{"id":82162,"date":"2019-02-25T18:47:27","date_gmt":"2019-02-25T18:47:27","guid":{"rendered":"\/rcntv\/?p=82162"},"modified":"2019-02-25T21:21:30","modified_gmt":"2019-02-25T21:21:30","slug":"bearman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/bearman\/","title":{"rendered":"Bearman"},"content":{"rendered":"

The views expressed in this blog are<\/em>\u00a0those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ask people around the Lehigh Valley who Kevin Schutts is and they probably will give\u00a0you a blank stare. Ask almost anyone in the Valley if they know \u201cBearman\u201d<\/a> and, first,\u00a0they will smile and then they will tell you about the Bearman and Keith. Kevin and\u00a0Bearman are one in the same.<\/p>\n

You probably know by now that Bearman passed away this weekend.\u00a0 It was sudden and\u00a0unexpected. The Valley woke up Monday morning in shock. I turned on WZZO-95.1<\/a>\u00a0this morning and there was only music. I am sure Keith, much like Bearman\u2019s family\u00a0and the listening audience, was devastated.<\/p>\n

Years ago (I am not good at dates), the RCN marketing department asked me if I would\u00a0be willing to go on the radio once a week and be part of the Bearman and Keith show. I\u00a0hesitated, but it was obvious the RCN wanted the exposure and they were going to be a\u00a0major sponsor. I accepted and my life changed dramatically.<\/p>\n

There was bad news. Every Monday morning, I had to get up at 5:30 AM in order to be at\u00a0the ZZO studio by 8:00 AM. It also meant sleepless Sunday nights as I wracked my\u00a0brain thinking of what I would say that anyone would find interesting. And, to add to my\u00a0discomfort, Bearman and Keith were crazy. I had no idea what would come out of their\u00a0mouths and, early on, I had no idea what they wanted me to talk about. Sometimes they\u00a0would lead me down a path that I knew RCN would not be comfortable with me\u00a0traveling. They always kept me on my toes.<\/p>\n

My anxiety was relieved immediately. They were two of the nicest people I had worked\u00a0with. They wanted me to talk sports, but in some humorous fashion. That was easy\u00a0because they always looked at life in a very quirky way. And their audience was vast and\u00a0loyal. If I was their friend, then the audience became my friend.<\/p>\n

I am not sure when, but early on Bearman started introducing me as \u201cGar-eeee Lauuu-bach!\u201d Boy, did that catch on. I could not go anywhere without someone shouting it out\u00a0when they saw me. Their influence in the Valley was unbelievable. For example, one\u00a0summer, my wife and I were on a cruise in the middle of the Caribbean waiting to get on\u00a0an elevator on the ship. The doors opened, a woman stepped out, gave me a look and\u00a0screamed, \u201cGar-eeee Lauuu-bach!\u201d To say the least, my wife was flabbergasted. I was\u00a0just in awe of the power of those two guys. It still follows me to this day. Some people\u00a0still ask me if I am on. I have not been on for years.<\/p>\n

After doing the show for awhile, the boys asked me to come on Friday mornings to make NFL<\/a> picks for the Steelers<\/a>, Giants<\/a>, Jets,<\/a> and Eagles<\/a>. I could phone it in at 8:00 am.\u00a0Raymond the Amish comic <\/a>was in the studio most Fridays and all we did was laugh. I\u00a0could plug our weekend football games and start my morning with a big smile on my\u00a0face. And I know the audience loved it. They would say so.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been described that the show was \u201ctwo goofy guys doing goofy things\u201d. That pretty\u00a0much sums it up. And it was unique, sometimes off the wall, and always entertaining.\u00a0And a final word about Keith. Over the years, I have lost two of my long-time sidekicks\u00a0\u2013 Bob Gehris and Dick Tracy. When they passed, our on-air time had already ended.\u00a0 Their decline was gradual and their passing not unexpected. It was still devastating. It is\u00a0hard for me to imagine the pain Keith must be feeling. You cannot mention one\u2019s name\u00a0without the other. They were joined together, not at the hip, but at the lip! I wish him the\u00a0very best emotionally and vocationally.<\/p>\n

I know the Valley and I will smile a little less each morning now as we drive to work.<\/p>\n

May Kevin \u201cBearman\u201d Schutts rest in peace.<\/p>\n

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSING)<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. It appears that we will know about Bryce Harper this week, perhaps, as early as Tuesday. The Nationals<\/a>\u00a0offered him a 10-year, $300 million contract which he turned down.\u00a0 It appears the Phillies<\/a> have the best chance of getting him to sign.\u00a0 Worth it?\u00a0 He would be a Phillie until he was 36 years old.\u00a0 After signing Andrew McCutchen and J. T. Realmuto, the excitement and the pressure could be dramatic and overwhelming.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n
    1. Is this the year the Golden State Warriors<\/a> do NOT win the NBA<\/a> title? The Milwaukee Bucks<\/a> have won nine of the last 10.\u00a0 The Warriors are banged up and losing, but don\u2019t count them out.\u00a0 When they are healthy, they are the best.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
        \n
      1. Portland<\/a> was in town to play the Sixers<\/a> on Saturday night. This allowed Portland\u2019s and Lehigh\u2019s <\/a>C J McCollum to attend the ceremony to retire his number at Stabler Arena on Sunday afternoon.\u00a0 He is having a great pro career and certainly will be remembered as one of the best to ever put on a Patriot League<\/a> uniform.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
          \n
        1. I watched the Flyers<\/a> play the Penguins<\/a> outdoors at Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday night. 70,000 fans were there.\u00a0 It was raining the entire game, so I hope the fans stayed until the end.\u00a0 The Flyers were down 3-1 before they made their comeback, tying the game with 19.7 seconds on the clock.\u00a0 It took just one minute and 59 seconds to score the game winner in overtime.\u00a0 It may not be good enough to get the Flyers into the playoffs, but it kept them alive.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
            \n
          1. District basketball championships will be decided this week on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Seeds #11, #7, #5, and #1 are still alive in the 6A boys\u2019 bracket.\u00a0 Crazy year.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

             <\/p>\n

            \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

            \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

              \n
            • <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

               <\/p>\n

              \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

              \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

              The views expressed in this blog are\u00a0those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.\u00a0\u00a0 Ask people around the Lehigh Valley who Kevin Schutts is and they probably will give\u00a0you a blank stare. Ask almost anyone in the Valley if…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-82162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-behind-the-mic"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBearman - ATVN<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/bearman\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bearman - ATVN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The views expressed in this blog are\u00a0those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.\u00a0\u00a0 Ask people around the Lehigh Valley who Kevin Schutts is and they probably will give\u00a0you a blank stare. 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