By Anna Bedell

Neither the pouring rain, nor the frigid temperature could stop old friends from gathering for the ESPN Old Timers Reunion III late in May to pay tribute to Calvin Haywood, who passed away from natural causes late in April

Haywood, who began his career in the early 80s, was one of the first directors on SportsCenter.

The day was a bittersweet mixture of joy and melancholy, as familiar faces from the past, reunited to remember the good times in the present, and how they came to join the ESPN family in the first place. The event was held at the outdoor pavilion at the North Italian Home Club in Meriden.  

There were many long-awaited hugs, a sign of the lingering pandemic, which left people in need of human contact. 

The grill was sizzling with hotdogs and hamburgers, along with various side dishes one normally sees at an outdoor BBQ.

While music played in the background, there was an infusion of laughter and loud chatter.

There was a table set up in the back of the pavilion with a television showing photo slides of Haywood over the years, along with his original ESPN family.

One close friend and colleague, Steve “Kahuna” Anthony, not only worked closely with Haywood as a Producer but was one of his golfing buddies.

Kahuna worked at ESPN for 28 years.

“After you freeze off your cojones, you’re seeing a lot of close friends that you’ve known for most of your life,” said Anthony. “It’s good to know it’s good for your soul to see your friends.”

Anthony said he knew Calvin’s secrets, his party habits and all his sayings when he was directing TV.  

“I know his language, I can translate capital A with anybody,” said Anthony.  “He was probably one of my top five best friends in life.”

Haywood would say, “You guys are all crazy for being out here in the rain,” said Anthony.

“Somebody said he would have showed up in shorts, that’s why I’m in shorts because he would,” said Anthony. “And he also wears his hat backwards.”

As the day wore on, one of the hosts called on Chris “Boomer” Berman and Bob Ley, two of the original sports anchors, to pay tribute to Haywood.

It was like watching two old friends, falling back into their old “stand-up” routine. They were quite the pair with their dry wit and obvious affection for each other.

The crowd gathered as several more people paid tribute to Haywood. There was applause, laughter and cheering.

Among Haywood’s oldest friends was Ted Avery, who by the end of his career produced the NBA, NFL and Major League Baseball for ESPN International.

Avery said he was there to celebrate Haywood who he had talked with every Friday for “100 years” and gone to many concerts with.

“Just one of my best friends, and he was supposed to be here that Tuesday, he passed away a couple of days before,” said Avery.  “We were involved with Lake Mills that Wednesday in a tournament we always go at.”

Lake Mills is an Annual Little League tournament out of Wisconsin.

Avery said that Haywood was probably the most well-known person at ESPN, in spite of all the stars, celebrities and athletes.

“Everybody knew Calvin, everybody loves Calvin,” said Avery who was visibly choked up. “He was just a bright light, he always made everything fun, always a good time, just a really good guy.”

They were in the first fantasy baseball, basketball, football leagues that ever started at ESPN in the early mid-80s, Avery said.

“I’ve known him my whole ESPN career which was since 1986,” said Avery.  “Calvin was there before that; I started, I think, ’82 or ’83.”

Avery said that Haywood left ESPN either before or after her did in the ’90s.

“He was working for ABC and doing a lot of remotes, I think,” said Avery.  “It’s really good to see people wherever so he’s brought all these people together in spite of this ridiculous weather, I think, by the way it’s 46 degrees, and if Calvin we’re here, he would have shorts on.”

There were people throughout the day talking about the many Calvinisms as they called them. Haywood was known by many for his colorful vocabulary.

The crowd slowly dwindled as one by one people said their goodbyes, amid many hugs and laugher.

Anna Bedell is an ESPN employee, who, while maintaining her day job, is studying journalism.

Writers note:  After the story was written, another Kurt Ackerman, also an ESPN director, passed away. He was known for his love of Nascar and Dale Earlhardt Jr.