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| Bill King |
Bill King wasn't just a phenomenal broadcaster; a wonderful play-by-play man; a fantastic wordsmith; he was a great man too, in every sense of the word. He was special on all fronts be it professional and personal.
He was Aplus on football; Aplus on basketball, baseball. His greatness almost superseded the Raiders, A's and Warriors, teams he broadcast for in the Bay Area.
King NEVER would have voiced a "Holy Toledo!" and extended it had the Raiders been down 33-nothing. He'd have simply called the play as it was and moved on, "Touchdown, Raiders."
King would never have to resort to a "Touchdoooooooodown" if the situation wasn't called for. The moment dictated the style and Bill knew the moment. He seized the moment. It defined him almost as much as "holy Toledo."
King didn't have to manufacture excitement--he let the action on the field tell the story.
Bill King was honest and straight-forward and would be nice to you and talk to you if you were lucky enough (like me) to have met him. He wasn't a different tone or personality off the microphone. He was ungodly consistant.
Bill King is a Hall-of-Famer.
A certain other will never be.
Not even close.
Rosy retrospection.
ReplyDeleteOne wonders if he would be another Bob Fitzgerald in today's educated & connected world where people don't sit around idolizing broadcasters and newsreaders.
Hopefully you're not comparing Rudy Rudy Poohay with Bill King. Not even in the same area code. Rudy is nearly like Poopa in terms of personality. But in terms of annoying condescending personality, those two have a lot in common.
DeleteBob Fitzgerald is the most presumptuous narcissistic clown on the universe. He continues to give commentary with next to nothing info that the average fan already knows. Why a world class organization has a hack doing the play x play? While Papa is annoying he knows his sports and really like how he did the play x play for the Warriors before fat boy went behind his back. I really miss Jim Barnett doing the color.
DeleteNice tribute, Rich. I miss Bill. Thankfully, with today's technologies and the efforts from those who have preserved such material, we can still enjoy some of Bill's body of work.
ReplyDeleteGood lord Rich. Your bi-annual hard on for King I see. Got it in before the end of the year PLUS able to put down Greg Papa in the process. How passive-agressive of you.
ReplyDelete1:00 -- Go pound sand. Facts are facts. Bill King was one-of-a-kind. Good kind. He worked very hard to present a game broadcast. He knew how to paint a picture and express his enthusiasm to the audience. He wasn't a pandering homer, either. He was one of the best. What we have around here wouldn't qualify for coverage of a fifth-grade private school league basketball game.
DeleteBill King can't be compared to any other current broadcaster. He was that great!
ReplyDeleteBill King was fantastic -- a major league talent in all sports, although he was best at hoops IMHO. Greg Papa is a minor leaguer by comparison. Little known fact about Bill
Delete-- he was relegated to just radio when the NBA hit regular TV because some sports programming wizards thought he looked like the devil, OR what viewers perceived the devil looked like.
Actually, I thought Rich made a valid and solid comparison between Messrs. King and Papa in this short column. It would have been just as valid if he had included Bobby Fitz, or any of several other local sports broadcasters, but I enjoyed this short piece.
ReplyDeletePapa and Fitz both made the mistake of hosting talk shows - which exposed listeners to their less than sparkling personalities. Both are competent play-by-play men, and if we only knew them from their game broadcasts, they probably wouldn't be so objectionable. Kinda too late for both though.
ReplyDeleteKing was tremendous with the Warriors and Raiders. With a lot less TV exposure (much fewer Warrior games on TV, Raider home game black outs), King was a huge focal point of those teams for the fans. One of kind and sorely missed.
ReplyDeleteBill King: flat out, undeniably the best. End of story.
ReplyDeleteBill King complained too much about the refs. Mendy Rudolph, Richie Powers, Manny Sokol, etc. How do I remember those names? Bill King complained about all of them.
ReplyDeleteI know Bill King was great but Greg Papa is great too as a play by play guy and knows his sports. Stop calling him out. He has done 3 sports and has done a great job in calling them all. Take it easy on Papa.
ReplyDeletejust really wonder if bill king would be a doing mid day talk show with a "partner" who think they are modern day dean martin's as cool, hip swingers who talk about their sex life, dating habits, and how much they love to plug their cocktail machine!!
ReplyDeleteWith Bill the reaction to a score was natural. It felt right in the moment. With Papa, you can tell when he calls for his San Francisco touchdown, it was probably rehearsed. Meaning he practiced it before actually calling it. And it's bad. Sometimes he puts a little bit extra on it, as he once said to Lund.
ReplyDeletekurtenbach is a true sportstalker like before-no worryh about the ''weekend in vegas'' filler talk. you listen to almost every word he says,he's not gonna sidetrack every 10 seconds-too bad he's just a fill in.
ReplyDeleteBill King was the best all-around sports broadcaster in Bay Area. King had the ability to call a game and put a listener in the basketball arena, the football stadium, or baseball park. No one else could match his vocabulary, wit and humor.
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