I'm reminded it was eight years ago Friday of the passing of longtime Bay Area broadcaster, Bill King.More than just the greatest broadcaster in Bay Area history, King was classy; the consummate professional; a master wordsmith who transcended sports and was a part of the Bay Area cultural landscape--oh, and a very nice gentleman too.
Miss you Bill King.
Holy Toledo!
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It's a shame that Bill King isn't in the Baseball Hall of Fame. I certainly hope he doesn't get kudos over the kiss-ass shrill in San Francisco, Mr. Kuiper. I can't believe that cheddar head is a finalist in this. What the hell has he done? He gives new meaning to the term "homer." He can't even hold a candle to Bill King or Ken Korach. I'm sure those brainwashed front running Giants fans will be quick to anger on this one... Bring it on you zombies.
ReplyDeleteGreat announcer but not baseball HOF worthy.
DeleteIf basketball or football puts announcers in their HOF's then he has a shot.
Football, basketball (radio)---yes
Baseball--no
hey 8:13 - i think your post speaks more to your pathetic existence than anything about Kuiper. Oh, and FYI.... I'm a big fan of Bill King and think he was the best I pbp guy I've heard anywhere, any sport. I just don't make an ass of myself saying it.
DeleteI loved to listen to Bill King - absolutely the best basketball play by play ever. I was not a Raider fan but still loved listening to him call their games. But as great as he was, don't fool yourself that there wasn"t a littler homer in him. Anyone that ever heard him do Warrior games and heard him get on the officials for calls that went against the W's - well some of those rants were legendary. Truly one of the best ever. And btw, ripping other announcers is not a way to elevate King - as a matter of fact, King would find that quite disturbing.
DeleteMr King was truly one of the all time great sports broadcasters. On a few occasions as a teenager my friends and I at the Coliseum Arena would wait until he finished his Warriors post-game show (as we studied the game stats sheets that were passed out) to ask questions and Bill was always cordial despite the late hour.
ReplyDeleteMy ultimate compliment to him as a Niners fan was that I'd listen to the Raiders broadcast rooting for an Oakland loss and yet be enthralled by his discription of the game.
The week of his passing on ESPN's Sports Reporters Sunday morning show Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe in his closing comment gave a glowing tribute to the career of Bill King which I always appreciated, since I feel nationally his work was never fully recognized, even to this day.
8:13 King was a great radio football broadcaster and just as good as M. Albert/M. Glickman in basketball--meaning the best. But he was a terrible baseball announcer. The great baseball announcers are not rapid fire play by play men. or announcers that keep screaming about the refs/ umps--they are storytellers. Bill King's style (like Albert and Glickman) is very different from Vince Scully's, who weaves in the history of the game with a laid back play by play.
ReplyDeleteThe real shame of this year's HOF ballot is that without organizational backing like King and Kuiper have--Hank Greenwald, the best BASEBALL play by play man of the group, was ignored. Nobody made a bad game more interesting, with his storytelling and humor, than Hank
Bill was an outstanding baseball and football announcer. Raiders and A's fan would know that he would care less about being in any Hall of Fame.
ReplyDeleteNobody called a game from the Civic Auditorium or the Cow Palace like Bill King.
ReplyDeleteKNEW was the place to tune in for a Warriors game.
Do I hear jab at Mendy Rudolph.
Some jabs, and a few hay makers too!
DeleteI'm surprised he isn't in the broadcasting hall of fame. Growing up in the Bay Area during the 70s was truly a special time - Bill King was an announcer unequaled in passion, accuracy, ability to convey information and wit. Throw in his eclectic personality and I can't think of another announcer who was better suited for their market than King.
ReplyDeleteBill was a fantastic baseball broadcaster and baseball is where he got his start. (He worked Giants games in the late '50's and early '60's.) And if there was a better football play-by-play man, I never heard him. But when it comes to basketball, he was in another universe. The pacing of the game really allowed Bill to display his full measure of greatness. He was simply incomparable as a basketball announcer. I miss him so much because it's such a drop-down in class between him and the local announcers we listen to now, although Korach is terrific and Greg Papa has his moments.
ReplyDeleteThe Raiders couldn't have asked for a announcer who represented them better then Bill. His Devilish looks for one fit the silver and black Raiders perfect. And his clearly better announcing skills sure came in handy when Raiders miracles were happening almost every week From Lamonica to Blanda and later The Ghost,Stabler and Plunkett. Tempting to keep going on that list...
ReplyDeleteHey Rich- Thegamz Sean O'Connell has twice this week been on Yahoo..sporting two black eyes..you know who got the better of him and why?
I still remember the call, Raiders just got screwed by a call, John Madden goes running onto field. Without taking a breath, King exclaims, Madden, get your fat butt off the field.... Only BK could pull it off. Oh, because of King, I too buy car clunkers, drive them till they die, then leave them wherever they die and buy another clunker. It has saved me a ton of money over 20 years.
ReplyDeleteThe "Holy Roller" play in San Diego, 9/10/78:
Deletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y1SeAjv5ao
A brilliant, brilliant announcer!
Not to ruin a great story,but Bill did also say-- have plenty of friends as those clunkers broke down and often- to give you a ride.
DeleteI believe Bill King belongs in the HOF of all three sports that he so ably broadcast. I also agree with 9:01 that Hank Greenwald definitely belongs in the baseball HOF.
ReplyDeleteTo all Rich Followers: Be it on paper or in digital, get the Must Read book of the fall - Holy Toledo - Lessons from Bill King: Renaissance Man of the Mic by A's current voice Ken Korach. Don't mind some of the misspells or factual errors - the stories alone are worth every penny.
ReplyDeleteBTW, even Kuiper believes King should go to Cooperstown before him - he has the endorsement of Lon Simmons and dozens of great voices past, present, & future (unfortunately, in Giantsland, Kuip can't tell the King truth, even though King began has his Bay career filling in for Simmons alongside Russ Hodges when Simmons had to call a 49er game). No matter what you think of his work on the air, King was absolutely the voice of all Oakland pro sports. No Brando approach toward authority should interfere with the fact that without King, Oakland will never be completely represented by any Halls of Fame, even with all of the great players from the respective teams. Owners, commissioners, and officials' disdain for King should be shown the door when they look at King's impact - yes, easier said than done, but this wrong must be righted ASAP.
Oh, and big Eastbay sports names like John Madden, Tom Flores, Rick Barry, Al Attles, Dave Stewart, and Dennis Eckersley all endorse King into all three Halls!
Dude, it isn't the sports announcers hall of fame, it is the baseball one.
DeleteLooking at baseball only, and not all the ancillary non baseball stories, he isn't worthy. (Kuiper isn't worthy either IMHO)
We know he means a lot to the 45+ year old east bay sports fans who grew up on him---show some objectivity.
You hit it on the head 10:56. King is the greatest BASKETBALL play-by-play man of all time. He did excellent work on football as well, but baseball was the weakest of the the three. He was good, but GOOD doesn't
Deleteget you in the Hall of Fame -- only GREAT. Mentioning Kuiper in this conversation is an absolute joke. He is an amateur compared to King, Hodges, Simmons, and Greenwald.
I always thought a great Raider tribute to Bill King would be to put Bill's persona in place of the pirate on the Raider's helmet. Just put that eye patch on Bill. A one game fun way for the present Raider org to honor the true greatness-including announcers- of the team's past.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great idea Stan.
DeleteDo what you gotta do to get this done.
Jbap21
Greatest in the Bay Area? BFD. Not a lot of talent has stayed here, hence Lon Simmons being revered by so many. Jon Miller is the best Bay Area baseball announcer of all time and he's just a Vin Scully knockoff.
ReplyDeleteAgain, all this talk about the Hall of Fame is irrelevant. Bill didn't broadcast sports because it gave him recognition and money. He did it because he actually loved broadcasting sports, unlike so many other clowns out there who do it mainly because it salves their ego and gives them some minor 'celebrity' rating.
ReplyDeleteKing was an absolute word-smith who actually believed in using the English language properly, something that many broadcasters today should try to learn to do.
America has dumbed itself down because we've become a distracted, attention-deficit nation that watches too much Television and spends way too much time on cell phones and the internet (as I am unfortunately doing this very minute!).
But when you listened to some of King's broadcasts, his words fired your imagination and took you to places that seemed almost mythical, yet they were real.
And more kudos on Ken Korach's book about Bil King. It's a great read and has lots of insights into Bill's wonderful personality and sometimes quirky habits. And yes, he was a great basketball and football announcer, but also just as good, if not better than some of the folks who are in the Writers and Broadcasters wing at Cooperstown. His cll of the Kirk Gibson home run off Eckersley in game one of the 1988 World Series is far better than either Vince Scully's National TV call, or Jack Buck's national radio call.