Tag: Basketball Hall of Fame

Legendary Sportscaster Bob Wolff’s Unrivaled Legacy

~ Dave Ettinger ~ 2 Comments

Unmatched. Unparalleled. Unbelievable. The impact legendary sportscaster Bob Wolff made, not only on the sports world, but on society, will live on for generations. Wolff passed away Saturday night in his Nyack home, leaving behind a legacy that is second to none. The iconic sportscaster was 96 years old.

Wolff stood as the record holder for longest running broadcaster (78 years). His work dates back to 1939, when he was on WDNC Radio as a student at Duke University. His most recent work, in 2017, sports commentary for News 12 Long Island. Over the last 78 years, Wolff accomplished more than most could ever dream of, compiling the most impressive broadcasting resume in the history of sports.

Every accomplishment of Wolff’s is more impressive than the last, so I will list the major ones in no particular order:

  • Called the only perfect game in World Series history (Don Larsen in 1956)
  • Did TV play-by-play for both New York Knicks’ championships (1970 and 1973)
  • Called “The Greatest Game Ever Played” (1958 NFL Championship Game — Baltimore Colts vs. New York Giants)
  • Called Jackie Robinson’s last major league hit (game winning hit in Game 6 of the 1956 World Series)
  • Interviewed Babe Ruth

The list is endless, as Wolff seemingly did every broadcasting job known to man. He is the only sportscaster to call play-by-play of championships in all 4 major sports (MLB, NBA, NHL, NFL). Throughout his career, he even found time to become the TV play-by-play voice for 8 different teams across 5 sports:

  • Baltimore Colts, Washington Redskins, and Cleveland Browns
  • New York Knicks and Detroit Pistons
  • New York Rangers
  • Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins
  • Tampa Bay Rowdies (Soccer)

How is this even possible?? Broadcasters are fortunate to become the voice of 1 team, in 1 sport. Wolff managed to conquer multiple sports, in multiple cities, across the country. Wolff also served his country. He served as a supply officer in the U.S. Navy during World War II.

All of his hard work and dedication did not go unnoticed. Wolff was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1995 as well as the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008, becoming only the 2nd sportscaster to be inducted into both Halls of Fame (Curt Gowdy). Bob Wolff’s life and career should be endlessly applauded. He was a pioneer, and without his efforts, it is unlikely you’d be reading this article right now. Thank you Bob Wolff, for paving the way.

 

What is your favorite Bob Wolff memory?? Please share it in the comment section below.

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It’s Good To Be Rick Pitino

~ Dave Ettinger ~ 2 Comments

There are a select few that are inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame. It is an unbelievable honor and it certainly should be a major highlight in ones life. Now coaching a college basketball team to the national championship is a special honor as well, and not just anyone can say they accomplished such a feat. How about accomplishing both of these lifetime achievements in the same day? Doesn’t sound too bad now does it? Well, you can just ask Rick Pitino how it feels because he just had the best day of his life. On Monday morning Pitino got the news that he had been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, and on Monday evening he won the Men’s College Basketball National Championship. Pitino became only the 2nd coach in history (the other being John Calipari) to lead two different teams to national championships. He led Kentucky to the promised land in 1996. Last night’s game was very well coached by Pitino, and he along with some special performances earned Louisville it’s 3rd championship title. In case you missed the game because the start time was insanely late, let me give you a quick breakdown of what happened.

Michigan jumped out to an early lead and seemed to control the tempo of the game in the first half. Unfortunately, Trey Burke, Michigan’s best player, found himself in foul trouble after picking up two quick fouls. Anyone who watches Michigan basketball knows that head coach John Beilein sits players with two fouls for the entirety of the first half. This could have spelled major trouble for Michigan, but Burke’s backup, freshman Spike Albrecht, came to the rescue scoring 17 first half points off the bench. Thanks to little Spike, the Wolverines had a 12 point lead with just under 4 minutes to play in the first half. 3 minutes later, Louisville was up by 1. How did that happen you ask? Well I’ll tell you. Luke Hancock happened, that’s what happened. Hancock split the net from downtown not once, not twice, but four times in a row in the span of exactly 2 minutes. This shooting display not only brought Louisville back to life, but they found themselves with a 1-point lead with 24 seconds left in the first half. Michigan did carry a 1-point lead into halftime thanks to a layup by Tim Hardaway Jr, however the momentum had clearly shifted back to the Cardinals. In the second half, the game remained tight, however if you watched it you could see that Louisville had taken control of the game. Once Louisville gained the lead with 13:50 left, they would not relinquish it for the rest of the evening. At the same time Michigan never went down more than 8 points at any point in the game. The difference in the game for Louisville was a combination of Peyton Siva and Luke Hancock offensively and a solid team effort defensively. We already know that Luke Hancock went 5 for 5 from 3-point range, but the intensity and energy displayed by Louisville on the defensive end is the real storyline here. This must be a testament to Rick Pitino, because you must encourage players to defend like that. That style of defense is not engrained in your DNA like scoring, it must be taught. And while this is definitely a cliche, Defense Wins Championships!

If you enjoy my writing, follow me over to intheneutralzone.com where I am a contributing author there as well. Also you can follow me on twitter @DaveEttinger2 or like me on Facebook at http://www.Facebook.com/DaveTalksSports. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it!