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The Passing of a Legend

Wednesday, May 5th, 2010

I only met him once and I got the chance to interview him on my radio show a couple of different times, but I felt like I had know him for a long long time. Yesterday Ernie Harwell lost his battle with cancer and died at age 92. For those of you who don’t know who he is or never had the pleasure of listening to him call a baseball game, you missed out.

There will be a ton of great tributes to Ernie out there and I will share my Ernie story below, but here is a really good Ernie Harwell Tribute from the guy I think is the best sports writer out there today, Joe Posnanski of Sports Illustrated and the Kansas City Star. I wish I could write as well as Joe, but alas I cannot, so I will just do my best below…

I didn’t grow up in Detroit and was never a fan of the Tigers, but I was a kid who grew up in the Midwest listening to his AM Radio late at night and spinning the dial to catch any sports broadcast I could find. This is probably one of the reasons I got into sports broadcasting myself. I would lay in my room at night in Kansas City and search the dial for a faraway broadcast. I would listen to Jack Buck on KMOX or John Rooney call the White Sox in Chicago. Sometimes I would find Marty Brennaman and Joe Nuxall in Cincinnati, but the one guy that I would always try to tune in was Ernie Harwell. Harwell just had a very laid back and easy way about calling a baseball game. It was like hearing your father or grandfather tell stories about your favorite team. So when I would surf that radio dial late at night in my childhood there was always a hope that I could find Harwell and the Tigers.

Many years later when I was working in Jacksonville, Florida I had the opportunity to meet Ernie Harwell. It’s always odd when you meet someone for the very first time after listening to them for years. As a young broadcaster with play by play aspirations I have to admit I was a bit in awe of the chance to meet the great Ernie Harwell. Ernie couldn’t have been any nicer or more open to me. It was just a short interview, but he made me feel like it was a huge deal to him. When we were done he shook my hand and told me it was his pleasure to spend the time. A year or two later I was able to interview him on the phone and he actually remember our short meeting a couple of years before.

Baseball lost a great voice yesterday that is for sure, but I can tell you having met him that the world lost a really nice man and someone who connected and touched the lives of so many.

Thank you Ernie for your time and kindness…rest in peace….

POSTED IN: MLB | Comments Off

Is it really almost May?

Thursday, April 29th, 2010

The Sports Calendar says it’s nearly May-NBA Playoffs, NHL Playoffs, MLB, Kentucky Derby this weekend-sadly Mother Nature seems to think it’s still March here in Salt Lake City. Seriously…Come on now MN, let’s have a little Spring time before the heat hits in June.

Speaking of “heat”…It’s now on the Utah Jazz. I know they still lead the series (3-2) but they must now close things out on Friday night, because going back to Denver for a Game 7 might be too much to hope for. The good news for Utah is that they competed well last night against a team playing for their post season lives. The bad news is that they turned the ball over too much (15 times) and didn’t get enough from the “Others” (Miles 9, Fez 3, Korver 0). I expect that the series ends tomorrow night when they return to the Energy Solutions Arena, especially with the lack of Nene in the Denver lineup. I think the energy and effort in the building tomorrow night will be too much for the Nuggets, Jazz win and advance. Up next??? My guess LA, but only after that series goes 7 games. I think OKC makes it’s last stand in Game 6.

Tonight’s Games…

1. Dallas at San Antonio-The team that made one of the biggest trades this season will be eliminated tonight by their in-state arch nemisis. The Spurs control tempo and are playing at a higher level right now. Where is Jason Kidd? Another crushing playoff defeat for Mark Cuban. You know this makes Popovich smile…

2. Phoenix at Portland-I think this series ends tonight too. The Blazers have been a great story this season playing without some of their best players most of the year. But in the long run it’s probably best they end it tonight (so not to further damage the knee of Brandon Roy) and look towards next season. Plus with the Suns advancing it means more opportunity to see the creative workings of Steve Nash’s mind…

POSTED IN: MLB, NBA, NHL | Comments Off

NEW STATION LINEUP

Thursday, August 13th, 2009

espn

As you know, KALL 700 Sports has now officially welcomed ESPN as a part of our family. When ESPN approached us and asked if we would join forces with them, we jumped at the chance. Now at KALL 700 Sports you get the Voice of Utah and the Worldwide Leader in Sports. Beginning August 31, here’s how our lineup will look:

4am-8am – Mike & Mike in the Morning

8am-12pm – The Herd with Colin Cowherd

12pm-3pm – The Dan Patrick Show

3pm-7pm – The Bill & Spence Show

7pm-4am – ESPN Overnight

Not only will you get the greatest sports lineup in this market, KALL 700 Sports will be able to bring you exclusive radio coverage including the MLB game of the week and MLB playoffs, NBA game of the week and NBA playoffs, and the NCAA Football post season including all BCS bowl games. How cool is that?

TAGS: ESPN, ESPN Radio
POSTED IN: MLB, NBA, NFL | 60 Comments »

Monday Monday…Can’t Trust That Day…

Monday, July 27th, 2009

mamasandpapaspapasandmamas6sd

Alrighty then….After a long weekend off back to the work day today…Counting down the days until the college football season begins…August 5th here in the state of Utah if you are keeping track…Utah reports on the 5th of August and begins practice on the 6th…Had a good show today with interviews with All Pro Jordan Gross and Utah Offensive Coordinator Dave Schramm. Both interviews are posted in the audio vault at kall700sports.com. Gross donated $500 K to the Utah football program for scholarships and financial help moving forward. He’s the 3rd Ute to make a sizeable donation in the last couple of years, with both Alex Smith and Steve Smith (no relation) having given big donations too. Next Ute to give, my guess Eric Weddle…

Dave Schramm discussed the Utah QB situation, but without giving much away in the process. He says it’s still a 3 QB race beginning camp and the style of play this season will be determined by who wins the job during camp. My feel is still if Jordan Wynn is close, then the job will be his because I think the Utah Staff likes his upside more than the other 2 QB’s. Stay tuned….

Everyone’s favorite Jazzman/soon to be ex-Jazzman, Carlos Boozer opened his yap again today. This time to WQAM Radio in Miami. If you’d like to hear the interview, go to the audio vault at kall700sports.com. The end of his tenure can’t come soon enough for most Jazz Fans. Has there ever been more of a match made in heaven, than Pat Riley and Carlos Boozer, two guys who cant’ be taken at their word or be trusted.

pete-rose

News today out of the baseball world…The commish Bud Selig is considering Rose for the Baseball Hall of Fame. Here’s a good look inside the story….If this is the case it’s about time! I long defended Rose as worth of Hall of Fame status. I don’t agree with his gambling on baseball, but the Hall of Fame is about what he did on the field as a player. For the Hall not to include the All Time Hits Leader and the man called “Charlie Hustle” does a disservice to the game of Baseball. I hope that Rose gets in to the Hall, but I don’t think he has a place in the game.

POSTED IN: MLB, NBA, U of U | Comments Off

Thursday Morning Roundup

Thursday, May 21st, 2009

Now that was a hell of a game last night! Kudos to the Orlando Magic, you wanna talk about a team that just didn’t give up that would be the Magic last night in Cleveland. The First Half of that game looked like LeBron James just clowning Van Gundy’s Boyz. But give credit where credit is due, the Magic behind Rashard Lewis, Hedu Turkalou, Courtney Lee and Superman staged a great comeback last night. Huge win for Ron Jeremy’s guys….By the way, I think people have overlooked this play but how about this “throw down” by the masked one, Courtney Lee on “The King”, IMPRESSIVE!! I’ve been on record saying that I’d take LeBron over Kobe right now, but last night may have made me rethink my point. The difference between LeBron and Kobe and the Cavs loss and Lakers win was pretty simple. On Tuesday night Kobe Bryant attacked the basket with his team behind, got to the line and make big plays. Last night with the Cavs down, LeBron James settled for jump shots and came up short. I know it’s sounds funny to criticize a guy that went for 49, but he needed to go to to the hoop instead of settling for jumpers. Game 2 should be interesting tomorrow!

The series could very well be on the line tonight for the Denver Nuggets. They have been one of the most impressive teams this postseason and outplayed the Lakers in Game 1. But ( you knew there’d be a BUT coming right?) every NBA person I’ve talked to still thinks this is a very fragile team mentally. So let’s see how they come out tonight, if the intensity is there early, it’s probably a good sign, but if they look flat early, likely lights out for Denver.

I know we don’t often talk about College Baseball, but this one of my favorite times of the year conference tourney time, NCAA Regionals, then the College World Series. I used to call a ton of college baseball when I worked in Jacksonville, Florida. The games can be long and mind-numbing at times, but in tourney play all of that changes. Right now both Utah and BYU are still alive in the MWC Baseball tourney being played in Fort Worth at TCU. In fact, last night the 6th seed Utah upset the #1 seed TCU. Utah will get to see San Diego State tonight at 6pm, with the winner moving to the championship round. The best news of all for Utah is that they won’t have to see Aztec Stud Pitcher Stephen Strasburg, who did this to them last season…By the way, my favorite collegiate sporting event to attend as a fan is the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. I went 6 times through college and out of school with my buddies. If you are a baseball fan, you MUST make the pilgrimage to the CWS at least once!!

Heading to DC tomorrow for an RSL Saturday broadcast. If you have any suggestions on bars or restaurants, please feel free to share with a comment or two. Here’s hoping that RSL snaps out of their funk and plays some good soccer on Saturday night. Pre Game at 4:30 and kickoff at 5:30 on KALL 700 Sports.

TAGS: Baseball
POSTED IN: MLB, NBA, RSL, U of U | Comments Off

Weekend Round Up

Monday, May 11th, 2009

Hope everyone had a great weekend and took care of Mom!! I had an interesting weekend mix of Birthday celebrations, travel, Southern California and Mother’s Day. Family stuff first…I’m offically beginning to feel old, I have a 9 year old son. We spent Friday at Boondocks Family Fun Center playing video games, riding go-carts, hitting pitches and attempting to win trinkets with game tickets. 3 1/2 hours felt like a full day. My Mom came in from KC for the weekend for the Birthday Boy and Mother’s Day. I only get to see my Mom a couple of times a year, so those of you that have Mom close by count your blessings.

Alright now on to the sports…Flew to LA for a Real Salt Lake Broadcast on Saturday night. I’ve gotta say I love visiting So Cal, but don’t know that I could ever live there. But then again, my experience tends to be LAX to Torrance to Carson and back to LAX. My experience at the Home Depot Center tends to be the same when RSL visits Chivas USA…An RSL LOSS! Different Look (4-5-1 formation) same result, but I will say that the effort was there even if the result wasn’t. If you missed the lone goal head to the audio archive and listen in. Up next for RSL is KC on Saturday at Rio Tinto Stadium.

I’m not quite sure what I’m more impressed with from the NBA weekend..The performance of the Houston Rockets without Yao or the Big Shot by Big Baby. I’ll be honest I thought the Rockets were dead without Yao and T-Mac and yesterday Aaron Brooks and Shane Battier worked their magic against the less than motivated Lakers. How about this story in the Dallas/Denver series. What in the world is wrong with Mark Cuban? The officals clearly blew the “no-call” on the Wright foul on Carmelo, but Cuban can’t take his frustrations out on players and players families. I’m normally a Mark Cuban guy, but he’s got some serious issues he needs to deal with. Speaking of issues, at least on a lesser note, how about Phil Jackson’s potty mouth in yesterday’s postgame press conference. Not very “Zen” of you Phil!

Just some other random thoughts from the weekend:

1. My “Guy” Zack Greinke took his first loss of the season at Anaheim over the weekend. He gave up 1 earned run and lost (1-0) . He’s still got the best pitching numbers in the Majors.

2. I don’t miss living in Jacksonville, Florida often, but this weekend was one of those times I did! It was the weekend of the Players Championship. Henrik Stenson shot a 66 on Sunday and ran away and hid with the the biggest check on the PGA Tour ($1.71 million)

3. And from the distrubing sports stories department this out of the Tampa Tribune..Middle School kids, what’s going on?

POSTED IN: MLB, MLS, NBA | Comments Off

My Maiden Voyage on the “New” Bill Blog

Tuesday, May 5th, 2009

Alright Kids, now that we actually have a functioning website that we here at the radio station can control, I thought that it might be a good idea to start posting blog entries again. Just so you know this website and this blog are going to become a whole lot more functional and interactive over the next few days and months. Please by all means interact with me and post your thoughts on my blog entries and give us your feedback on the website itself. WE want to serve you as best we can so please tell us what you like and don’t like and what you’d like to see added to our blogs and website….

This is just the first posting for me and check back for more stuff later today and tonight…On the show today, it’s Power Poll Tuesday the question is on the home page. Bottom Line, would you as a Jazz fan like to see the team swap Derron Williams straight up for a Franchise Center, like Yao or Dwight Howard??? Former NBA Head Coach Eric Musselman joins me today at 3:20, Garth Lagerwey the GM of RSL at 4:20 and Scott Miller of CBS Sports to talk baseball at 5:40. Since Scott is joining us today here is his latest entry on the CBS Sports website.

POSTED IN: MLB, NBA | Comments Off