Many in sports radio circles debate the value of the caller. When a listener wants to participate so eagerly in the conversation their favorite sports radio host is discussing, they want to add their two cents in on the matter. Indeed, Paul Finebaum has made a career of taking phones on his widely popular sports radio program since the 1980’s, and has made household names out of the same listeners that enjoy talking sports alongside Finebaum.
One of those callers was Larry Wallace, who was a regular caller to the program for many years just to talk Alabama football on The Paul Finebaum Show.
Yesterday, during his program, Finebaum took time to announce the passing of “Larry from Shelby” in a moving tribute by the sports talk veteran.
“It is virtually impossible for me to begin the final hour with this news which we have just learned about over the last few minutes,” began Finebaum. “One of the truly iconic callers in the history of this show, Larry Wallace, Larry in Shelby, not very far from where we sit has passed away according to several of his friends.”
As expected, Finebaum has a large, devoted regular caller volume during each and every program, and tributes began to pour in both on air and online. Moreover, according to AL.com, several regular callers dialed in with their remembrances of Wallace but were unable to finish their comments, as many broke down in tears on the phone.
“We heard from Larry just last week,” said Finebaum on Monday night. “It was an absolute heart breaking and gut-wrenching call. He was on oxygen on a ventilator at the hospital, but he wanted to call. We felt fairly certain it would be his final call, but we are so appreciative of him and his family for keeping us up to date.”
Additionally, according to AL.com, Larry Wallace was an avid Alabama fan, a Vietnam vet, and spent most of his life in law enforcement, all of which he proudly displayed during his calls to Finebaum’s program.
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