Storm

My favorite memories of Stormin’ Norman Van Lier are on the local ESPN station…Carmen DeFalco was doing a post game (more like a post mortem) following a listless outing. Norm was po'd about the lack of effort on the court and Carmen referenced the ironic slogan for the season…

“You know Norm, ’Everything can change in the blink of an eye’”…to which Norm responded, “Yeah everything can change with a punch in the eye too!”

As mad as I was about the crappy basketball I just watched, Norm made me laugh and fired me up with his passion for the sport he loved.

It was right around that time that Norm had his own radio show on Sunday nights and as the music played him out to commercial he demanded that the song be turned up as he sang along, “Jeremiah was a Bullfrog…was a good friend of mine”

With his passing I think of that dog food song from Three Dog Night and find it ennobled because Norm sang it like there was something good in it for all of us.

His passion and his joy always seemed genuine and in this world that is a rare thing. Heaven better look out because Stormin Norm is there…and he’s got all his fouls to give.