[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 184 (Sunday, October 25, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6595-S6596]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        REMEMBERING SID HARTMAN

 Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Madam President, today I rise to honor and pay 
tribute to Sid Hartman, a sports journalist and a Minnesota legend who 
passed away on October 18, 2020, at age 100.
  Born in 1920 on the north side of Minneapolis, Sid Hartman was born 
to be a newspaperman. He began selling newspapers when he was 9 years 
old and even pioneered the use of newspaper boxes where customers would 
pay by leaving coins in a change box. Sid would ride his bicycle to 
Newspaper Alley, where he would buy 100 copies of the Minneapolis Star, 
the Journal, and the Morning Tribune for $1.10 and then sell them for 
two cents apiece.
  That is how Sid got his start in business, but his big break came 
when Dick Cullum, the sports editor at the Minneapolis Times, hired him 
to work on the sports desk in 1944. And during his tenure, Sid's 
columns were a big reason why people bought the newspaper. Sid went on 
to become the unofficial general manager for the Minneapolis Lakers and 
helped secure a Major League Baseball team for Minneapolis. Since 2010, 
a statue of Sid holding a newspaper and microphone has stood near the 
corner of Sixth Street and First Avenue North in Minneapolis, a fitting 
tribute to his legacy outside of the Target Center and the Minnesota 
Twins' Target Field.
  Sid was also a popular radio personality on WCCO Radio. I know I will 
never forget the day at the Minnesota State Fair WCCO Radio booth when 
we both appeared on the Dave Lee show for the annual ``Minnesota 
Hospital'' soap opera spoof skit, where I was given the role of Nurse 
Helen and Sid played the infamous ``Dr. Kidney Hartman.''
  Sid knew everyone. His 1996 autobiography, titled: ``Sid! The Sports 
Legends, the Inside Scoops and the Close Personal Friends,'' was 
endorsed by some of the biggest names in sports, from legendary Vikings 
coach Bud Grant to Arnold Palmer, Wayne Gretzky, Ted Williams, Bob 
Costas, and George Steinbrenner. Nobody had better relationships in the 
sports world than Sid.
  Ten years after the book's release, the Star Tribune published ``Sid 
Hartman's Great Minnesota Sports Moments'' featuring this quote from 
Tom Brokaw: ``I grew up on Sid Hartman columns about my Midwestern 
sports heroes and I still think of him as a Hall of Fame 
newspaperman.''
  My dad, a future newspaperman himself, first met Sid in 1945 while 
Sid was covering the Minnesota high school basketball championship 
game. My dad was playing for his hometown high school team Ely, a small 
town on Minnesota's Iron Range, and they were up against Patrick Henry 
High School, a powerhouse that had only lost one game that season. As 
soon as my dad got off the bus, Sid stuck a microphone in his face and 
said, ``You don't have a chance. How are you going to win?'' Sid was 
right, and Ely lost 66-35.
  Years later, my dad started writing for the Associated Press and then 
for the Star Tribune. He and Sid got to know each other well. They were 
fierce competitors, but had respect for each other's drive and work.
  Throughout Sid's career, he never had any plans to quit. He was 
always driven to get the scoop. He was relentless. At the time of his 
death, he was still writing three or four columns a week. In fact, Sid 
produced 21,235 bylined stories from 1944 to 2020. In his final column, 
he wrote: ``Writing a column as I turn 100 years old is hard to 
believe.'' But for all who knew Sid, it wasn't hard for any of us to 
believe.
  My prayers and condolences go out to Sid's son Chad, his daughter 
Chris, and his entire family. It is hard to be surprised when someone 
dies at age 100, but Sid was someone who just never stopped loving his 
work and our State.
  We miss you, Sid.
  Thank you.

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