Good morning, all! You made it through Friday the thirteenth! Congratulations! And while we are at it, happy Valentine’s Day!
MLB faces major issues, what with potential labor strife et al. Beyond that, however, the sport needs to acknowledge a reality. Its regular season is too long. Here is a proposal the game should adopt to grow its popularity. My recommendations are in the above video and podcast.
Here are some other thoughts as February continues its grind:
Look for the PGA Tour to make major changes, with some of them inspired by Tiger Woods. According to Front Office Sports, the Tour may start its season after the Super Bowl, rather than in Hawaii during the NFL playoffs. The Tour is also considering taking up Woods on his suggestion that the season should run deeper into the summer months, instead of essentially wrapping up after the British Open to make way for the FedEx Cup playoffs. It is Woods’ contention the PGA Tour should take advantage of a summer lull in sports by holding more tournaments, instead of winding its season down after the last major. There is also talk of moving some tournaments into major television markets where no tournaments are currently held. The times, they could be a changin.’
NBA teams tanking is a disgrace. Utah pulling its starters, entering the fourth quarter in Tuesday night’s game, is another example. It’s why I don’t pay attention to the NBA. Maybe I take a glimpse during the playoffs, but that is it. And I was a huge NBA fan. Long before there was cable TV - itself now an outmoded form of delivering content - I would be glued to my radio listening to Marv Albert calling Knicks games. Somewhere in my collection - although I’m sure it’s on You Tube - I have Marv calling a Knicks 12-point comeback against the Milwaukee Bucks with four minutes left in the game at Madison Square Garden: the crowd, screaming “defense,” swarming over the radio airwaves. WNBC-AM, 660 on the dial long before the FAN occupied that frequency, was the Knicks radio home. I can still hear Marv: “Frazier to the head of the foul circle. The jumper. Yes!” Those were the days, my friends. Unfortunately, they did end.
Oh, I miss those NBA days. Glued to my radio as a Knicks fan, listening to the gravelly voice of Johnny Most calling the Celtics on WBZ-AM 1030, rooting hard against the Celtics. Most ripping the refs: “Dave Cowens just got hammered and Ed Rush did not call a foul! That is criminal!” Never in my wildest dreams could I imagine that some day I would be calling college basketball games on the radio and my broadcast partner would be Celtics great K.C. Jones, who would become a dear friend.
I cannot remember what I had for dinner last night, but I remember those NBA days and the radio announcers, like it was yesterday. Joe Tait on 50-thousand-watt WWWE, describing Cleveland Cavaliers game with his unique play-by-play descriptions. A guard wouldn’t just dribble the ball across the mid-court line, he would “Bisect the cyclops.” Yes, those were the days. They are gone now. And so is the NBA of my youth. Sadly, I might add.
A couple of other NBA broadcaster factoids. How many know that Johnny Most called Brooklyn Dodgers games? Back in the day, the Dodgers would have their flagship station in New York (WMGM) with Red Barber and later Vin Scully, describing the action, but they would have a separate radio feed for their network with Johnny Most on the call. Most loved to tell the story of how Dick Williams the player - Yes the same Williams who managed the Impossible Dream Boston Red Sox in 1967 - told him what the signs were. Most would sound like a genius on the air, predicting when the Dodgers would bunt or steal a base.
Many Yankees fans, of course, fondly recall Frank Messer. How many remember Messer also called Knicks games? Again it was a similar arrangement as the Dodgers. Marv called the games on the New York flagship (WNBC) and Messer did the games on the Knicks radio network, of which my hometown station (WSNG) was a member. Jim Gordon succeeded Messer and later went on to call New York Giants games on the radio.
Speaking of Messer. He was always one of my favorites. I met him a couple of times and he could not have been more gracious. But what really completed the circle for me was when I was broadcasting Richmond Braves games. Messer got his start in Richmond by also broadcasting Richmond games and I got to know the man who really gave Messer his start, Frank Soden, a legendary sports broadcaster in his own right on Richmond radio. Soden was as nice a person as you would ever want to meet. It is a small world, which is a long about way of saying that is the NBA I remember.
That is going to do it for today’s newsletter. As always, thank you for being a subscriber and do not forget your sweetheart on Valentine’s Day or you will be in hot water!
DAN
