I think one of my fondest memories of Rick will be the time we spent together yesterday. On a snowy January day, he was in very good form, although his voice started to croak up toward the end. He's still trying to muster up the magic. I called the game along with him, in my best Jeanneret voice, and at least half a dozen times I anticipated the turn of phrase. "he rolls that one in"... "rattled around the boards"... "kicked it into the corner"
I walked away from the TV at one point and just listened like so many radio games of the past. I picked up on the ice level sound and it reminded me of when the Sabres were on 97 Rock in the late 80s and if the atmosphere was right, it boomed into my bedroom. The extraneous sound was too much and it covered up Rick at times, especially the goal horn. I wrote a letter to Pete Weber, who I think was station engineer as well as talk show host. He wrote back that he'd look into the audio issues so "your soul can leave the logjam of the airwaves."
It's funny what you remember.
We won't be back this way too many more times. I am in serious denial about Rick.