Dick Enberg

Sorry to hear of the passing of Dick Enberg at the age of 82 from a heart attack.
To folks of my age, Dick Enberg was the voice of NBC Sports as he was the bridge that connected Curt Gowdy to Bob Costas as the voice and face of NBC.

Dick Enberg did all the major properties that the network held with his characteristic enthusiasm without being over the top as so many are in today's game and Enberg did it with enough flair to be different without being obnoxious.
It's funny with Enberg because to different people of different ages, he'll be remembered for calling different events.
My first memories of him are from the old TVS syndication broadcasts of events or the old "Sports Champions" game shows, but if you lived on the West Coast, you would remember him doing UCLA games or the L.A. Angels at the same time or even before.
Enberg did the famous UCLA-Houston game from the Astrodome in 1968 that truly put college hoops on the map on a TVS syndication broadcast and to those of us children of the 70's remember him as part of the terrific three man booth for NBC's NCAA coverage with Billy Packer and the late Al McGuire in what cemented March Madness as part of the sports television calendar for good before losing the contract to CBS in 1982.

Most will remember Enberg best for his great tandem with Merlin Olsen as NBC's number one pairing for the NFL and the Rose Bowl (NBC's only college football contract's were for New Year's Day Bowl games in those years).
The two were seamless together and always put the game first.
Enberg and Olsen were the types of commentating team that put the game first and added to the game with their thoughts not overwhelming the game with their background and opinions.
It was a real change in broadcasting sports when those types of broadcasters began to be phased out of the business.

Enberg also did tennis for NBC (although I've never been much of a tennis follower) and some baseball for the network and I really enjoyed his return to the booth a few years back with the Padres as their television play by play man.
I tried to watch more Padres games because of Enberg's work, with the loss of Enberg and the retirement of Vin Scully and others, the classic old-school commentators are slowly leaving us with all those great stories going away with the Screaming Gus Johnson's taking their places with bellows and catch phrases.

Which leads us to what so many fans associate with Dick Enberg "Oh MY".
Yes, it likely sounds very hypocritical on my part when you consider my oft-stated opinion on catch phrases, but bear with me.
I don't have a problem with them when they develop organically out of natural enthusiasm, but it seems like so many are pre-scripted now and the broadcaster cannot wait to make sure that they get their line whether it makes sense or not that it just takes away from the broadcast.
"Oh MY" never seemed to do that.
It seemed to always to come at just the right time and with just the right inflection.
Just like Dick Enberg..

My apologies for this feeling a bit disjointed.
I've stopped and started on this four times over the last few days and I just never felt happy with it, but I did want to finish the piece.

Back later with the Browns in Chicago against the Bears...