flipcritic
11-11-2006, 07:16 AM
He's back and his cancer (though incurable) is in remission. God bless him.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/richard_deitsch/11/10/media.circus/index.html
Last week SI writer Richard Deitsch interviewed TNT's Ernie Johnson for the magazine's Q&A. The 50-year-old announcer returned to work last week after taking four months off for treatment of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Here are additional excerpts from their conversation:
SI: You have had six rounds of chemotherapy. What's next?
Johnson: The short story is I am remission and chemo is over.
SI: What was it like to go through something private in a very public way?
Johnson: It's kind of weird having somebody ask you what Charles Barkley is really like as they are getting chemo across from you and you are getting a drip. You can't get away from it. I've gone up to people at restaurants that I recognize and I'll say "What's up?" But a lot of times people didn't make the connection. I'm just another one of those bald guys walking around. I had a guy who saw me at church ask me, "What happened? Did you lose a bet to Charles." I said "I wish."
SI: It must have felt great to be back on the air?
Johnson: It felt great to be back on. The day was loaded with encouragement from so many people.
SI: Were you worried Charles and Kenny Smith would treat you with kid gloves after your diagnosis?
Johnson: When I told them in November I said, "Look, here's what I am dealing with and I'll probably start treatment soon. But what you can't do this year is let this change any of the dynamic on the show. I don't want you saying, 'You can't pick on Ernie because he has cancer.'" We couldn't do that and to their credit they did not treat me any differently which was important to me.
SI: Which people in the basketball community called you to offer support?
Johnson: David Stern called me at my house the first day I released a statement. Mark Jackson wrote me the greatest e-mail in the first couple of days. Bill Walton was one of the first guys to call. One day he even called me with John Wooden.
SI: What was that call like?
Johnson: Bizarre, because they got my answering machine. It's Bill's voice and he says, "I have a special guest for you." And it's Wooden. I had emceed the Wooden breakfast at the Final Four so I knew him a bit. He said he understood that I was going through a trial and that he was praying for me. Typical John Wooden.
SI: Among the many e-mails of support you received was one from Susan Saint James, the wife of NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol. That particularly touched you, right?
Johnson: She wrote me on March 2 ,after I had written to Dick. Her e-mail said, "Dick copied me your e-mail because he knows how much I like watching you on sports, but also how much I admire you and your devotion to the mentally challenged, too. Now this. You are in my prayers which are fervent and often these days. Thanks for your kind words about Teddy [Ebersol's late son] and our family. Oh, the things that were are given. Trust God is right. All the best with your new challenge. With affection. Susan St James Ebersol." I kept reading that one line -- Oh, the things we are given -- over and over again. It just stuck with me.
SI: What did Mark Jackson write?
Johnson: He wrote: "Hey, Ernie. Just wanted to send you this to encourage you. This is an awesome time in your life. I watched you the other night say to all of the viewers that you and your family are going to attack this thing the only way you know how. With God. That was incredible. Believe it or not there are people around this world that got healed, delivered or saved right after you uttered those words. Also, you planted a seed for someone else who will one day be going through something similar. Feel incredibly blessed that God would pick you for this task. You also best believers with your boldness. I thank God for you and the precious name of Jesus Christ I speak healing in your life. The Word says that by his stripes we are healed. It says that we are more than conquerors. Whatever you are going through it does not matter. Jesus already beat it. Stay encouraged, my brother. God is still good. More importantly, he is still God."
SI: What have your doctors said about your future?
Johnson: It is an incurable form of a cancer, but a lot of people live a long time with it. You look at things that say the prognosis is seven to 10 years. But the usual age that this is caught is 65 or 70. There are a lot of folks who live an awful long time with it. The doctor who took the biopsy the first day said to me, "If you are going to have cancer, you have the best kind." They should put that on a T-shirt (laughs). You have to try to live in the moment and not let yourself focus on what will happen in three or six years from now.
SI: The Inside the NBA crew put together a tape of NBA stars welcoming you back. In honor of your new bald pate, Kobe Bryant said, "Welcome to the land of the brothers." That must be particularly nice given that Charles has frequently called you the whitest man in America.
Johnson: And the token white guy. It's like Charles always says to me, "Ernie, the only reason you're here is because you're the white guy."
SI: Is there someone you have always wanted on the set?
Johnson: It would be fun to get Michael Jordan on there sometime. We have overtures out to him. I think that would be fun to have just because of Michael and Charles' relationship. Perhaps Michael has seen the show -- and that's why he has politely declined.
SI: Why did the chemistry between you, Kenny and Charles click?
Johnson: I think if you are ever able to answer why a certain mix of guys on the set works, if you try to figure it out and reason it, it won't work. A lot of it is just luck. You have an outspoken guy like Charles. You have this New York street smarts edge guy like Kenny and the token white guy. It worked because nobody wanted to dominate. Nobody said I need air time. It's just guys watching basketball. We don't force anything. We don't rehearse anything. And I knew it work the the first night. Charles asked Kenny what he was going to talk about at halftime and he said, "You'll find out." That's why it works. It is spontaneous and unrehearsed.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/richard_deitsch/11/10/media.circus/index.html
Last week SI writer Richard Deitsch interviewed TNT's Ernie Johnson for the magazine's Q&A. The 50-year-old announcer returned to work last week after taking four months off for treatment of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Here are additional excerpts from their conversation:
SI: You have had six rounds of chemotherapy. What's next?
Johnson: The short story is I am remission and chemo is over.
SI: What was it like to go through something private in a very public way?
Johnson: It's kind of weird having somebody ask you what Charles Barkley is really like as they are getting chemo across from you and you are getting a drip. You can't get away from it. I've gone up to people at restaurants that I recognize and I'll say "What's up?" But a lot of times people didn't make the connection. I'm just another one of those bald guys walking around. I had a guy who saw me at church ask me, "What happened? Did you lose a bet to Charles." I said "I wish."
SI: It must have felt great to be back on the air?
Johnson: It felt great to be back on. The day was loaded with encouragement from so many people.
SI: Were you worried Charles and Kenny Smith would treat you with kid gloves after your diagnosis?
Johnson: When I told them in November I said, "Look, here's what I am dealing with and I'll probably start treatment soon. But what you can't do this year is let this change any of the dynamic on the show. I don't want you saying, 'You can't pick on Ernie because he has cancer.'" We couldn't do that and to their credit they did not treat me any differently which was important to me.
SI: Which people in the basketball community called you to offer support?
Johnson: David Stern called me at my house the first day I released a statement. Mark Jackson wrote me the greatest e-mail in the first couple of days. Bill Walton was one of the first guys to call. One day he even called me with John Wooden.
SI: What was that call like?
Johnson: Bizarre, because they got my answering machine. It's Bill's voice and he says, "I have a special guest for you." And it's Wooden. I had emceed the Wooden breakfast at the Final Four so I knew him a bit. He said he understood that I was going through a trial and that he was praying for me. Typical John Wooden.
SI: Among the many e-mails of support you received was one from Susan Saint James, the wife of NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol. That particularly touched you, right?
Johnson: She wrote me on March 2 ,after I had written to Dick. Her e-mail said, "Dick copied me your e-mail because he knows how much I like watching you on sports, but also how much I admire you and your devotion to the mentally challenged, too. Now this. You are in my prayers which are fervent and often these days. Thanks for your kind words about Teddy [Ebersol's late son] and our family. Oh, the things that were are given. Trust God is right. All the best with your new challenge. With affection. Susan St James Ebersol." I kept reading that one line -- Oh, the things we are given -- over and over again. It just stuck with me.
SI: What did Mark Jackson write?
Johnson: He wrote: "Hey, Ernie. Just wanted to send you this to encourage you. This is an awesome time in your life. I watched you the other night say to all of the viewers that you and your family are going to attack this thing the only way you know how. With God. That was incredible. Believe it or not there are people around this world that got healed, delivered or saved right after you uttered those words. Also, you planted a seed for someone else who will one day be going through something similar. Feel incredibly blessed that God would pick you for this task. You also best believers with your boldness. I thank God for you and the precious name of Jesus Christ I speak healing in your life. The Word says that by his stripes we are healed. It says that we are more than conquerors. Whatever you are going through it does not matter. Jesus already beat it. Stay encouraged, my brother. God is still good. More importantly, he is still God."
SI: What have your doctors said about your future?
Johnson: It is an incurable form of a cancer, but a lot of people live a long time with it. You look at things that say the prognosis is seven to 10 years. But the usual age that this is caught is 65 or 70. There are a lot of folks who live an awful long time with it. The doctor who took the biopsy the first day said to me, "If you are going to have cancer, you have the best kind." They should put that on a T-shirt (laughs). You have to try to live in the moment and not let yourself focus on what will happen in three or six years from now.
SI: The Inside the NBA crew put together a tape of NBA stars welcoming you back. In honor of your new bald pate, Kobe Bryant said, "Welcome to the land of the brothers." That must be particularly nice given that Charles has frequently called you the whitest man in America.
Johnson: And the token white guy. It's like Charles always says to me, "Ernie, the only reason you're here is because you're the white guy."
SI: Is there someone you have always wanted on the set?
Johnson: It would be fun to get Michael Jordan on there sometime. We have overtures out to him. I think that would be fun to have just because of Michael and Charles' relationship. Perhaps Michael has seen the show -- and that's why he has politely declined.
SI: Why did the chemistry between you, Kenny and Charles click?
Johnson: I think if you are ever able to answer why a certain mix of guys on the set works, if you try to figure it out and reason it, it won't work. A lot of it is just luck. You have an outspoken guy like Charles. You have this New York street smarts edge guy like Kenny and the token white guy. It worked because nobody wanted to dominate. Nobody said I need air time. It's just guys watching basketball. We don't force anything. We don't rehearse anything. And I knew it work the the first night. Charles asked Kenny what he was going to talk about at halftime and he said, "You'll find out." That's why it works. It is spontaneous and unrehearsed.