The Fan celebrates Irv Brown Day, remembering a Colorado sports legend

The term “legend” gets thrown around pretty loosely nowadays. It seemingly doesn’t take very much to earn that title anymore. It’s been watered down, like so many things in modern society.

But that doesn’t mean they still don’t exist.

A true legend is someone who breaks barriers, who accomplishes amazing things, who inspires and helps others. It’s a person who doesn’t come along very often, a rare breed that those who are fortunate to come in contact with them know that they’ve had an encounter with greatness.

Irv Brown was a legend.

He was a world-class college basketball referee. He was a coach. He was a television announcer. He was a sports talk radio pioneer. He was a friend and mentor to hundreds.

When I was growing up in Denver in the 1980s, Irv Brown was the guy who called Nuggets games on TV. He was paired with Al Albert, bringing color to the Doug Moe-led teams. I can still hear his voice raising an octave when Alex English started getting hot.

“Another big night, Al,” Brown would tell his partner, indicating that Denver’s high-scoring forward was en route to posting big numbers for the Nuggets.

Later, he became the voice of all my favorite teams. I first heard Irv hosting a sports-talk show on K-BIG, the first all-sports station in Denver. He and his long-time on-air partner, Joe Williams, provided perspective and insight on the Broncos, Buffs, Nuggets, Rockies and every other team that I lived and died with during the sports year.

He also provided a voice to the fans. Callers frequently got to provide their opinions, with Irv letting them have their chance to speak their peace. Some even became characters of their own, with the likes of Bronco Billy and Mark from Aurora being a regular part of the show.

To me, Irv and Joe were larger than life. Attending one of their remotes was an event. Seeing them in person was an enormous deal. Getting to meet them was a big day.

So years later, it was semi-surreal when they started started doing a show on Mile High Sports Radio, a station that I was co-owner of at the time. Seeing them come into the studio every day was always a “pinch me” moment for a kid from Denver.

But Irv never acted like he was a big deal. He officiated six Final Fours. He was personal friends with the likes of Bobby Knight. He had a Rolodex, quite literally, of the biggest names in sports. But he always had time for everyone.

Irv treated every person at our fledgling company like they were the most-important person in the building. He talked to board operators, interns and other people taking the first steps of their careers in the same way he interacted with fellow hosts and executives; they were his peers.

And he was always ready to help them. Irv would invite people on the air with him, providing an opportunity to hone their craft. He would pass along contact information to help someone take the next step. He’d make a call or two on other people’s behalf.

Irv also took the time to get to know people personally. I’ll remember that as much as his signature on-air phrases.

“It started in a garage on Garfield Street…”

“Red dog.”

“I’m going to walk off this show…”

I can still hear Irv saying those things when plugging a sponsor, hanging up on a caller who mentioned a chicken or getting fed up with Joe’s latest rant about John Elway. They were classic.

But so was Irv’s ability to make everyone feel like they were important. He did that all of the time.

“How’s your dad doing?” he’d ask me on almost a daily basis.

He may or may not have then called him a “hard charger.” I’d like to think so. It was definitely something along those lines.

Today, on what would’ve been Irv’s 86th birthday, 104.3 The Fan will be celebrating “Irv Brown Day.” It’ll be a chance to remember one of the state’s all-time greats, as we look back on some of his best moments as part of the station.

It’ll also provide the chance to do something that Irv did so often – help others. Listeners can go to DenverFan.com if they’d like to donate to the “Irv Brown Champions Center,” a project to develop a facility to help teach sports business and sports broadcasting to students in Arvada.

The legend continues.

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