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later graduating from Loyola. But there are a lot of native New Orlea nians. Buddy D would become the voice of the city — and a very unique voice at that, in a city of very unique voices. He did not offer commentary maliciously, and was not driven by ego. This is perhaps best reflected in the name of the radio show he hosted during the apex of his career, “Hap’s Point

Orleans football. “Not all the players liked Buddy,” he told me, “and I don’t think Coach Mora liked him being so honest all the time. I never had a problem with him, though — he was speaking the truth. And I think he liked that when he asked me something, I gave him an honest opinion.” When Buddy D moved to WWL Radio, everyone seems to agree that he hit his stride. I think the reason for his success, aside from his colorful antics and distinct New Orleanian charm, is that he spoke to listeners on a much deeper level than we realized. Long before he sat in a studio, Buddy D sat behind a typewriter. He was a writer. We think of sports as a visual medium — I mean, there’s a reason they charge so much for those seats — but take away the play-by play announcements, the referee appearing on the Gumbotron declaring with stentorian authority, “Pass interference,10-yard penalty,” and the cheers and jeers of the crowd, and even the most gripping of sporting events could be jaw-clenchingly boring. Sports is more than a spectacle. On every gridiron in every stadium, what you are experiencing is a story being told. Football especially fits the classical “hero’s journey” as if by design, which makes every visit to the Superdome a kind of Lord of the Rings or Star Wars experience. The pregame show on radio is the “call to adventure,” in which we learn a little about our heroes (the New Orleans Saints, naturally — all others are villains). Our heroes “cross the threshold” when they walk out onto the field, and then experience their challenges and temptations, and an abyss and a rebirth, and (if we are lucky) a triumph. Talk radio after the game is the “road the hero takes back to the ordinary world.” Buddy D helped us understand the story we had just experienced. He brought order to chaos. He made it all make sense, the good and the bad.

Bobby Hebert wore a dress during a parade to honor the legendary sportscaster Buddy Diliberto. Photo by Rusty Costanza courtesy NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune | The Advocate

After.” Diliberto inherited the show from Lloyd “Hap” Glaudi — known as the “dean of New Orleans sportscasters” — after Glaudi died. Diliberto kept the name. He also was glad to share his airtime with the city. “Buddy allowed his callers to be genuine characters on his show,” says Smith. “And New Orleans is full of characters. Buddy had this innate ability to really understand New Orleans, and knew how to make it stir. But he wasn’t always fun and games. Really, 95% of Buddy’s content was rich with serious insight, and he was somebody who was always making a point. But that 5% when Buddy was funny — it was like, you’d think he was funny all the time.” He wasn’t afraid to speak truth to power. In the 1996 season, the Saints went 3-13, and Tom Benson, then the team’s owner, did not have a post-season press conference. Diliberto took umbrage. “So, Buddy started saying, ‘Where’s the emperor? The emperor has not come out to talk to us yet. Until the emperor comes out and talks to us, let’s boycott tickets!’” says Smith. I called Bobby Hebert, famed former quarterback of the Saints, and asked what it was like on the other side of Buddy D’s unflinching commentaries on the state of New

always wanted to be unbiased. Buddy’s take on the team was for them to create change so that they would win.” And he desperately wanted them to win. In many ways, Buddy D was the ultimate Saints fan. “I work for the guy that sits up in Section 635 that has no voice to make change on the team,” Smith recalls Buddy saying. “The people that have been given an opportunity to create change have a tremendous respon sibility, because they have to do it. And I’ve been given the chance to make some change, to speak for the masses.” Diliberto even quoted the Book of Matthew as a way of describing his charge: “No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.” Buddy D was more than a football fan and journalist. He was a father and husband, and served in the Korean War, earning a Purple Heart after taking shrapnel. He was deeply religious — a daily communicant, attending Mass every day. He was an avid gambler (“He’d bet on anything,” one friend of his told me with a laugh.) He was a native New Orleanian, attending Jesuit High School and

“Buddy had taught us how it was done. You have to feel like you are a mouthpiece for the fans. That’s how Buddy did it, and that’s the approach I take day in and day out. You have to separate yourself from the team, and be on the common man’s side.” - Bobby Hebert, famed former quarterback of the Saints

“Buddy’s Brawds” photo courtesy DePaul Smith

20 ROUSES FALL 2023