Apparently, Bob Blackburn has a computer, and he's not afraid to use it.
If you haven't voted already, hop over to supersonics.com to vote for either the 1978-79 NBA Champions or Bob Blackburn (!) as the greatest icon in Seattle Supersonics' history.
It got me to thinking: Where does Blackburn rank in Seattle sports broadcasting history? Blackburn obviously had a head start on everyone, with the Sonics debuting 40 years ago, and he remains the only broadcaster to call a professional sports championship in Seattle history (not including the Seattle Metropolitans, winners of the Stanley Cup in 1917; their broadcasts were done using signal flares, and, hence, do not count).
Every city has its favorites, and Seattle's been blessed with some great announcers. Neihaus, Pete Gross, Blackburn, Calabro, Raible, ... how do you rank the greats?
Well, here's one attempt:
1. Dave Neihaus ("Looooooow and outside")
2. Pete Gross ("Touchdown Seahawks!")
3. Bob Blackburn ("And Williams throws the ball into the air!")
4. Kevin Calabro ("Oh, Shawn, nobody do the voodoo like you do!")
5. Bob Rondeau ("Touchdown Washington!")
Your results may vary.
Wednesday, April 4
Tuesday, April 3
One Shining Moment
I don’t know about the rest of you, but while I watch the NCAA championship every year, it’s usually with a sour taste in my mouth, because none of the teams in my bracket advanced that far, or if they did, I’m still out of it and have no shot at winning the pool.
Last night, though, was different, for a couple of reasons.
First, it was the first time my 3-year-old daughter actually sat still for an extended period of time and watched a sporting event. Mind you, I’m not complaining about her general state of hyperactivity – the one thing kids need less of in this part of the world is sitting still and watching tv – but it was enjoyable to see her attention span extend beyond 35 seconds.
For some reason, she took a shine to Ohio State (or as she calls them, “the red guys”). Maybe it was Greg Oden, maybe it was Ron Smith, or maybe it was the fact her dad was shouting PG obscenities whenever Florida scored. Regardless, for pretty much the entire second half she sat next to me on the couch and rooted for OSU.
From yelling at Joakim Noah (“I don’t like that ponytailed guy”) to inventing cheers (“Go red guys, go!” “Hey white guys, let the red guys win!”), she had a blast. She even explained to her grandfather that Noah isn’t a nice guy (“He’s always yelling, bapa. Yelling’s not nice, right? That’s why we don’t like that ponytailed guy.”)
That was part of it, for sure. Add in the fact I got to watch basketball for a solid 2 hours without her asking me to put on Dora was the cherry on top (sadly, though, she seemed to be riveted by those annoying car insurance ads featuring some cartooned woman trying to dunk over some sort of alien-type creature).
The other part was the talent on the court. I think that 15 years from now, we’ll all look back on this championship game as something special. While Oden was obviously the best player on the court, this wasn’t a case of a giant amongst midgets. Oden’s teammates (Conley, Smith, et al) are also talented, and it’s possible he won’t be the only guy on his team to play in the NBA. And, of course, it seems as though every guy Billy Donovan trotted out onto the court for Florida was NBA-ready.
It all means that 5, 6, 10 years from now, we could be watching an NBA all-star game featuring Oden, Noah, and Horford, and we’ll all look back at last night and remember they were all on the same court together, the way I remember seeing UNLV play at the Kingdome against Seton Hall.
For one night at least, I forgot all about the Sonics’ troubles, and remembered why I watch basketball in the first place: It’s a game that everyone can enjoy, regardless of whether they know nothing about it, or far, far too much.
Last night, though, was different, for a couple of reasons.
First, it was the first time my 3-year-old daughter actually sat still for an extended period of time and watched a sporting event. Mind you, I’m not complaining about her general state of hyperactivity – the one thing kids need less of in this part of the world is sitting still and watching tv – but it was enjoyable to see her attention span extend beyond 35 seconds.
For some reason, she took a shine to Ohio State (or as she calls them, “the red guys”). Maybe it was Greg Oden, maybe it was Ron Smith, or maybe it was the fact her dad was shouting PG obscenities whenever Florida scored. Regardless, for pretty much the entire second half she sat next to me on the couch and rooted for OSU.
From yelling at Joakim Noah (“I don’t like that ponytailed guy”) to inventing cheers (“Go red guys, go!” “Hey white guys, let the red guys win!”), she had a blast. She even explained to her grandfather that Noah isn’t a nice guy (“He’s always yelling, bapa. Yelling’s not nice, right? That’s why we don’t like that ponytailed guy.”)
That was part of it, for sure. Add in the fact I got to watch basketball for a solid 2 hours without her asking me to put on Dora was the cherry on top (sadly, though, she seemed to be riveted by those annoying car insurance ads featuring some cartooned woman trying to dunk over some sort of alien-type creature).
The other part was the talent on the court. I think that 15 years from now, we’ll all look back on this championship game as something special. While Oden was obviously the best player on the court, this wasn’t a case of a giant amongst midgets. Oden’s teammates (Conley, Smith, et al) are also talented, and it’s possible he won’t be the only guy on his team to play in the NBA. And, of course, it seems as though every guy Billy Donovan trotted out onto the court for Florida was NBA-ready.
It all means that 5, 6, 10 years from now, we could be watching an NBA all-star game featuring Oden, Noah, and Horford, and we’ll all look back at last night and remember they were all on the same court together, the way I remember seeing UNLV play at the Kingdome against Seton Hall.
For one night at least, I forgot all about the Sonics’ troubles, and remembered why I watch basketball in the first place: It’s a game that everyone can enjoy, regardless of whether they know nothing about it, or far, far too much.
Monday, April 2
Oden Watch
When you're watching tonight's NCAA Championship game between Ohio State and Florida, try not to think about how awesome it would be to have Greg Oden on the Seattle Supersonics next year.Seriously, try not to.
You can't, can you? After another confounding late season win-streak knocked them out of the Oden sweepstakes, Sonics fans are left to painfully ponder "What if?", and pray to Sund that they don't draft someone from Norway.
By the way, if you missed John Moe and I discussing the dreaded "Lose to Win" philosophy on "Weekend America", you can listen to it online here.
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