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Update
BEING #SILVYSTRONG
T
he Marc Silverman was already having a
tough go of it, trying to do a sports talk
radio show (Waddle & Silvy, afternoons,
ESPN Radio AM 1000) in a time with no live
sports, when he began to suspect there might
be something wrong with his health.
“I didn’t really have any symptoms. I wasn’t
feeling sick. But my lymph nodes were getting
swollen, and once the one in my groin got
swollen, that’s when I said ‘OK I gotta go get
this checked out by a doctor,’ and that’s when
the whole thing started.”
He has been diagnosed with Stage 3 Non-
Hodgkins Lymphoma. “You’re sitting in a pandemic
thinking e-learning is tough. You’re
doing sports-talk radio in a time when there are
no games. And you’re struggling with two
By Rick Kaempfer
For the safety of our community and its
people, Impact Fuel Room will be
closed and all shows rescheduled and
postponed for the time being.
We are grateful for many of our
customers who have purchased tickets
to these shows, and we will be reaching
out with updates as we learn more.
Marc Silverman
Check www.impactfuelroom.com for
updates. Thank you for your patience,
stay tuned and stay safe!
16 illinoisentertainer.com june 2020
young kids, and then suddenly, you look at
your life and think, “Boy I had it pretty good.’”
Talking to him now is like talking to Dr.
Silverman (“probably not the only ‘Dr.
Silverman’ out there,” he joked), because he has
thoroughly researched his illness and what lies
ahead for him. “As a reporter, as someone who
likes to ask questions for a living, I immersed
myself in the information and began to ask a
million questions. I began googling the others I
knew who had similar things, like Merril Hoge,
Anthony Rizzo, Jon Lester, Craig Sager, and I
just read all there was to read. The doctors
always said, ‘Don’t Google’, but you can tell me
that all you want—I’m not gonna stop. I learned
a lot. For instance, there’s a difference between
cancer stages in those that have tumors and
those that have blood cancer as I have. For my
kind of cancer, the difference between Stage 2
and Stage 3 is that Stage 2 is either above or
below the diaphragm, in one section of the
body. Stage 3 is what I have because I have it in
my neck and my groin, above and below the
diaphragm. Yes, it has spread, but it wasn’t in
my bone marrow, and it wasn’t in my organs,
which is huge. They say this is a very treatable
form of this cancer.”
Silverman is in the midst of that treatment
right now. “I’m doing a clinical trial—
immunotherapy—and they think this will further
improve the situation, in addition to the
chemotherapy. So far, I have good doctors,
good friends, a good environment, and I feel
great about it. It will basically take five months
for the entire treatment. I’m scheduled to complete
it by the beginning of September. “
He plans to continue working throughout
the treatment, although he will have to play
that by ear. For the time being, he will be doing
it from home. “Before the diagnosis, I was coming
into the studio, but I asked my doctor about
it after I was diagnosed, and he said absolutely
1000% you should be [working] from home.
Luckily, my bosses have been understanding,
and the technology is there now to do it relatively
seamlessly, so it hasn’t been an issue. And
(Tom) Waddle and I have been doing the show
together for 13 years. At this point, we can complete
each other’s sentences.”
The team has been together for 13 years, but
Silvy’s time at this station goes back even further.
He has been there since 1998. “That’s true.
I can’t believe it’s been that long,” he says. “The
first meeting we had in 1998 at AM 1000 was in
the Bulls locker room. We didn’t know if
Michael was coming back or retiring, and our
first meeting was assembled there. We wondered
how long we could last; if we could coexist
with the Score, and my boss Mitch told me
not to buy a place to live — he said I should
rent. Not exactly a confidence-builder. To be sitting
here 22 years later, I almost can’t believe it.
I have had incredibly good fortune.”
Speaking of the Bulls, I wondered how he
felt about the recently completed The Last
Dance, considering he had been there as a
reporter when it first went down. “It was
refreshing to see the other side of Michael,” he
says. “Back in the day, Michael was the most
politically correct press conference guy in the
world. He was so polished. He wouldn’t even
do an interview with his shirt off. The only time
you would ever get him was after the game,
with his suit on, either in front of his locker or
at a podium. Now, in The Last Dance, we see
him with a glass of scotch or tequila next to
him, smoking a cigar, unleashing F-bombs, and
being totally unfiltered — that’s a completely
different perspective than we got from interviewing
him during that time.”
Perspective is something Silverman has in
spades these days. “When you’re in a real battle
with a real thing like cancer, you realize
what is important. What’s important is the people
around you; the people I’ve met, including
our great listeners who have reached out to me,
their outpouring really touched me. Not to
mention the people I work with and my family
and friends. I don’t care what people think of
me as a broadcaster. When all is said and done,
if they say I’m a good guy who had lots of
friends, and cared about people and treated
them well, then that’s the most important thing
to me.”