WPVI sports staff has fond memories of McGraw According to WPVI news and sportscaster Scott Palmer, breaking the news of former Phillie and "Action News" colleague Tug McGraw's death on the 11 p.m. news Monday night was the most difficult assignment of his career. Regular 11 p.m. sports anchor Gary Papa had the night off, so Palmer had the difficult task of reporting the bad news. "It was real life," Palmer said. "Tug was a friend of ours, but we also had a job to do. It was reminiscent of when [former WPVI star] Jim O'Brien died [in 1984]." Palmer, who remained friends with McGraw after he left the station in 1994, recalled many good times with Tug, including traveling to Lehigh University to see Tim McGraw perform at the beginning of his career. Palmer was at McGraw's 59th birthday party in August. "Tug was the party," Palmer said. "He never asked 'why?' in regards to his cancer. He said, 'I would ask why if I was the single mother of three kids. I had a great life.' " Sports reporter and producer Jack Brayboy, who also worked with McGraw and was part of WPVI's 15-minutes of coverage Monday night, wrote an e-mail. "Tug was a blast to work with," he wrote. "Everywhere we went he would light up the place. He never conformed to being a 'sports reporter,' and maybe that's why it worked. Tug was just himself - take it or leave it - and it was his presence, his love of everything and everybody attitude that was so refreshing. "Many of us get caught up in being 'news' people, always involved in the serious side of getting the news on the air. Tug was very seldom serious, although he did respect what it took to get on the air. I learned so much about the game of baseball from him, and we had more fun than I can explain. This is a very hard thing for those of us here in the sports department to deal with right now." The entire on-air WPVI sports staff - Gary Papa, Palmer, Brayboy and Phil Andrews - worked at the station during McGraw's time there from 1988-1994. Besides saving baseball games, McGraw also "saved" CN8's Lou Tilley on the debut of "Lou Tilley's Sports Connection." "On the opening night of the show in June of 2000, when all our technical stuff crashed, and guests cancelled, Tug came in and did the entire hour and was wonderful," Tilley recalled. "He told a story about the first time he met Steve Carlton. He said, 'You pitching tonight? Carlton growled yep. I smiled and said, oh, then I guess I am too!' " "The last time Tug was on the show was three months before he was diagnosed. I showed a clip from it in which I showed an old picture from Tug's high school yearbook, in which he played in the school production of 'Pirates of Penzance' I told the audience the other night. I figured I was going to kinda embarrass him. Instead, he broke out in a wild grin and then proceeded to sing three minutes from the opera!" Tug and Tim VH-1 is scheduled to air "Driven: Tim McGraw" today at 2 p.m. Tug is prominently featured in the show that documents Tim's rise to the top of the music business. Tug admits that he made mistakes by not being part of Tim's life until his late teens. The show also documents how Tug helped Tim break into the music business. Family connection WCAU's Vai Sikahema, who was a teammate of Eagles head coach Andy Reid at Brigham Young University, has another personal connection to the team. Sikahema is a cousin of rookie Reno Mahe. Mahe, who is scheduled to return punts in place of injured Brian Westbrook on Sunday vs. Green Bay, is also a BYU graduate. He and his wife stayed with Sikahema's family when they first came to town. New Phillies affiliate ESPN 920-AM will join the Phillies Radio Network this season. WPEN 950-AM continues as the flagship station. Happy homecoming Houston native Beyonce will sing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl, which will take place in Houston on Feb. 1. Talkin' hoops "Gerald Henderson's Hoop Talk" tips off on WBCB 1490-AM Tuesdays at 6 p.m. Laura Nachman covers television and radio sports for the Courier Times. She can be reached at bradyresident@aol.com. January 9, 2004 7:37 AM