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ERIC CRAWFORD WDRB 41 SPORTS JOURNALIST "Denny, that's a one-way street! you're Driving the wrong way on a one-way street!" I n life, there are many choices to be made. Some good, some bad. Some seem to be going the wrong way on a one-way street, but eventually lead us somewhere, and sometimes without any indication lead us in the right direction. Eric Crawford has made many such decisions in life and a particularly big one last year. After covering sports for Louisville's Courier-Journal for 12 years, he made a controversial hop over to media rival WDRB 41 with fellow C-J contributor Rick Bozich. Crawford thought the move would be a big bold change, one so bold it was the buzz around media circles for months. Ultimately, he hoped the move was a good one. But that's the tail end of a story with its origins in Crawford's tough start to his now esteemed career – a journey countless others take in a simple pursuit of a lifelong dream. "My dad was a columnist for the Courier-Journal for 29 years," recalls Crawford. "However, he actually started in radio, and then moved to television doing special interest pieces with WHAS-TV. Barry Bingham (then owner of the C-J) enjoyed the special interest pieces and asked him to continue that for the Courier-Journal." With his father well entrenched in local media, Crawford simply couldn't avoid it. "While I didn't necessarily feel like I was preparing for the 'family business,' perhaps I should have," he remembers fondly. "I remember delivering papers for the Louisville Times before we moved to Shelby County, so I can say that I am pretty well-versed about the newspaper business from the ground up, literally. Up to now, I've been a paperboy, clerk, reporter, sports editor and columnist." A big sports fan in a sports-mad town, Crawford remembers how Rick Bozich and Billy Reed were high on his reading list – his manuals for a future in sportswriting. He wrote in high school, and with the encouragement of teachers did so on anything he could lay his hands on. One job Crawford was able to secure after college was working part-time at the CourierJournal answering phones at the sports desk, something he recalls was "such an adrenaline rush." He bided his time and waited for his chance, but when a position opened, he was turned away – a mere block in the road. Instead he was hired by the Evansville Courier & Press, entry level work that he enjoyed but ultimately was not where he wanted to be – Louisville. Crawford applied again and once more was turned down by the Courier-Journal something Crawford claims happened "on at least several occasions." "They hired several people in front of me, all who probably deserved it, but I didn't give up." In fact, Crawford eventually did get the job he dreamed of, taking up his position during one of the few more interesting periods in Louisville sports, during FA L L 2 0 1 3 the fnal years of Denny Crum's Hall of Fame career. "Denny didn't get along with the newspaper, but for some reason, he did get along with me," says Crawford. "We didn't have a lot of interaction and it was a stressful time that year as there were leaked memos and ESPN was reporting his exit well before anything was fnal. I tried to be fair with Denny. Many people were coming after him at that time, but I tried to focus more on what he meant to the Louisville Basketball program. Perhaps Denny could sense that, and maybe that's why we got along. I am sure he also wanted to have a voice in the media and I was able to do that for him." Crawford recalls one particularly memorable episode during the time he was covering his frst road game for Louisville basketball – in Hawaii. Sitting in a van with Paul Rogers, Jock Sutherland and a couple others, a call suddenly came screaming from the back. "Denny that's a one-way street! You're driving the wrong way on a one-way street!" "It was surreal to be in the van flled with this cast of characters and Denny Crum was driving all of us, and apparently in the wrong direction," laughs Crawford. Cool Hand Luke had the response you would expect though. "We're fne, that's just for the tourists." Experiences like these make writing so much fun according to Crawford, and cemented in his mind that he made the right decision for his career. After all, who else gets to take a bus ride in Hawaii from a Hall of Fame coach down a one-way street? "we Don't know how this is going to work. it's a risk. But it's Different." Crawford credits Harry Bryan as one of the most infuential people of his career. But when Bryan, a sports editor for the Courier-Journal for most of his career, accepted a buyout and slipped into early retirement, it was a move that made Crawford realize perhaps his time at his dream job was coming to an end. The opportune time to start a new chapter. Terry Boyd of Insider Louisville broke the news that Eric Crawford and Rick Bozich would be leaving for WDRB 41 that sent ripples through Kentucky media. A huge gain and boon for WDRB 41, and a seismic blow to the Courier-Journal. "We don't know how this is going to work," Crawford was quoted back then. "It's a risk. But it's different." Both men gave a lot of credit to Courier-Journal for their time spent and experiences gained, but it was time. Crawford and Bozich took a leap of faith hoping it was the right move and looked forward to the challenge ahead. "C-J was going through some furloughs, and that was tough," explained Crawford. "WDRB 41 was offering the writing, which is my passion, but without the 600 word limitation since it is internet writing. I liked that. They offered me TV as well, which w w w. v o i c e - t r i b u n e . c o m | The Voice oF LouisviLLe 41