre with a chuckle a few days ago, “has always had a knack for ticking people off.”
Clearly, this talent has served Gary well as the co-host of the SportTalk radio show on FM 102.3. Long known as Dr. Basketball for his (sometimes) uncanny ability to pick NCAA Tournament upsets, Haskew and Scott “Quake” McMahan have been the Scenic City’s afternoon drive-time sports czars since Johnny Majors was the Tennessee football coach and the Atlanta Braves dwelled in the NL West cellar.
But come March 16 at the Trade Center, a lot of those folks Gary has ticked off will have the opportunity to, um, tick back.
The Classic 150 Club — the not-for-profit group that helps bring sporting events to our city — is roasting Haskew that night for a fundraiser. University of Tennessee at Chattanooga basketball coach John Shulman, former UT quarterback Dewey “Swamp Rat” Warren, Lookouts owner Frank Burke and McMahan are all slated to barbecue Dr. B, along with possible others.
“After 67 years I’ve got some skeletons in my closet,” said Gary last week. “But some of these things, they’ve pulled out information that I never knew was available. They’re going to open me up pretty darn wide. Lawsuits may be pending.”
Tables can be purchased for $800 and $1,000. Individuals can become “Bleacher Bums” for $25, which gets them a hotdog, soft drink and possibly a brief turn at the microphone to tell Gary what they really think of him. Anyone wanting more information should call the Friends of the Festival at 756-2211 by this Thursday, March 11.
Yet it’s still worth asking how a former car salesman ever rose to this level of being loved and loathed. How did Gary Haskew — best known athletically as, “the bad boy of local slowpitch softball,” according to Jerre — become big enough to have people voluntarily pay hundreds of dollars to see him humbled?
“He’s never gotten away from being a used car salesman, that’s Gary’s personality” said Steven Dyer, who has sparred with Haskew for years on the radio under the moniker “Dr. Lock.”
“To me, he’s been out in the cold too long wearing those shorts he loves. This is all you need to know about Gary — he once said Shaquille O’Neal would never make it in the NBA because he was a slow jumper. He’s not Dr. B, he’s Nurse B.”
Jerre’s memory concerning his brother needs no doctoring or nursing. He can vividly recall when Gary was still a teenager and Jerre’s softball team was playing a big game one night at White Oak Baptist.
“A car full of hoods drove by shouting something at us,” said Jerre. “Gary had this ring on his finger and he was standing near the road. When they drove past him he punched the guy in the passenger’s seat, just cold-cocked him with that ring, and they drove off.”
A few minutes later they came back, though. Jerre said Gary hid under a car but they found him. Eventually, the police were called in and the punks were hauled away.
“But Gary kind of kept a low profile after that for a long time,” his brother added.
Apparently not so long that the cops weren’t called on more than one occasion time to Warner or Montague Park to break up a scuffle ignited by Gary’s mouth. Then there was the time he joined Jerre inside UT’s Stokely Athletics Center to heckle then-Kentucky basketball coach Joe B. Hall and his staff.
“After the game, which Tennessee won, Joe B. and his assistants, including Joe Dean Jr., were walking off the court,” said Jerre. “Gary sees Dean, Jr., who was a little on the short side, and yells, ‘Hey, Joe Dean, stand up so we can see you!’
“Well, Dean goes after him and Gary takes off like a scalded dog.”
At least a couple of roasters are guaranteed to take off Gary’s infamous dog food-eating incident, which occurred following the 1991 U.S. Amateur at the Honors Course. Promising to eat a can of dog food if anyone over 40 won the tourney, Gary had to munch some Mighty Dog after 41-year-old Mitch Voges took home the trophy.
Said sidekick McMahan last week, “Gary’s run his mouth all his life, but now he gets paid for it.”
And for one night he’s going to get paid back for it.