Courtesy Tampa Bay Online

(January 19, 2011) We get attached to sports radio guys. They ride in the car with us to and from work. They're the voice in the background while we putter in the garage. They keep us in the loop.

Whitney Johnson is one of those guys, although I guess I should say he was one of those guys. Last Friday, Whit was called to his boss's office at WDAE (620 AM) last Friday and … well, let him tell you.

"We have a new program director, and I saw him in the hall. I said, 'Hello,' and he says, 'Got a minute?' I walk into his office, and he says we are moving in a different direction and you are terminated as of today. Two sentences, boom! The whole thing took about a minute."

Just that quickly, his 12-year run at The Sports Animal was over.

He signed some papers and was told he could have a box to cart his stuff out of the office if he wanted. He didn't need one because he only wanted three things: posters of Bruce Springsteen, the Allman Brothers, and Bob Dylan.

He could be a little goofy but that was just an act. He is a caring, smart, and hard-working man.

"He is passionate about his life – his music, sports and baseball," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "He is the kind of guy you meet for the first time and you just want to go have a beer with him. I never saw him in a bad mood. When I first met him, I said to myself, 'It's like I've known him all my life.'

"And when it comes to radio station guys as reporters, not a lot of them actually showed up at our games, but he was there every day. He's a beautiful man. He's a friend who just happened to have a microphone."

Maddon made it his policy that Whitney got to ask the first question in postgame news conferences. That included the 2008 postseason run, when Whitney became a bit of a star.

You have to understand these national news conferences – all the big shots and self-important folks are there, complete with tight deadlines. They like to start lobbing questions the second the manager sits down, and some of them border on minutiae

"Joe, I'm wondering there in the fifth inning when Price went to a 2-0 count, did you think about getting Sonnanstine up at that point?"

But Maddon was firm. Whitney always got the first question.

Sometimes it was completely off the wall. He liked to ask what Maddon loaded into his iPod that day. Stones? The Boss? After the Game 5 loss to Philadelphia ended the World Series, everyone waited for Whitney's first question.

It was classic.

Since Maddon had chosen the Rolling Stones for musical inspiration that day, would the theme for the Series be "Happy" or "Shattered"?

Maddon smiled. He got it.

"Happy," he answered.

There are other sides to Whitney beyond the hippy-dippy reporter. On Saturday mornings, he volunteers at the Miracle League of St. Petersburg. It's a program to help disabled kids get on a baseball field, and Whitney is a regular.

There is one particular kid, nonverbal and wheelchair-bound.

"He is an angel to this kid," Rays public relations chief Rick Vaughn said.

I know radio is a transient business and stations change personalities on a whim. Most of the time, we don't even notice.

We noticed this one though.

"Everything is gonna be cool," he said. "It was almost like it was a funeral, except it was mine and I was the one trying to cheer everybody up. It could be worse. I could have a bullet hole in my brain like that poor lady in Arizona or I could be homeless like so many people in Brazil. To be honest, I lucked out. I had 12 great years."

I doubt he'll be out of work too long. There are other sports stations in town, and even if that doesn't work out Whitney has a lot of friends. As usual, he has nothing but good things to say – about the station he just left behind or life in general. It's how he rolls.

"It's like the great Bob Marley said, 'Everything is gonna be all right,' " he said.

But will it be as much fun?

I'll get back to you on that one.

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