“Forgotten Hollywood”- Oh My!
Manny P. here… 
“`Dick Enberg was an iconic sportscaster who got his big break with UCLA Bruins basketball; and went on to call Super Bowls, Final Fours, The Olympics; and Anaheim Angels and San Diego Padres baseball games on NBC, CBS, and ESPN. He was well-known for his baseball catchphrases: Touch em all and Oh my!
“`Enberg’s first job was as a radio station custodian, when he was a junior at Central Michigan. He made $1 an hour. Dick later did weekend sports and disc jockey gigs. He then began doing high school and college football contests. In the 1960s, Dick announced boxing matches at the Olympic Auditorium.
“`During his nine years of broadcasting UCLA basketball, The Bruins won eight NCAA titles. Enberg broadcast nine no-hitters, including two by San Francisco’s Tim Lincecum versus The Padres in 2013 and 2014. Dick called San Diego games for seven seasons and went into the broadcasters wing of the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015.
“`Enberg often noted the most historically significant sporting event that he covered was The Game of the Century: Houston’s victory over UCLA in 1968 that ended The Bruins 47-game win streak. Enberg’s many former broadcast partners included Merlin Olsen, Al McGuire, Billy Packer, Don Drysdale, and Tony Gwynn. He even worked a few games with Wooden.
“`In addition to his career in sports broadcasting, Enberg hosted several game shows. He played himself in Rollerball, Heaven Can Wait, Two Minute Morning, and The Naked Gun. On television, he guest-starred in The King of Queens and CSI: NY. Enberg was a spokesman in a series of commercials for GTE during the 1980s and 1990s. Annually, Dick announced or hosted the New Year’s Day Tournament of Roses Parade for many years.
“`Enberg won 13 sports Emmy Awards, and a Lifetime Achievement Emmy. He received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. And, earlier this year, UCLA named its Media Center in Pauley Pavilion after Enberg. Part of the Mount Rushmore of Los Angeles sports announcers, Dick Enberg is often compared with Chick Hearn, Vin Scully, and Bob Miller.
“`The first time I heard this legendary announcer was during Los Angeles Rams games on KMPC in the late 1960s. He was an influence on my chosen career. Dick Enberg was 82.
Until next time> “never forget”
This entry was posted on Thursday, December 21st, 2017 at 11:24 pm and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.
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