BOOM-SHAKA-LAKA! The Masterful Play-By-Play of Blazers Radio Announcer Brian “Wheels” Wheeler

[SlyPokerDog]

http://www.portlandmercury.com/sports/2017/04/05/18927523/boom-shaka-laka

 

[BlazerCaravan]

The erasure of Eddie Doucette's disasterous single season on radio continues

 

[julius]

The erasure of Eddie Doucette's disasterous single season on radio continues

I believe it was 2 years, and I liked Eddie Doucette.

 

[Strenuus]

http://www.portlandmercury.com/sports/2017/04/05/18927523/boom-shaka-laka

Good read. And a very humble person.

 

[jlprk]

"I started to see what I could find out about the Blazer job," Wheels tells me. "I saw that what had happened was, they were gonna move Schonz out of the position. It became public that it was not his idea. The public figure for the team, Harry Hutt, was getting death threats," Wheels says. "It was a very sticky, messy situation. I remember thinking, "Gosh, whoever gets this job is gonna be walking into a hornets nest."

He applied for the job anyway—but, believing his feet might not be big enough to fill Schonely's shoes, he continued to pursue other options, including a job with the Miami Heat.

In June of 1998 he was on the road in Troy, Michigan, with the WNBA team the Sacramento Monarchs when he called home from a Doubletree to check his messages. What he found was a message from Harry Hutt and a request for a conversation. One call later, Hutt offered him the job: no interview, no meeting, just an invitation to fulfill his dream of becoming a full-time NBA play-by-play man.

Who fired Schonely, VP of Business Harry Hutt, or GM Bob Whitsitt?

 

[BlazerCaravan]

I believe it was 2 years, and I liked Eddie Doucette.

I think it was one radio year and one TV year.

 

[BBert]

I believe it was 2 years, and I liked Eddie Doucette.

I liked him on TV with Snapper

 

[julius]

I think it was one radio year and one TV year.

Eddie did, iirc, 2 years of radio and then 5 years of TV.

 

[julius]

In this article, it says he was out for 3 years (but I don't remember it being 3 years).

http://koin.com/2015/06/02/bill-schonely-turning-86-and-feeling-great/

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Eddie did, iirc, 2 years of radio and then 5 years of TV.

Oh god was his reign of bad Ross Perot references that long?!

 

[BlazerCaravan]

I liked him on TV with Snapper

He was fine on TV but incomprehensible on radio (imho)

 

[BBert]

Didn't Doucette and Snapper used to do games on USA network? Man they cracked me up. That seems odd now but USA used to be kind of ground breaking in the early days of cable. Before MTV USA used to show concerts, they had a late night punk rock concert show, stuff like that. Remember Night Flight?

 

[tlongII]

The erasure of Eddie Doucette's disasterous single season on radio continues

Eddie was still better than Pete Pranica. Argh.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Didn't Doucette and Snapper used to do games on USA network? Man they cracked me up. That seems odd now but USA used to be kind of ground breaking in the early days of cable. Before MTV USA used to show concerts, they had a late night punk rock concert show, stuff like that. Remember Night Flight?

 

[riverman]

Who fired Schonely, VP of Business Harry Hutt, or GM Bob Whitsitt?

We rely on you for these bits of trivia dude!

 

[riverman]

I'm a Wheels fan and a radio fan.....he's the guy I feel like I've watched most games with...he's that good...makes you feel like you're in the booth with him. I've noticed recently he's using the Dippsie Do and what have you line more than he used to and it's not a favorite of mine but he's alone in the booth for the most part so I deal with that...everything else is great.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

I'm a Wheels fan and a radio fan.....he's the guy I feel like I've watched most games with...he's that good...makes you feel like you're in the booth with him. I've noticed recently he's using the Dippsie Do and what have you line more than he used to and it's not a favorite of mine but he's alone in the booth for the most part so I deal with that...everything else is great.

Oh man, wouldn't that be amazing. @SlyPokerDog--THAT'S what we need to get the Blazers to hook up for us...

 

[BlazerWookee]

I believe it was 2 years, and I liked Eddie Doucette.

Me too! He and Rice had instant chemistry, and worked very well together.

 

[BlazerWookee]

http://www.portlandmercury.com/sports/2017/04/05/18927523/boom-shaka-laka

Why is there an apostrophe at the end of "Trailblazers?"

I stubbed my brain on that. As soon as the swelling goes down, I'll try to read the rest of the article.