A Hall-of-Fame victory tour for a Milwaukee icon passed through the community Monday.
Eddie Doucette, who became the original radio voice of Milwaukee Bucks basketball in 1968, received the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame’s Curt Gowdy Media Award in the Electronic Media category during the Hall of Fame enshrinement events last September. The award is presented annually to members of the print and electronic media whose longtime efforts have made a significant contribution to the game of basketball.
Doucette reunited with such fellow Bucks legends as Jon McGlocklin, Bob Dandridge and Sidney Moncrief (yes, “Jonny Mac,” “The Greyhound,” and “Sir Sidney”) at Brookfield’s Westmoor Country Club for the franchise’s annual golf tournament to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of Wisconsin. The event has raised more than $1 million for the charity.
Though Doucette’s Hall-of-Fame induction took place over a year ago, he remains humbled by his inclusion in the shrine honoring basketball’s all-time greats.
“To receive that kind of award – going into the Hall of Fame media section – in my business, I don’t know what could rank above that,” Doucette said in that unmistakable voice, which became a household fixture for Bucks fans spanning the franchise’s first 16 years. “Just being around those folks and seeing a lot of people I hadn’t seen in a while was great.
“I’m going from here to a Hall of Fame event down in Phoenix, so I get to see people from that light. It’s a terrific opportunity and a terrific honor. The best part of the whole experience was having my family with me. I have grandchildren who never paid much attention to what their dad or granddad did, so to have that kind of audience was really special.”
Doucette’s unforgettable visit to Springfield, Mass., last September included some memorable meetings.
“The commissioner (David Stern, who has since retired from the post) has always been a big supporter of mine,” Doucette said. “He had some really nice things to say. Hubie Brown was there, and he was really happy for me. He said some very nice things to me.
“There were other notables – even Dick Vitale came over and put his arm around me and gave me a hug. It’s always nice to see people I worked with, players I watched who came up to me and said, ‘Hi,’ or ‘Congratulations.’”
Doucette’s Hall induction had a profound impact on him.
“You go through life every day and do your job and a lot of people will say, ‘Hey, hi, how are you?’ and that sort of thing, but you don’t really get the feeling that there’s respect involved,” he said. “That’s really the only thing you can take with you when you leave this earth.
“If you’ve done the right thing and done your job to the best of your ability and people recognize that and honor you for it, that’s a great feeling.”
The Bucks honored Doucette for his Hall induction with a bobblehead night last season.
“The night they had my bobblehead night in Milwaukee, I was doing a game, so I couldn’t make it back,” said Doucette, who lives in the San Diego, Calif. “I went home after the game. Later that night, Jon McGlocklin (Doucette’s close friend and former broadcast partner) called me at home and said, ‘Well, you did it.’
“I said, ‘I did what? What are you talking about?’”
“And Jon said, ‘You set a record for the longest line of people giving their bobbleheads back.’”
It seems respect must come with a statute of limitations these days.