The phone rang. Unfamiliar number. But I was a nicer person in those days. So I answered.

"Mike? This is Jackie MacMullan."

I began perspiring. Panic attack. Somewhere between a parent on prom night and the guy waiting for the horse race to begin.

Some of you may know I've dealt with a stutter my whole life. But when the person on the other end of the line is one of your go-to reads every day; when the person on the other end of the line is the mystical "this is who I want to be when I grow up" ... let's just say for the next 30 seconds, I made Porky Pig sound like Churchill.

Jackie was calling while doing research on her book about Geno Auriemma, "In Pursuit of Perfection."

"Geno said you'd be a good guy to talk to," she said.

The privilege was mine.

MacMullan, a journalistic Rockefeller, announced her retirement from ESPN earlier this week. You may know her from "Around The Horn" as always affable and dropping wisdom on younger generation media types. My frame of reference comes during her days at the Boston Globe — best sports section in the country — where she honed a career as one of the best basketball writers in the history of typing and later was the Globe's first female sports columnist.

She covered the Celtics for many years. Her best line, after the Celts were playing lousy on the road, alluded to how they needed inspiration from their American Express cards because "The Celtics always leave home without it."

Later, she did a piece on free throw shooting, quoting Doc Rivers saying "a missed free throw is the mind getting in the way of a fine motor skill." I still use that line today with high school kids, although I often have to explain the concept of "fine motor skill."

Jackie has ties to our corner of the world, too. Her daughter, Aly Boyle, played basketball at Connecticut College. Confession: Sometimes, I'd sneak over to Luce Field House just to see if Jackie was in the stands.

If it's true that coaches' kids always throw strikes and make free throws, then similar virtues belong to journalists' kids: Eye contact with the questioner, thoughtful, engaging responses, occasional bouts with humor.

That was Boyle. But then, Boyle was raised by one of the greats in this profession and — unlike many others who have accomplished far less — always remained singularly unimpressed with herself. If you don't know MacMullan once received the Curt Gowdy Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame for her contribution to basketball, she'll be the last one to remind you.

I remember talking to Conn alum Patty Shields of East Lyme about Boyle once. Shields' dad, Fran, is Conn's former athletic director.

"My dad asked me if Aly ever talks about sports," Shields said. "I said, 'no, not really.' He said, 'Do you know who her mom is?' After we all found out, now we make fun of Aly when we're in the gym and her mom comes on TV."

Shields even got invited to Shaquille O'Neal's house once with Boyle. There was Shaq and Patty watching NBA Finals reruns in Shaq's in-home theater.

Boyle on her mom: "Obviously, we're all proud of what my mom has done. The thing I'm most proud of is how respected she is. But she doesn't let 'Jackie MacMullan' define who she is. What she really likes is being Jackie Boyle, coming to my games and watching my brother's high school games."

The profession is richer for Jackie's contributions, but poorer for her retirement. Surely, MacMullan will be awash in mad props and bon mots for her work as a female journalist — when it's still not easy to be a female journalist. MacMullan just shouldn't be labeled as one of the greats because of her gender. She's one of the greats period. And she did it with knowledge, humor, insight and humility.

Happy retirement to her. She leaves a legacy and blueprint for how this job should be done.

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro