COMMENTARY
DOWN MEMORY LANE
MARCH/APRIL 2021 | TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE 123
Have you ever driven
around looking for Memory
Lane? I think all of us
have intersected with it
many times, but are on and off it onto
something else before we really sit back
and enjoy it.
I have announced my retirement
from the Tampa Bay Rays, marking
an end to what has been a great career
in broadcasting and then baseball.
I’ve worked for more than 50 years in
broadcasting in radio and television in
the Tampa Bay market and 21 years with
the Rays. It’s easy to understand why I love
this area. Since I moved here from New
York City, I never looked back. I have no
regrets about deciding to stay put in the
Tampa Bay area.
It was when my retirement became
official that I found myself on Memory
Lane. I began reflecting on my career and
my personal life. I know that I am not
the only one to have done this. I daresay
that anyone who retires from a longtime
career ends up on a trip down Memory
Lane. You do not have to think about it,
it just happens. What happens along the
way may surprise you. Most of us go
about our day-to-day activities without
much reflection. However, once you start
recalling where you have been and what
you have accomplished, it can become
overwhelming.
Looking back and remembering the
road I traveled to get where I am now was
certainly worth the effort. What I might
have considered to be an ordinary life looks
different in hindsight. I don’t believe in
living in the past, but I do understand
that it does play an important role in the
present.
As I look back on my life and career
here in Tampa Bay, I recall things like
Webb’s City, the department store of sorts,
which was one of a kind and will never be
duplicated. Face it, there are not a lot of
chickens that can beat you at Tic-Tac-Toe.
When I arrived at Tampa International
Airport, the gates were along West Shore
Boulevard and it was all outdoors. That
memory makes me appreciate what
Tampa International Airport is today. It
gives me an appreciation of the overall
growth of this area.
I traveled a lot while I was in
broadcasting and with the Rays, both for
business and pleasure, and I was always
glad to be heading home, as I landed
at TIA and drove across the Howard
Frankland Bridge. There is something
about the dolphins cavorting in the sunset
that just takes the cares of the day and
throws them aside.
So, that’s my Memory Lane. I suppose
there is a road somewhere that has that
name, however, my mythical one can be
driven down easily from the comfort of
my chair. I find a trip down this road to
be one of the most pleasant journeys you
can take without ever leaving home. 9
EDITOR’S NOTE: Dick Crippen, a staple in
Tampa Bay broadcasting for decades, has retired
from being a senior adviser for the Tampa Bay
Rays, where he worked extensively with the
military. He is active in the world of charity
fundraising and sits on numerous boards for
nonprofit organizations.
By Dick Crippen
Dick Crippen