Mark Madden: We were privileged to listen to Stan Savran

Stan Savran’s funeral begins at 1 p.m. Wednesday.

My radio program starts at 3 p.m.

So I’ll attend Stan’s funeral but will leave at 1:45 p.m. whether it’s completed or not because I want to make certain I get to the studio on time.

That’s the biggest tribute I can pay Stan. Because it’s absolutely, 100% what he would do if he attended my funeral. Or anybody else’s.

With Stan, the job came first.

Stan saw sports media as a noble pursuit. It was important.

Same with the art of radio, which he handled with an easy, distinguished, well-spoken flair.

Death was the only thing that could stop Stan from working. He never would have retired. Severe illness only slowed him a little. He couldn’t wait to get back to work. When he couldn’t host his show, he kept calling mine. He kept calling “The DVE Morning Show.”

Stan is being feted for his sports knowledge. He had plenty of that, along with a razor-sharp memory.

But Stan had charisma. That’s so much more important in our profession than babbling stats at one extreme and spewing hot takes at the other. If nobody relates, it doesn’t matter what’s said.

Stan rallied the citizens. He got you with him. He was a babyface in a business full of heels. (My method has always been to polarize.)

But he did so without being a homer. That’s a tricky tightrope, but Stan walked it.

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My preferred slice of Stan might be his work on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ postgame show after a Steelers loss. He talked Pittsburgh off the ledge.

Stan didn’t make excuses. He didn’t sugar coat. But he didn’t push you into the abyss, either. (That’s my job.)

Stan was quite memorable at iHeart Media’s annual Great Pittsburgh Sports Debate. Unshackled, he would drop curse word after F-bomb. It was eye-popping and hilarious. Those attending couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

Stan wasn’t just a Pittsburgh sports icon. He was a Pittsburgh icon, period. Identifiable with the city.

Stan’s longtime partner, Guy Junker, is right there, too. Their “SportsBeat” TV show aired for an incredible 17 years. “Stan, Guy, love the show.” It’s impossible to eulogize Stan without mentioning that catchphrase. It originated on a “DVE Morning Show” parody, then caught fire.

Stan once left his show prep notes in a studio I used after he had. They consisted of five topics scribbled on a scrap of paper the size of a Post-It Note.

That’s because Stan didn’t have to write stuff down. He knew everything. Stan could take five topics, riff extemporaneously for hours and always hit the mark. (I was jealous of that. If you saw my too-extensive show prep, you’d know why.)

Stan and I had a couple of skirmishes. But mostly, we got along famously. I enjoyed guesting on his show and him appearing on mine. I’d give anything to do either of those things just one more time.

I tagged Stan “the Godfather of the Pittsburgh sports media,” which he was, and which he liked, and I’m happy to have done that. Stan once told me it gave his career a second wind. But Stan didn’t need that. He just kept going and going.

Stan Savran had unmitigated respect and credibility among those he talked to and those he talked about. He was a master of his craft and a thoroughly good man.

His listeners will miss him. I was one of them. We were all privileged.