The player interview was about 4 minutes, not just 3 laughing questions/flattering like now. Some players like John Q. Trapp struggled to speak white English, and Chick might finish their sentences. I liked them all. West would just go on and on; you could see why he was the media's favorite.
I played video in the background, did not hear any simons extension. Granted, I was not tuned in. Something like that would be reported elsewhere. Also, would be dumb to to such thing
So in order for me to know how to live through a rebuild I have to hang on every word of every puff piece the team puts out? Have we even chosen a rebuild? We're still playing Simons, Ayton, and Grant a ton. No, I'm living just fine.
I'd like to hear why you dislike him. Something deeper than the usual: 1) "Waah, he uses the word 'cup' for the basket." I love his signature coinages. It's like reading descriptive writing vs. just-the-facts-ma'am journalism. But don't worry, in response to dullard Blazer fan criticism that he's too bright, he has greatly toned down his literary lexicals. And he talks more slowly. 2) "He describes every play in detail. This is TV, not radio. I don't like to listen intently. It hurts to concentrate. So I flunked 5 grades." That's the best thing about him. Radio commentary is by necessity superior to TV. 3) "He's from Seattle. I hate everything from Seattle and have never been outside of Oregon." I first heard him after Bob Whitsitt hired him from the Kansas City Kings. Before that...I'll let Wikipedia say it: Calabro is a 1974 graduate of Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis, Indiana. He called high school basketball games in Indiana on WBDG. He graduated from Butler University (1978) where he called Butler Bulldog basketball for four years. Calabro had stops in the Central Hockey League, where he broadcast games for the Indianapolis Checkers, as well as at Purdue University and University of Missouri where he called basketball games. He began his professional career as the play-by-play announcer for the Kansas City Kings in the 1983–84 season. In the 1987–88 season, Calabro came on board with the SuperSonics alongside the SuperSonics original play-by-play announcer Bob Blackburn....Calabro stated he would not continue with the team should they relocate to Oklahoma City, which they ultimately did.[6]
Calabro is much more polished, professional, than Mike Barrett or a half dozen of the prior play by play guys. He also was a sonic and national guy, I think many fans liked the homer Mike and Mike style back to Schonley that lived rip city. It wouldn't surprise me at all if next season Calabrao was doing Amazon prime games or something. Shows he's skilled - but also not really a Blazer. The color guy the Blazers have doesn't contribute much, can't even remember his name. I normally watch the other team broadcast, some announcers are better and a few other broadcast show more of the game with less highlights interrupting game action which I prefer. But plenty of other teams broadcasts have problems too.
Not true FAMS. Really a genuine down to earth guy. Treats every member of the crew as buddies. Very personable. I was against the Mikes being let go and it took me some time, but as far as a person behind the scenes…..couldn’t be a cooler guy.
Yeah, Joe obviously wanted to say the stuff he said. I didn't mind any of it. Calabro definitely isn't Roy Firestone and Joe didn't want him to be. I think loving this interview is a little weird but I think hating it is a lot weirder. Edit: Also a "lively hood" is like a block party but someone's living is a their livelihood... not that you or anyone else gives a shit.
Dude. The poster was joking. Yes, Calabro is an employee of the guy he interviewed. Expect questions like Casey Holdahl or Brooke WhatsHerName would ask. This isn't Quick or Canzano, trying to make a name for themselves as Jesse James. But good catch, Blazer Kor, about the lively hood. First time I ever wrote your name, and I realize it means core.
I hate his voice. He reminds me of an auctioneer. Especially when he talked super fast earlier in his career. He has called us the Supersonics multiple times. He isn't ours. He would choose the Supersonics anyday over the Blazers and Seattle can go fuck itself. I'm sure he is a nice enough guy, just not a guy I want as our announcer. I stopped watching games that were our broadcasts after Mike and Mike got canned. Watched them again when Jordan Kent was the announcer and preferred him over Calabro too. I really like Hurd. I met him down at OSU when I was roommates with one of his teammates.
Sonic fans never gave a shit where Bob Blackburn grew up. To the contrary, he was considered a Northwesterner because of his Oregon background, and no one thought about California. Wikipedia: Blackburn grew up in the Los Angeles area. As a child, he was bedridden with tuberculosis.[1] While listening to college sports broadcasts, he dreamed of being behind the microphone. Blackburn's uncle had told him his strength was in his "loud voice," so a career in broadcasting seemed like a good idea.[2] Blackburn managed to land a job at a radio station in Santa Ana, California in 1942, and worked his way up. He also attended college at Fresno State Normal School. Eventually, he landed a job with the Portland Beavers Pacific Coast League baseball team, and was part of the Beavers' broadcast duo with Rollie Truitt on station KWJJ for 18 years. During that time, Blackburn was also a play-by-play announcer for University of Oregon and Oregon State University (OSU) football games in Portland, over the Tidewater Oil Company's sports radio network. In 1953, he became the sports director of KEX, a station where he also had his own afternoon disc jockey show. In 1957 he moved to KPOJ also doing the afternoon shift. In 1958 he moved to KXL, and then back to KPOJ in 1959. When OSU created its own sports radio network in the late 1950s, Blackburn became the radio voice of Oregon State football and basketball. He was employed by the network flagship station, KEX of Portland. In 2002, Blackburn was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame for his Special Contribution to Sports in Oregon. When the SuperSonics joined the NBA in 1967–68, the team needed a play-by-play voice...
Chick Hearn grew up in Illinois and announced Bradley basketball. As for silly colorful phrases that Calabro haters so dislike, from Hearn's obituary: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-aug-06-me-hearn6-story.html [baseball phrases he didn't invent:] “Simple terms like bases loaded, circus catch, circuit clout, screwball and squeeze play all served to dramatize the grand old game of baseball that even became a national pastime, thanks to some chronicler of press row.” ...Hearn invented a lexicon that has become as much a part of the game of modern basketball as the three-point field goal--”Chickisms,” they were called. He concocted such phrases as “airball” for a shot that misses the rim, “slam dunk” for a shot that is thrust down into the basket, “yo-yoing up and down” to describe a player dribbling a basketball, and “dribble drive” for a player driving hard to the basket. With Hearn behind the microphone, the Lakers didn’t just pull away from a beaten opponent, they “put the game in the refrigerator.” A defender badly fooled by a player with the ball was “faked into the popcorn machine.” When a player mishandled the ball while trying a needlessly flashy move, Hearn determined that “the mustard’s off the hot dog.”...“No harm, no foul,” he said...Later came the phrase “The door is closed, the light is out, the eggs are cooling, and the butter is getting hard.” Summary: Who cares where the guy's from. And more power to Calabro for coining his own signature phrases and terms.
