THE SPECTATOR: ED POTHUL – ‘THE SPORTS DOC’
Our community lost a very special person and friend this week with the untimely death of Ed Pothul. Known as “The Sports Doc” on KWHI, Ed Pothul embraced this community and our youth the moment he arrived in 1989. Ed was one of the very first people I hired at the station when he became our Sports Director. For 32 years he did the play by play broadcasts for practically every Brenham and Burton High School team, every Blinn College team, and every Washington County Little League All Star team.
But Ed wasn’t really loved in the beginning. Having grown up in Massachusetts, he had a bit of a northern accent when he started. Some of you may recall that Ed replaced another very well-liked KWHI broadcaster, the “Living Legend” Randy Reets. During his first few months on the air, I heard a lot of “get that blankety blank Yankee off the radio”, and “someone needs to teach that Yankee how to pronounce Washington County names”! But over the years something changed. Ed started to sound like he was from “around here”, and he learned the intricacies of German, Czech and Polish names. And our community fell in love with his passion for sports, his passion for our kids, and his giant, friendly personality.
Ed also loved his Red Sox, his Patriots and his “Hogs”…the guys in the trenches of the Brenham Cub offensive line. He became such a part of local sports that he was inducted into the Brenham Cub Football Hall of Honor in 2015…a school where he never played a down or coached a game. They also named an award for him…the Ed Pothul Coach’s Award…given to athletes of every sport at the annual Sports Banquet. Quite an honor for a blankety blank Yankee.
An account has been opened at Brenham National Bank to help Ed’s family with his funeral expenses. And an Ed Pothul Memorial scholarship fund will be established next week. I encourage you to give to one or both should you be so moved. But just as important, I’d like to see the stands of Fireman’s Park Baseball field filled with Brenham Cub green and Burton Panther red this Saturday morning at 10 o’clock for Ed’s memorial service. I expect I’ll also see a few Hawaiian shirts sprinkled among the crowd. Let’s show The Sports Doc’s family just how much Washington County loved this man. 32 years of play by play announcing. That’s a lot of kids’ interviews and a lot of parents and grandparents who listened to those games. I’m pretty sure Fireman’s Park can’t hold all of us.
And that’s the way it looks to this Spectator.
Yes, The Sports Doc will be greatly missed I loved to hear him before and after the KWHI County STORE so As he would say to Craig M. Dance like nobody watching and he is with the Angels.. Prayers and Strength for his Family
I wish I could be there, but I’ll be there in spirit! Such a wonderful man and a great loss to this community. Prayers for all!
Tom, I lived in Washington County for a while (2002 – 2005) and became in love with this radio station, you couldn’t have said it better than you did here. Ed was GREAT for the community this radio station.
Thanks for a well deserved shout out to a quality, selfless member of Washington County. As a former superintendent of Burton ISD, I had several occasions to meet and talk with the “Sports Doc”. He was very considerate and sincere in his interviews of Burton coaches and athletes. Our athletes and coaches were always excited to be informed KWHI was going to broadcast one of our events. I recall many grandparents commenting on being able to sit at home and hear the Burton kids names spoken on the radio. He never asked for much, a chair at the table in the pressbox and some room for his notes. He will be missed.