VOICES

Hypertension readings elevate. Fingernails suffer. Alcohol consumption rises. PETA panics. All are symptoms of the glorious or dreaded (depending on your point of view) "Big Game" syndrome enveloping the sports world as summer turns to fall. Baseball playoffs, Monday Night Football, and Rivalry Saturdays in the college pigskin schedule offer the respective fans a cornucopia of options for agony and ecstasy. As I began to formulate ideas for this rather tardy post, I kept attempting to find the right avenue. Writer's block dented my brain for several days until I finally elicited a breakthrough. Where would we be in sports (as in radio and television) without the voices describing these events?

I admit some bias here, having worked for a time as a play-by-play announcer (radio only), so my likes and dislikes may be slightly elevated beyond the norm. The never-ending drumbeat of advancing technology often makes former life staples (electric typewriters, cassette tapes etc.) completely obsolete. But there is a survivor, albeit modified. We still listen to radio, primarily because we can't watch videos while driving. That may change in the next 20 years or so, but for now listening equals driving entertainment. Music preferences have always been generational. Early Rolling Stones' fare receive discombobulated cornea rotations from any human under the age of 50. Conversely, I have continuing difficulty staying current with Puff Daddy's (or is it P Diddy's) latest name change. Totally understandable. But the one thing that hasn't changed, and won't in the foreseeable future, is radio play-by-play.

If sports are important in one's daily routine, then radio likely played a part in fostering that interest. I doubt there's a sports fan 60+ years old who didn't grow up with a radio influence. In my case it was a slight, unobtrusive Seattle resident named Leo Lassen who guided me through my formative springs and summers as the radio voice of the Seattle Rainiers'Pacific Coast League team. His voice was so distinctive, so authoritative, so perfect for the medium. He spoke with an odd, but firm nasal tone, hardly the basso profundo seemingly required today. It was his only broadcasting gig -- no other news or talk shows, or even TV when it fully arrived on the scene. But I still remember summer Sundays (the sun did shine in Seattle then). No matter where you went, the ball game echoed through car radios and portables with Lassen's marvelous blend of description and expertise. He was as much a part of the Queen City's social realm as any individual, but few people knew much about him. I eventually discovered that he never traveled with the team (most announcers didn't). Instead he recreated the road games through use of wire service reports and sound effects. Leo's perfect descriptions included gems like "The ice cream-colored sky beyond the left field fence here at Westgate Park (San Diego)." I was astounded when I later read that he had never been to San Diego, but he certainly fooled his listeners. My early desire to do play-by-play links directly to him

Today, one can still listen to baseball via radio in every major league city and most minor league venues as well. The same holds true for most major sports, college and pro. The announcers offer different voices, different levels of expertise, and most are enthused cheerleaders for the home team. But there is still one giant among the normals who spans all generations. His name is Vin Scully, now in his 59th year as the voice of the Los Angeles (formerly Brooklyn) Dodgers. At age 82, one could only expect him to have lost a little something over the years. Not the case. His knowledge, research, clarity, and descriptions still make the best of his contemporaries a distant second. Earlier this year I was watching a free major league preview on Comcast. As luck would have it I turned on the Rockies-Dodgers game just in time to hear Scully on television (He alternates between radio and TV). He called the entire game, had no color man or assistant, and never made a mistake. It was like listening to a sports deity. With the Dodgers now in the post season playoffs, Scully is once again receiving the attention he so richly deserves. There simply is no one like him, previously, presently, or in the foreseeable future.

The sports marketplace has expanded many times over since Leo Lassen (and Vin Scully), but despite High Def, Blu Ray, Rainbow Gold or whatever the latest incantation or invention happens to be, the only credible liaison between the field and fan is still the voice on the radio.

Ice cream skies never fade.

MM