Rexrode: Drew Sharp was fearless, kind, accountable & hilarious
I have one memory of Drew Sharp above all, and it’s laughing with him about something until we’re both crying.
I’ll bet everyone who knew him has that same memory. Especially the other media folks, and for us those moments usually happened in a press box or at a restaurant or pub. Sometimes in an airport. Almost always because of something hilarious and cynical he would say, though he got just as much enjoyment out of the acerbic takes of others – even if they were ripping him.
We did that a lot. You can find old Free Press videos where I’m hoarsely chiding Drew for one take or another, and believe me, we dogged Drew for his negativity as much as some readers did. The difference is that we really knew him, and to know Drew was to know a kind, selfless, brilliant, talented, completely unpretentious person who made every single room he entered better.
He was fearless, too. Not once did he criticize someone and not show up the next day to face that person. And he was right a lot more than you might recall. I’ll bet you can find columns questioning folks such as Rod Marinelli, Bobby Williams, John L. Smith, Rich Rodriguez, Brady Hoke, Tommy Amaker, Dave Dombrowski – and on and on – that were scorned at the time and look a little different now.
Drew Sharp remembered by Izzo, Dantonio, others
Here’s a story for you. After covering Michigan State for several years, Drew got the columnist gig at the Freep in 1999 and was on hand in St. Louis when Tom Izzo beat Kentucky to earn his first Final Four trip at MSU. That night, I had a few beers with Drew at the hotel bar because Drew would hang out with anyone, including college newspaper reporters.
“This is the first of many for Tom Izzo,” Drew said that night, to paraphrase. “The guy will win national championships and have one of the best programs in college basketball for a long time.”
My reaction: “No way.”
His response: “Just watch.”
Road trips were always better with Drew. And even more fun when his wife, Karen, was on hand to join in the ripping. We all hurt for her today. It was fun to watch them together because they always, always had fun together.
Drew had fun with everyone. Sometimes, at the expense of others. The winter of 2005 stands out in my mind. We had just covered an MSU game at Wisconsin at the height of the Izzo-Bo Ryan feud. The Spartans had blown an eight-point lead in the final two minutes, thanks largely to clanked free throws, and the series stood at Bo 6, Izzo 0.
As usual after a game at Kohl Center, the MSU media contingent gathered at the Nitty Gritty a block away for dinner and a Spotted Cow. Then-Freep beat writer Jemele Hill showed up, looked at the group and said: “Wait until you read what Drew wrote.”
Her face said: “Yikes.”
Drew arrived a few minutes later and confirmed that, yes, he may have been a bit rough on the Spartans. Then we got to the usual sportswriter trash talk, the laughing to the point of crying. We watched Peyton Manning lose in the snow at New England and argued about whether he’d ever win the big one.
Drew’s column the next day labeled MSU’s seniors “losers” and included this memorable line: “No heart. No toughness. No chance.”
It was too far, or at least it was in my opinion. I’d often argue with Drew about his belief that college athletes should be just as scrutinized as pro athletes. To me (and others who joined in these debates), the millions in salary made the difference. To him, they were all public figures on a platform and open to criticism.
Drew Sharp, Detroit Free Press sports columnist, dies at 56
But this was harsh. The next day, Izzo was having his weekly session with reporters, sitting at a round table and stewing on one of the most bitter defeats of his career. Drew walked in after it began. Izzo glared and had a few words for Drew. Drew sat down and defended his stance. By the end, those two were like they always were over the years – Drew saying something hilarious to make Izzo laugh. No one was better at it.
And by the end of the year, Drew had to change his tune. On March 26, 2005 in Austin, Texas, Drew scored what had to be one of the great athletic achievements of his career, considering his heart would not allow him to participate in sports growing up. He and Steve Grinczel somehow pulled off an epic comeback victory in a best-of-five series in doubles pool over me and Tom Kowalski – another giant of a person and journalist whom we lost way too early.
Drew taunted mercilessly that night. But the next day, after those feeble-minded MSU basketball players beat Kentucky in double overtime to reach the Final Four, he had something to concede. Drew went into that locker room and went up to Chris Hill. And Kelvin Torbert. And Alan Anderson. And he told each of them that he was wrong.
That’s the real Drew. He was a stand-up person, accountable every day in a way no miserable cyber-troll can understand. And a guy who, many times over the years, went out of his way to help and encourage me and others in this business.
I’ll remember Drew exactly as I left him. It was Sept. 18 at Ford Field, before a Titans-Lions game that would end with a Titans comeback victory. Drew found me and we got caught up, and then we got to the Lions jokes. I honestly don’t remember what Drew said but I remember how he looked, his eyes closed, his right hand over his mouth and his shoulders shaking with laughter.