Top 10

I've got a couple of Top 10 lists I'm working on. For those who have known me for a really long time, you'll know that sports and sports broadcasting has been a big part of my life. Some of my fondest moments as a child can sometimes be related to moments in sports and the voices that go along with it.

Btw, if you were directed to this site from my mom's facebook page, you're more than welcome to chime in on this but the post that she really wants you to read is below this one. This one is not as in-depth and reflective even though it is to me. ESPN recently ranked the Top 50 sportscasters of all time. These gentlemen could be from newspaper, internet, TV or radio and span numerous generations and even, in some cases, family lines. The site gives you the opportunity to rank your own Top 50 and I thought I would share my Top 10.

First, the honorable mentions: Jim McKay, who in 1972 gave us the news from Munich that "they're all gone" and helped start ABC's Wide World of Sports. Dick Enberg, a Michigan man, who was a long-time voice of the NFL and college basketball and football for NBC. Harry Caray, a Bud man and a Cubs fan (Holy Cow!!) and Dick Vitale, who most Americans have a love-hate relationship with, for his over-flowing passion of college basketball.

Let's start the list and this posting will share the first half, 10-6.

10. PAT SUMMERALL. He is basically the voice of the NFL and, after getting to meet him in person a couple years go in Abilene, has become a great turnaround story toward Christianity. Today, he regrets what his life away from the microphone was like (he has published a book and numerous articles are told about his story) but his legacy will forever go on. He was the voice of the Master's and the PGA and now does some work for FOX with the NFL and college football. He will forever be linked as John Madden's announcing partner on CBS and FOX for nearly 20 years.

9. DICK STOCKTON. Hockey may be the only sport that he hasn't done play-by-play for but what he does best is basketball. In high school, watching the Detroit Pistons climb toward their two championships in the late 80's, it was Stockton who was CBS's Number 1 guy and was the voice you loved to listen to. He wasn't over the top and let the game tell the story. Stockton, who is married to one of the first female TV sportscasters, Lesley Visser, also does play-by-play for the NFL and Major League Baseball.

8. ERNIE HARWELL. In the national ranking, Harwell falls somewhere in the late 20's. He is my homer pick because of all the times when it was his voice during so many summers that would occupy my radio space. Detroit Tiger Baseball and Ernie will always be linked together. His writing, his voice, the stories that make baseball great to listen to. Harwell was part of the city of Detroit's recovery in 1968 after the race riots in '67, he helped people in Michigan try and forget about the economic struggles in the early to mid 80's and he was there when the lights went out for the final time at Tiger Stadium in 1999. He is a gentleman in all aspects and highly respected by athletes and his peers, young and old.

7. JOHN MADDEN. Fun to impersonate, fun to listen to and who doesn't own his video game? The stories of John Madden stem back to his first Super Bowl broadcast in 1982, Super Bowl XVI with the man listed at Number 10, Pat Summerall. At the Pontiac Silverdome in Michigan, Summerall and Madden were doing their pre-game analysis live. As the camera tightened on Madden while he was making his final comments before kick-off, Summerall was off-camera looking for his headset. The story goes that Summerall was frantic because he couldn't find it and it would have been nearly impossible to announce the game with a stick microphone. Summerall found the cord to the headset and begin to trace where the headset was. Madden was sitting on it! If you find the broadcast, you'll see toward the end of his comments, Madden's body begins to fidget and move around a bit....that's Summerall trying to get his headset out from Madden's behind! Madden is football and he represents the NFL with pride. He is getting old quick but his love for the game and the fun he has broadcasting is still evident. BOOM!!

6. JACK BUCK. The father of FOX Sports' multi-tasking, do everything announcer, Joe Buck was the voice of the St. Louis Cardinals' baseball team for ages. When NBC lost their contract for the MLB Game of the Week to CBS, Jack Buck was the man they turned to. Buck was one for the ages who also did NFL coverage for CBS. Buck is known for three great moments in sports history: 1)He was doing CBS Radio for the 1982 NFC Championship game between the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys. His call of Joe Montana's pass to Dwight Clark in the back of the end zone eventually giving the Niners the Super Bowl berth is more heard than the actual TV broadcast. That broadcaster will come up later in the list. 2) 1988 World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Oakland A's. Again, on CBS Radio, it's his call of Kirk Gibson's pinch-hit game-winning home run off of Dennis Eckersley in Game 1 at Los Angeles is one of the most-quoted sports phrases in history. Doing the TV broadcast for NBC? The same guy who was doing TV for CBS in the '82 NFC Championship game. Buck outshadowed the guy twice but who can go against, "I don't believe what I just saw!!" 3) 1991 World Series between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves. The Braves led the series 3-2 and, at Minnesota, the Twins were up against the wall. Kirby Puckett made a great catch in the top of the 9th to set up his at-bat in the bottom of the 9th. With one swing of the bat, Puckett saved the series and sent it to a Game 7. Buck's call of Puckett's HR is another great moment. Instead of your normal, "Long drive, way back, it's gonna be a home run" call, Buck only stated the obvious: "And we'll see you...tomorrow night!" Jack Buck died, if memory serves, in 2002 and helped the nation heal when baseball came back after 9/11 in 2001. He is one of the greatest...but not in my Top 5.

You Say Goodbye, I Say Hello

There was an evident extra hop in his step on Tuesday. Eight years ago, he had a gleam in his eye that would change the world and right the wrongs of the previous boss. He would bring morality and respect back to the chain of command. Little did he know that his dreams, goals and agenda would all come falling down in less than nine months. It fell into a piling heap of metal and ash on a warm September morning in New York City. Quickly, he had to adapt. Quickly, he had to steer a country that had no experience in this kind of recovery. Two twin towers, two different warsites, major hurricanes that tore apart American cities and a self-destructive economy later, you could see the wear and tear in his eyes. It can be debated that these last eight years were the toughest that any leader would have to go through. He went through the formailities of the passing of the baton like almost every other leader before him did, and after it was over with wife by his side, he stepped up on to a helicopter that would take him away. Like a child going home after a long week at camp that knew he was going to sleep in his bed for the first time in a long time, he seemed at ease knowing that his job was done. The country, according to the approval ratings, had turned its back on him in these final months. As his helicopter soared over the city one last time, he may have said, "Goodbye" in his Texas drawl or, at least he may have uttered, "Good riddance." He knows that the person who is now receiving the baton has a large challenge for him.

You would think that he has this feeling that he's come in to take care of the old mess. There are so many pieces to the puzzle that have to be put back together again. For the moment, issues of gay rights, abortion and those things that have been debated for so many years are being set to the side. Jobs are being lost, major American companies are sinking, millions of dollars are being thrown around by professional athletes and organizations while a very large percentage of the country struggles to pay the electric bill. Those are todays issues and on Tuesday, he looked surprisingly calm. His focus was there as if he had been pre-warned about all this; like someone slipped him the answers to the SAT right before the test. Yes, it's going to be a challenge and we can officially begin talking the talk. He said hello to his new group of followers. He stood there with his wife and two young children. There hasn't been this much excitement of a young hero leading our country since 1960. After all, this time the decision was definite. There was no questioning the popular vote, no hanging chads and no last second party bashing. As he stood to address the nation, he saw close to 2 million faces there waiting to cheer him on and support him. No other leader had seen that kind of response on his first day on the job. His head held high hoping that the next eight years would be different than the last.

This is a tale of two men. George Bush said goodbye and Barack Obama said hello on Tuesday. They shared the same stage for only a little while and exchanged handshakes and hugs before George and Laura, now private American citizens, made their way back home to Texas. If only we could go back to January of 2001 and let him know what was ahead. That's the great thing about life and leadership. It gives you opportunities and it also takes away. Time will tell if the American people are as excited in January 2013 as they are now. We will continue to move on and, as always, pray.