Sid Hartman
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Sidney Hartman (March 15, 1920October 18, 2020) was an American sports journalist for the
Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
'' Star Tribune'' and the WCCO 830 AM radio station. For 20 years, he was also a panelist on the weekly television program ''Sports Show with Mike Max'', which aired Sunday nights at 9:30 p.m. on
WUCW WUCW (channel 23) is a television station licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, serving the Twin Cities area as an affiliate of The CW. Owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station maintains studios in the Pence Building on 8th S ...
23 in the
Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in sta ...
metro area. He continued writing for the ''Star Tribune'' until his death in 2020.


Early life

Hartman was born at
Maternity Hospital A maternity hospital specializes in caring for women during pregnancy and childbirth. It also provides care for newborn infants, and may act as a centre for clinical training in midwifery and obstetrics. Formerly known as lying-in hospitals, most ...
on Glenwood Avenue in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on March 15, 1920.Sid Hartman, ''Sid!'', p. 39 He grew up in a
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
family in north Minneapolis. His father, Jack Hechtman, was born in Russia and immigrated to the United States at age 16, changing his name to Hartman after he arrived. Sid Hartman's mother, Celia Weinberg, immigrated to the United States from Latvia at age nine. Both his parents died in 1972. Jack Hartman could neither read nor write and suffered from alcoholism. He made his living by driving a delivery truck, primarily making furniture deliveries.Sid Hartman, ''Sid!'', pp. 39–40 Celia Hartman owned an apparel store on the north side of Minneapolis and also did the bookkeeping for Jack Hartman's delivery business. The family moved frequently, living first at a home on Aldrich Avenue, then at a home on Humboldt Avenue, and later at homes in the 700 block of Irving Avenue.Sid Hartman, ''Sid!'', p. 40 Hartman attended Talmud Torah Jewish School from age 10 to 14, before enrolling at Minneapolis North High School. He began selling newspapers at age nine. As a teenager, he developed the use of newspaper boxes, where customers would pay for newspapers on the honor system by leaving coins in a change box.Sid Hartman, ''Sid!'', p. 47 Hartman attended Minneapolis North High School but dropped out his junior year when he received a lucrative news run for delivering the ''
Minneapolis Tribune The ''Star Tribune'' is the largest newspaper in Minnesota. It originated as the ''Minneapolis Tribune'' in 1867 and the competing ''Minneapolis Daily Star'' in 1920. During the 1930s and 1940s, Minneapolis's competing newspapers were consolida ...
''. In 1941, he lost his ''Tribune'' news run when the Des Moines newspaper magnate
John Cowles Sr. John Cowles Sr. (December 14, 1898 – February 25, 1983) was an American newspaper and magazine publisher. He was co-owner of the Cowles Media Company, whose assets included the ''Minneapolis Star'', the '' Minneapolis Tribune'', the ''Des Moin ...
bought the Tribune Company. For a brief time, Hartman became a vacuum salesman, but the occupation did not suit him.Sid Hartman, ''Sid!'', p. 49 In his autobiography, Hartman conceded that he was "the world's worst vacuum cleaner salesman." After
Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the R ...
, Hartman attempted to enlist in the United States military during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
but was rejected because of his asthma. In the early 1940s, Hartman got a key break from Louie Mohs, the circulation manager of the '' Minneapolis Times''. Mohs gave him the ''Times'' news run for downtown Minneapolis, which paid well and got Hartman out of the vacuum business. In 1944 Hartman got an even bigger break when Mohs recommended him to ''Times'' sports editor and columnist Dick Cullum, who was looking for a sports desk intern. Cullum hired Hartman, the beginning of a sports writing career that would last over 75 years.


Minneapolis Lakers

As a 27-year-old in 1947, Hartman became the acting general manager of the
Minneapolis Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers franchise has a long and storied history, predating the formation of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Founded in 1947, the Lakers are one of the NBA's most famous and successful franchises. As of summer 2012, th ...
. Hartman helped build what would become the first dynasty in the NBA.


Sports columnist

Hartman was a popular, widely read and widely heard sports columnist throughout his career. For seven decades, Hartman served as the "radio and print voice of Minnesota sports." The columns he wrote were strong on reporting, while the writing was less admired. Dick Cullum, Hartman's first editor, explained it this way: "Writers are a dime a dozen, but reporters are impossible to find." Steve Rushin of ''Sports Illustrated'' observed that "English sometimes appears to be his second language." On September 11, 1945, Hartman wrote his first column for Minneapolis' ''Star Tribune'' newspaper and would continue writing columns with the newspaper until his death in 2020. From 1955 until his death, Hartman also appeared as a radio sportscaster and commentator on Minneapolis' WCCO Radio. One of the elements of his style – often caricatured by local comics and other radio personalities – was his habit while interviewing a sports figure of referring to him or her as "my close personal friend". Over the years, his "close personal friends" have included
George Steinbrenner George Michael Steinbrenner III (July 4, 1930July 13, 2010) was an American businessman who was the principal owner and managing partner of Major League Baseball's New York Yankees from 1973 until his death in 2010. He was the longest-serving own ...
, Bob Knight, Lou Holtz, and Carl Yastrzemski.


Tributes

A statue of Hartman was unveiled outside of
Target Center Target Center is a multi-purpose arena located in Minneapolis that opened in 1990. It hosts major family shows, concerts, sporting events, graduations and private events. Target Corporation, founded and headquartered in Minneapolis since 1902, ...
in downtown
Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
on October 10, 2010. The
Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...
honored Hartman by naming the media entrance at U.S. Bank Stadium after him, with photos of Hartman adorning the media entrance of
U.S. Bank Stadium U.S. Bank Stadium is an enclosed stadium located in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. Built on the former site of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, the indoor stadium opened in 2016 and is the home of the Minnesota Vikings of the National Footbal ...
. They also named the interview room at their new practice facility in
Eagan, Minnesota Eagan ( ) is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, Dakota County, Minnesota. It is south of Saint Paul, Minnesota, Saint Paul and lies on the south bank of the Minnesota River, upstream from the confluence with the Mississippi River. Eagan and the ...
, in honor of him. Moreover, a pizza – the Sid's Special – was named in tribute to him at the Italian restaurant Vescio's in
Dinkytown Dinkytown is a commercial district within the Marcy-Holmes neighborhood in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Centered at 14th Avenue Southeast and 4th Street Southeast, the district contains several city blocks occupied by various small businesses, restau ...
, Minneapolis (closed in March 2018). A statue of Hartman is also located outside
Target Field Target Field is a baseball stadium in the North Loop, Minneapolis, historic warehouse district of downtown Minneapolis. Since its opening in 2010, the stadium has been the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Minnesota Twins. The stadium hos ...
. In addition to having at U.S. Bank Stadium named in his honor, Hartman would also have media rooms at Target Field named in his honor as well. The
University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...
renamed the press box at its football home of
TCF Bank Stadium Huntington Bank Stadium (formerly known as TCF Bank Stadium) is an outdoor stadium located on the campus of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The stadium opened in 2009, after three years of construction. It i ...
the Sid Hartman Press Box on November 17, 2018. The University issued a press release ending with, "The Sid Hartman Press Box is a tribute to his work, his life and his legacy."


Personal life

Hartman's name was among tens of thousands on Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff's client list. It is not publicly known how much money, if any, Hartman lost with Madoff when the $50 billion fraud was exposed late in 2008. Hartman married Barbara Balfour in 1964. They later divorced in 1972. Hartman's son
Chad Hartman Chad Hartman is an American radio talk show host on WCCO-AM. Personal Hartman is the son of longtime Minnesota sportswriter Sid Hartman. Hartman graduated from Robbinsdale Armstrong High School. In 1988 he graduated from Arizona State Univer ...
also has a radio show on WCCO. He also had an adopted daughter, Chris Schmitt. Hartman described former Lakers player, former Vikings coach and frequent radio guest
Bud Grant Harry Peter "Bud" Grant Jr. (born May 20, 1927) is a former head coach and player of American football, Canadian football, and a former player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Grant served as the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings ...
, whom he had known since 1945, as his "close personal friend". He was also the one who inducted Grant into the
Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coa ...
in 1994. In December 2016, Hartman was hospitalized in Minneapolis after falling and breaking his right hip. He underwent surgery to repair his hip the following day. As a result, Hartman announced his columns would be placed on hiatus. He returned to work on January 13, 2017, attending the news conference for new Gophers football coach
P. J. Fleck Philip John Fleck Jr. (born November 29, 1980) is an American football coach and former wide receiver. He has served as the head coach for the Minnesota Golden Gophers football team since 2017. Born in Sugar Grove, Illinois, Fleck played colle ...
. Hartman turned 100 in March 2020. He had 21,149 bylines by that time. Minnesota Twins Hall of Famer
Rod Carew Rodney Cline Carew (born October 1, 1945) is a Panamanian former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a first baseman, second baseman and designated hitter from 1967 to 1985 for the Minnesota Twins ...
described Hartman as his "buddy" and "the only guy that I trusted when I was
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that I could talk to and not worry about it." Minnesota Vikings Hall of Fame quarterback
Fran Tarkenton Francis Asbury Tarkenton (born February 3, 1940) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Minnesota Vikings. He played college football at ...
described Hartman as his "best friend in Minnesota" and "the greatest journalist, most honest, forthcoming journalist, sports journalist that I've ever known". Hartman also met with renowned local musician
Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...
during the time he was preparing for his 2007 Super Bowl XLI halftime show performance.


Death

On October 18, 2020, Hartman died at the age of 100. His final column, a discussion with
Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...
wide receiver
Adam Thielen Adam John Thielen (born August 22, 1990) is an American football wide receiver for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Minnesota State and signed with the Vikings as an undrafted free age ...
, was published by the ''Star Tribune'' that same day. Thielen, Vikings Hall of Famer
Randy Moss Randy Gene Moss (born February 13, 1977) is an American former professional football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders, New England Patriots, Tennessee ...
and Vikings owners
Mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * F ...
and
Zygi Wilf Zygmunt "Zygi" Wilf (born April 22, 1950) is an American billionaire businessman and real estate developer. He is the chairman and co-owner of the NFL's Minnesota Vikings and the majority owner of MLS's Orlando City. Early life Wilf was bor ...
were among those who paid tribute, along with numerous Minnesota Twins players and executives,
Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...
and Lynx owner
Glen Taylor Glen Allen Taylor (born April 20, 1941) is an American billionaire business magnate and politician from Minnesota. A self-made businessman, Taylor made his fortune from being the founder and owner of Minnesota-based Taylor Corporation, one of th ...
, Timberwolves coach
Ryan Saunders Ryan Philip Saunders (born April 28, 1986) is an American basketball assistant coach for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is known for his work as a Head coach for the Minnesota Timberwolves and in player devel ...
, the spokespersons for the
Minnesota Golden Gophers The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 25 (12 men's, 13 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and competes in the Big Te ...
men's basketball and football teams and Minnesota governor
Tim Walz Timothy James Walz ( ; born April 6, 1964) is an American politician and retired educator. A member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), he has served as the 41st governor of Minnesota since 2019. Born in West Point, Nebraska, Wal ...
.


Works

Hartman published two books: * ''Sid!: The Sports Legends, the Inside Scoops, and the Close Personal Friends'' is an autobiography of Sid Hartman. The book discusses many of the events in the Minnesota sports scene from 1940 onward. * ''Sid Hartman's Great Minnesota Sports Moments''


References


External links


''Star Tribune'': Sid Hartman

WCCO: Sid Hartman

''Yesterday's News blog'': Hartman's first column (Sept. 11, 1945)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hartman, Sid 1920 births 2020 deaths American centenarians Men centenarians American columnists American sportswriters Jewish American writers Minneapolis Lakers personnel Radio personalities from Minneapolis Star Tribune people Writers from Minneapolis American people of Russian-Jewish descent American people of Latvian-Jewish descent North Community High School alumni 21st-century American Jews