Season finales and farewells...

Just a week ago last Wednesday was the Season 3 finale of our webcast Fish Report LIVE! After 32 broadcasts that began in September and ran through May, it was definitely time for our yearly break! The FRL crew loves producing the show, but we also look forward to our summer vacation when we can recharge our batteries. I always enjoy making a big deal out of the season finale thing, just as we did last week. It got me thinking about why I like season finales, farewells and show-enders (or whatever you want to call them). Apparently, it goes back to when I was a kid. Below are some of my favorites finales from my youth, maybe you can recall a few of these as well!

• Before iTunes and XM you actually had to tune into FM radio to hear the hit songs. As a 10-12 year old kid in the early 80's, I used to listen to local disc jockey Gordy Price on WMVR in Sidney. Gordy took dedications, played new music and was a star to boys and girls my age. I remember being disappointed when he left Sidney and moved on to Lima radio. Sadly, he has since passed away, but here was his final sign-off on WMVR from December 30, 1983!

• Growing up in Ft. Loramie I used to walk the hallways of a school building that no longer exists today. In the summer of 2009 Ft. Loramie Elementary was demolished and local photographer Jack Hoying did a wonderful job preserving the history. Although I wasn't present for the demolition, I can clearly remember sitting on the locker room benches below for a couple 'season finales' as a junior high basketball player!

• The Big Red Machine had split up, and my heroes on the Cincinnati Reds were guys like Ron Oester, Buddy Bell and Paul O'Neil. I lost interest in the Reds after high school, but now I see my 9-year old son enjoying their games like I once did. One thing has remained constant from when I was a kiddo to him, and that's Hall of Fame radio announcer Marty Brennaman's famous game-ending call whenever the Reds win!

• You can find sports highlights on the television 24/7 these days, but back in the mid-80's it wasn't so easy. ESPN was certainly around, but our family didn't have cable, so on Sunday nights I would tune into George Michael's Sports Machine on NBC channel 22 for all the highlights. I especially looked forward to his year-ending plays of the year! 

• Perhaps the Country Concert at Hickory Hills stirred my interest in country music, but at some point in high school I became a big fan. One of my favorites acts was a mother-daughter duo called The Judds. While I was in college at Wright State University I went to their farewell concert tour at the the Ervin J. Nutter Center. By the way, the opening act was some new guy named Garth Brooks!

All memories of finales I enjoyed at one time! Fortunately, I'm not looking to hang it up anytime soon and the FRL show hasn't been cancelled by our host NK Telco (thanks guys!). We'll look forward to starting Season 4 next fall and eventually making a big deal out of another season finale!