He likes the word fabulous so much that if you drank a shot every time he said it, you’d be plastered halfway through his sports talk radio show.
That, however, would have been ill-advised, since the three hours on 1420-AM aired in the a.m., from 6 to 9 for nearly 30 years — and many listened while driving to work.
If you don’t like jokes about someone who is dying, well, don’t fret, that’s not the case here. I’m busting my friend’s chops because I’m so happy for him. There is fabulous news to share about my fabulous old poker buddy and long-ago housemate.
Like Fast Eddie Felson at the end of “The Color of Money,” Bobby Curran can emphatically say, “I’m BACK.”
Following recovery from a successful double lung transplant last November — a procedure I didn’t even know was possible until it became Bobby’s “last best chance,” as his doctor put it — the voice of University of Hawaii football and basketball for three decades is home from Arizona, alive and continuing to beat some incredible odds.
He’s not just breathing air — processing oxygen at a 97% to 100% level with the new lungs — but he’s on the air, too.
“The Bobby Curran Show” re-starts Monday, after what many feared would be his finale almost exactly a year ago.
It’s just one hour for now, starting at 6, but Bobby’s like an injury-rehabbing pitcher insisting he’s ready to go nine innings — or the full Monty , another of his favorite references.
Don’t let the creaky sounding promos on the radio last week fool you. When I talked with him on the phone his voice sounded like that of the young Bobby Curran all UH sports fans know, the one originally from New York with the pipes to prove it.
“I can definitely do three hours now,” he said. “But the plan is to expand it to two hours after a month, and then three after another month.”
What about games?
He hopes to be ready for basketball season.
Football is up in the air — the light air of the Mountain West Conference.
“All that altitude,” Bobby said.
Like any recovery, it’s one step at a time.
He’s got two fabulous guests lined up for Monday.
“First is Neil (Everett) at 6:17 and then, at 6:36, Mark Rolfing,” Bobby said. “I really want to start off with a bang.”
I could listen to those guys and Bobby talk for three days, let alone three hours.
We love our comeback stories in sports, and our world is full of athletes and coaches who beat the odds twice, or more — first to reach a pinnacle, and then to return after challenges and hardship, sometimes life-threatening adversity.
Now, a master at telling those stories is one himself.
You don’t just drive up and say, double lung transplant, to go, please. Even after being approved as a viable candidate by a panel of 30, finding a match, successful surgery, and ongoing rehab, there are no guarantees — especially for someone in his late 60s.
Not particularly religious most of his life, Bobby says he has a renewed faith.
“I received so much support, so many people praying for me,” he said.
He will speak the morning of July 30 at Pearlside Church, at 7:30, 9:15 and 11:15.
“The theme is resilience and hope again,” said Pastor Norman Nakanishi, a longtime spiritual leader and supporter of UH athletes, coaches and staff. “Bobby’s tremendous story starts with the prognosis being terminal, and the vast majority wanting him to go into hospice. June (Jones) and Artie (Wilson) told him give it a shot. We began praying with him and he gave it a shot. What the heck? When you’re around coaches a lot, you think, ‘Throw it to the end zone and see what happens.’”
Until recently, I had every reason to fear that the next time I wrote about Bobby it would be his obituary.
Thankfully, he is still with us here on Earth with his family and many friends. He’s well enough to host his show, call more games, and lose to Star-Advertiser sportswriters in a few more trivia contests.
Even if he beats us, hey … this is all fabulous. You might even say it’s miraculous.
