Tuesday, February 19, 2008

The Power of Voices

I doubt this particular bit of news found its way to too many of you out there, but Dave Niehaus was just elected to the baseball hall of fame as a broadcaster. Make no mistake this is an honor the man has earned and then some. Dave has been the voice of the Mariners since day one of the franchise.

But this post isn't exactly about how awesome Dave is, how he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. Hearing about Dave, and also having read on of Canzano's better columns about the Schonz has had me thinking about the voices that define teams and sports for me. More than any specific game, any player or any heroic performance those two announcers are my childhood sports memories.

I know a couple of you out there grew up in Portland and grew up as Blazer fans. I am still a Blazer fan, and Brian Wheeler isn't bad. But it doesn't always feel like listening to a Blazer game either. The voice of Bill Schonely is so iconic to me it is hard not hearing it, even 10 years after he was run out of the organization. I know he is back doing some work for the Blazers and you can still hear a few of his wonderful phrases but so many are lost. It's almost worst hearing the few that they have as sound bites for the radio broadcast or for Standard TV commercials. Yet, every now and again, from somewhere deep in the back of my memory snippets of his calls come back.

I am thankful that Dave Niehaus is still working for the Mariners. Like Schonely, he doesn't work full games anymore, but there is couple of innings each game that he does call the play by play. I know there will come a day when he is too old to handle even the light duties he has and we will hear his last call. If I am aware of it on that day, I am sure I will feel sad, wistful perhaps. I have a feeling it won't really sink in until the next summer though. One day, when I am in my office tuning into the game I will forget that Dave is gone and expect to hear his voice, and it won't be there.

This post got a little sentimental, which wasn't my original intent. In the end, perhaps the Northwest should be happy to have been blessed with two fantastic, iconic, and long-lasting play by play announcers.

My oh my.

3 comments:

Seph said...

Um, I'm glad you're happy?

Also, you may be pleased to know that I still hate the Lakers. The one season where I actually paid attention to basketball has apparently had a pretty profound effect on me...

Rip Tatermen said...

Give in to your anger! Honestly, that is the most important thing you can know about the NBA.
I never listen to radio broadcasts, so I've missed out on Niehaus. I'll have to try to catch an Ms game this year. Schonely is great, though. Shoving him out is one of the worst things they've done. I miss Snapper Jones, too. I couldn't stand the Mikes, but as this season has gone on, they've really grown on Syd and me. I take them over ESPN crews when I have the choice, now. On the other end of the spectrum, Beau, who's your least favorite broadcaster? I'll give you a hint: it's Dick Vitale.

Beau said...

Beware Niehaus, the age is slowly catching up to him. He isn't as sharp as he once was, but that voice, smooth and rich. Like Milky-Way. [Side note: ESPN has some of Dave's calls linked in their article about him being named to the Hall]

I do miss The Snapper. Ah, the days when a color man actually had on-point analysis to add to the game.

If Dick Vitale isn't on the top of my most hated announcer's list, he is tied for 2nd. Ken Venturi used to top it, but it sounds like he is back to hitting the sauce while in the booth so he had fallen down the list a bit. Kieth Jackson also very near the top.