Hour 1: Carton & Big Mac: 9/11 Tributes and Anthony Volpe's Curtain Call

Craig Carton (0:00)

203, on a very special September 11th Carton Show with Big Mac. Obviously, we started the show a little bit differently today. As we all remember, the sad, terrible events of 25 years ago, September 11th, 2001, and just out of the gate, because obviously we'll do a lot of talking today, not just about what happened 25 years ago, but sports as well. We thought the most appropriate to open up the show today was in a somber way with the National Anthem, as we each kind of mourn in our own way the lost lives, not just on 9-11, but the thousands more that have perished because they worked the pile and dealt with different ailments. Having been in downtown New York City, and it will never be a day that those people and your families are far from our hearts.

For those of you that are obviously dealing with today and the amount of you deal with it, just know that on this particular radio program, The Carton Show with Big Mac, and of course WFN as a radio station, we are sensitive to the loss. We all experience loss in our own way. And today is a day that is important for us to never forget what happened 25 years ago. We'll do that throughout the day. At any point today, let me just start saying good afternoon, Big Mac. I apologize. How are you today? I'm doing well. Today is a tough show. Today is one of those shows where we want to do our thing, have fun like we always do, make fun of each other, laugh, giggle, and all that kind of stuff. But at any point, you want to share your memories of 25 years ago. If you want to shout out a relative that's still in your heart, and your soul and your dreams, please use us as the man to do that and the platform to do that. It will not be your normal show today. How could it be? And we'll try to take care of the balancing act today. Between talking about obviously the Subway Series, which starts tonight at Yankee Stadium, Yankees and Mets, and I believe that the Yankees and Mets should always play against each other on September 11th. I don't care what anyone else says about that. Obviously, we've got the New York Giants getting ready for Sunday night against the Dallas Cowboys. We've got the New York Jets Sunday at one o'clock, getting ready for the Tennessee Titans and our old pal Robert Sala. And more important than all of it, and I know how important all that stuff is to me, to you, to everybody listening. None of it holds a candle to our memory of what happened 25 years ago. So 888-808-1019.

It's been an emotional day, obviously, throughout. Obviously, you gotta be very patient today with traffic and trains and all that because everything's off schedule and for good reason as well. And I don't know, I guess, you know, 25 years ago, I was on the radio here in New York City at WNEW.

It was me, it was Blaine Ensley, and I may have just been being Blaine at that time. I think it was actually. Our boss now, Chris Oliveira, the architect, was my board up, one of the producers of the show.

And it's a 35-year career, the only show that I'll never listen to again and never want to play it ever again, for a lot of reasons. But one of those main reasons for me is that I took phone calls from people that morning who I know it's the last thing they ever did. And 25 years later, I've still never reconciled the fact that people called me on the radio, some of them to talk about the giant Bronco game that happened the night before. The Giants had lost the Super Bowl the previous season to the Ravens. The only Super Bowl loss to New York Giants have had. Kerry Collins, of course, was the quarterback back then. And the Broncos were opening up a brand new stadium. That was the first game ever played in the new Mile High Stadium. I don't know what they call it. I forget. Out there in Denver.

So we're doing a sports kind of comedy show in the morning. And we're obviously talking about the game and making fun of the Giants defense and all that kind of stuff. And then transpired transpired. But I took phone calls from people inside both towers. And sadly, it's the last thing many of those, not all those people did. Some were calling in to talk sports. I mean, part of the conversation about the Monday night game. But other people were calling in because I guess we were their lifeline to the outside. They called in to tell us what was going on. And there was one particular caller that I'll never forget that talked about it. I said to the call, I'll never forget it.