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It seems like yesterday. Well maybe not yesterday — but considerably after the arrival of Christopher Columbus.
It was early September and I was sitting in Room 207 at Curtis Hall during Temple’s freshman orientation. They introduced the executive staff of Temple’s radio station WRTI, and there he was with his every hair in place black flattop – Tom Cardella. I was star-struck!
My idols growing up were sportscasting icons By Saam, Gene Kelly and Bill Campbell, but at Temple Tom Cardella was THE MAN! Tom was a senior and he had that cool, confident look of a guy who had everything under control. It became my mission to get Tom to know my name. It took about a month, but the first time he actually called me Merrill, I rushed to a pay phone to tell my mom that I had arrived.
Whenever Tom was at the station, I was like a puppy following him around asking if there was anything I could do. Finally Tom told me I could tape an interview with Temple basketball star Bruce Drysdale. That entailed lugging a 50-pound Webcor tape recorder three blocks down Broad Street and climbing three flights of steps at old South Hall. I then mechanically read 10 handwritten questions to Drysdale who was kind enough not to laugh.
That spring, Tom presented me with my very first play-by-play opportunity. I was dispatched to Villanova University to tape record a Temple-Villanova baseball game. The announcing was the easy part. The challenge was unwinding a thousand feet of electrical cord down the right field line to the nearest power outlet. My play by play had to be atrocious, but Tom told me that I did a good job and that was all that mattered. There was no greater authority in my world. More importantly, by the end of that year Tom and I had become friends. That friendship has grown to where my wife Cindy and I think of Tom and his wonderful wife Fran and their children as family. We’ve shared the happy times, and we were there for each other when life provided hard knocks.
Tom was with me when I was hired for my first professional job. We drove to Pottstown to interview on a Tuesday to handle the broadcast of a Saturday Pottsgrove-Springford high school football game on WPAZ. At the time I had been out of college, completed my military service but hadn’t done a game in several years. I also had many doors closed in my face and had listened to small town program directors tell me that I was in the wrong profession. My confidence was shot. I let Tom do the talking at the interview. When we left the studio, Tom gave it to me straight. He told me that if I ever wanted a job in this business, I’d have to speak with authority and act confidently. Otherwise I’d have no chance. On Friday the station owner called and said we could do the game. His words were “It’s between you and dead air.”
I started the broadcast nervously, but with Tom’s encouragement, my confidence returned. By the fourth quarter, I was back in full gear. The following Monday, they hired me for a full-time job and finally, thanks to Tom, my career was under way!
Throughout my career, I have never made a move without consulting Tom. His judgment is my greatest guideline. Tom’s intelligence, kindness, compassion and sense of humor are world class. His broadcasting is also topnotch. His work on the Eagles pre- and post-game shows was exceptional and the show that he co-hosts with Paul Jolovitz on my radio station, WBCB, is five-star. I still believe that had the opportunity presented itself, Tom would have been one of the top baseball announcers in the country. Football is my greatest passion — baseball is Tom’s.
I’m so proud to provide the forward for this book. Tom’s Review columns have made me laugh, cry, remember and applaud for so many years. Most of all they have always made me think.
There is no doubt that this book, like my friend Tom, will be a treasure.
(Merrill Reese has been the play-by-play voice of the Philadelphia Eagles since 1977, and is the managing partner, vice president and general manager of WBCB 1490 AM)
Editor’s Note: A special book featuring 50 of Tom Cardella’s columns that have appeared in the South Philly Review is in the works. Details of the release date and how to purchase the book will be announced soon.
Contact the South Philly Review at editor@southphillyreview.com.
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