Sid Hartman, Longtime Twin Cities Sports Columnist And WCCO/Minneapolis Personality, Dies At 100

Sid Hartman

SID HARTMAN, for 75 years synonymous with TWIN CITIES sports as a columnist for the MINNEAPOLIS TRIBUNE and STAR TRIBUNE and a host at WCCO-A/MINNEAPOLIS, died SUNDAY (10/18) at the age of 100.

HARTMAN became one of the TWIN CITIES' most well-known local celebrities over the course of his long career, beginning as a sportswriter with the old MINNEAPOLIS TIMES in 1944, moving to the TRIBUNE in 1948 and writing his column (later in the TRIBUNE's successor, the STAR TRIBUNE) until his death, his last column printed on the day of his passing. He also hosted and did sports reports and commentary on WCCO radio for 65 years starting in 1955, and had co-hosted the weekly "SPORTS HUDDLE" with DAVE MONA for 40 years. HARTMAN also moonlighted as the GM of the NBL and NBA MINNEAPOLIS LAKERS in 1947-57.

HARTMAN's penchant for indicating that sports celebrities were his "close personal friend" became a running gag, first on STEVE CANNON's show and ultimately in the general parlance of the area, but HARTMAN was indeed a big enough celebrity in the area that PRINCE reportedly recognized him and waved him through security to attend a press conference at the 2007 SUPER BOWL.

A statue of HARTMAN stands outside the home of the MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES and LYNX, the TARGET CENTER, and the media entrance of the VIKINGS' US BANK STADIUM is named in his honor; his son CHAD also became a longtime WCCO radio personality and currently hosts weekdays noon-3p (CT).

« see more Net News