BAR: SAM’S NO. 3
Sam’s No. 3, 2580 S. Havana St. in Aurora, is run by three Greek brothers, Patrick, Sam and Alex Armatas, and their dad, Spero. The name comes from the third of five Coney Island-style eateries Grandpa Sam opened in downtown Denver in the 1920s. They became Sam’s, and two remain, one in downtown Denver and one in Aurora, where Sam’s No. 3 has a full bar, a dinerlike counter and a dining room for 170 filled with booths and tables. It’s open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. most days for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Patrick explains that the morning crowd is mostly blue-collar, the midday welcomes business types and lawyers, and at night it’s families. The large menu is American with a strong salute to Mexico. “You can get what you want whenever you want it,” says Patrick. “Eggs and bacon for dinner, liver and onions for breakfast.”
GRILLED: TOM MANOOGIAN
Tom Manoogian, 54, is better known in town as Lou from Littleton. He’s the guy who started calling in to KOA Sports Talk in the 1980s and turned it into a career. He moved to Denver from Detroit when he was 16, went to Pomona High and the University of Northern Colorado, where he studied marketing and mass communications. After college, he started working for his dad at a car lot on South Broadway, Auto King, “The Walking Man’s Friend.” Since then he’s traveled, sold TV time, worked for the Rockies, talked on the radio. These days, he’s running Front Range Sports Network, three radio stations: The Ticket, Jack and ESPN Desportes, the only all-Spanish sports game in town. He’s married with four children and lives in Greenwood Village. As Damon Runyon wrote, a story comes with it. He drinks a glass of water.
BH: Do you drink alcohol?
Manoogian: I quit drinking on Jan. 1, 1988. I couldn’t control myself. I have an addictive personality; whatever I do, I do 100 percent. Everything I do, I go overboard, and drinking just wasn’t my deal.
BH: How did the Lou from Littleton thing start?
Manoogian: From 1981 to 1986 I worked for my dad, and he was old school and would come down to the car lot at 9 o’clock at night to make sure we were still working. And there was not much to do on South Broadway in November and December at 9 o’clock back then, so I decided to go in the back room and call Bob Martin on KOA “Sports Talk.” I was a sports freak. He asked where I lived, and I said Littleton and he asked for my name, and I said Lou in case my dad was listening when he drove down and caught me calling “Sports Talk” when I should be working.
BH: And then what?
Manoogian: I figured the car business wasn’t for me, so in May of 1987 I start selling TV time for Channel 31. I was their top sales guy. And I’m still calling in as Lou from Littleton. So, long story short, I had this idea in February 1989 that I wanted to go to every ballpark in America. So I go in to my boss and said I’m leaving Channel 31 to go to every ballpark. He told me I was a flake and I’d never get a job in this town again. But I had to do it. I didn’t want to be 50 years old and say, “Boy, I wish I would’ve done that.” So I get in my car, and my goal was to follow my beloved Detroit Tigers. And I call KOA collect from every ballpark, and I would talk to Sandy Clough and Jim Turner. And as I was driving through Tennessee on my way to Florida or wherever, I realized that you gotta grab life by the horns, and I never had any regrets. I turned 32 on April 27 in Oakland on my baseball trip, and I realized I saw baseball games but I also saw the country. I had a blast, the time of my life.
BH: What did you do when you got home?
Manoogian: Well, I ate a lot of ballpark food, so I had to lose some weight. And I was still calling in as Lou from Littleton. Then I got to work for Channel 4, selling ads, from 1989 to 1992. And then I take a job with the Rockies selling TV time. And in 1994, I get a call from KOA asking if I want to do a show as Lou from Littleton. I mean, the job fell in my lap. I didn’t even apply for the job. I was the luckiest guy in the world. Here I am with my first radio job, and I’m on KOA, The Blowtorch. Then in 1994, and again in 1995, I took some time off to follow the Rolling Stones around America and Europe.
BH: Were you married by then?
Manoogian: I was a sports freak. I didn’t even date. Then I met my wife on June 25, 1995. I was doing a Lou from Littleton Show from Blake Street Baseball Club, and I said to her, “Linda, you know, honey, I know I just met you, but I’m going to Europe on Tuesday to see the Rolling Stones, so you want to come?” And she says no.
BH: Was it love at first sight?
Manoogian: That night I was driving her down I-25 toward Belleview, and I looked over at her and the sun was shining on the back of her head and she looked like an angel. So when I got back on July 15, 1995, I started courting her. In fact, we were in New York in May of 1996, and I get down on one knee in Central Park and say, “Why don’t we get married?” And she goes, “You gotta do better than that.” So on June 8, 1996, in the fifth inning at Tiger Stadium I ask her again, and we get married on June 14, 1997.
BH: You know a lot of dates. Is it because of sports and stats?
Manoogian: Yeah, I’m a date guy.
BH: So now you have four kids and you own three radio stations?
Manoogian: I put 22 guys together nine months ago, and beginning on Jan. 1, 2012, we’ll be the ESPN affiliate for Colorado. It’s working out, but it’s been a little different managing 42 people. Three stations on the air 2 4/7. I’ve always been kind of a lone ranger.
BH: Are you off the radio completely?
Manoogian: I stop in once in a while. When you’re one of the owners, you can go in, and what can they say?
BH: Do sports exist just to give guys something to talk about?
Manoogian: Well, whether you’re a Wall Street guy or a custodian, you can always talk about the game the day after.
BH: Every year you conduct a big fundraising drive.
Manoogian: We’ve done a radiothon for Samaritan House for 14 years and raised more than $1.5 million. Every time I feel out of whack and sorry for myself, I go down to 23rd and Lawrence and see what life is all about.
BH: What’s your idea of happiness?
Manoogian: Healthy happy wife, healthy happy children.
BH: What’s your greatest fear?
Manoogian: Failure.
BH: What don’t you like about yourself?
Manoogian: Short fuse.
BH: What’s your current state of mind?
Manoogian: Enthusiastic, excited.
BH: What don’t you like about your appearance?
Manoogian: My hair. It’s white! I go someplace with my kids, and people think I’m their granddad.
BH: Is there a word or phrase you overuse?
Manoogian: “Cuz.” I call everyone “Cuz” or “Honey.”
BH: Who or what is the love of your life?
Manoogian: My family and the Detroit Tigers.
BH: What talent would you like to have?
Manoogian: I would like to throw a fastball 98 mph with movement and be the lead guitar player for the Rolling Stones.
BH: What’s your favorite thing to do?
Manoogian: I love selling.
BH: Who are your favorite writers?
Manoogian: I like sportswriters like Mitch Albom. And I just finished “Unbroken,” by Laura Hildebrand.
BH: Movies?
Manoogian: I loved “The King’s Speech.” And I just watched “Lilies of the Field” with my kids.
BH: Music?
Manoogian: On June 13, I am going to Red Rocks to see Peter Gabriel with my kids and my wife. I am a classic rock guy. One time, I saw the Rolling Stones on Thanksgiving Day 2005. The next day, my friends and I go to the CU-Nebraska game, we leave at halftime, go to the airport and fly to Las Vegas to see Paul McCartney at the MGM Grand. Great.
BH: What do you dislike?
Manoogian: Standing in line. I would never go to a Starbucks.
BH: Is there something you wouldn’t eat even to be polite.
Manoogian: No. I’d always take a bite.
BH: What restaurants do you like?
Manoogian: We’ve got four kids, so we don’t go to a lot of places that have tablecloths and china. We love Sam’s, Tzatziki’s, Bagel Deli.
BH: Motto?
Manoogian: Keep your head where your feet are.
Interview conducted, condensed and edited by Bill Husted: 303-954-1486 or bhusted@denverpost.com.
