If Lou Nanne needed a reminder about the importance of family, he got the message in recent weeks with the force of a hard check into the boards. Two weeks ago the Minnesota hockey legend received a surprise telephone call regarding his son Michael, a Burnsville dentist.
“My daughter-in-law called and I thought she was talking about somebody else I knew,” Nanne told Sports Headliners. “She said, ‘Mike’s got a brain tumor.’ I said, ‘Mike, who?’ She said, ‘Your son Mike.’ ”
Nanne’s son recently had a brain tumor operation. Unfortunately, the tumor wasn’t benign and Michael will need more medical care.
This week Nanne will be offering TV commentary for a 46th year during the boys’ state high school hockey tournament and for the first time a grandson will be participating. Marty Nanne’s son, Louie, is a freshman left wing for Edina High School.
Years ago Nanne’s grandchildren told him he had to continue with state tourney commentary until they were playing. The arrival of young Louie is a milestone but grandpa won’t show him favoritism on the air. “I’ll be excited inside but outside I’ll still have to do the job the way I do the job,” Nanne said.
Nanne will be providing color commentary on KSTC, Ch. 45 and he described his role this way: “Make the people understand what’s happening on the ice. Try and paint a simple picture of how the game is being played. What teams are doing right, what they’re doing wrong, what to look for and give them (the viewers) an understanding of play, how it’s going.”
He has several other grandchildren but said realistically two others probably could play on state tournament teams in the future. He believes that may translate into his working perhaps another four tournaments on TV before calling it quits.