[nfbwatlk] OT - Bob Blackburn, former voice of Sonics, dies

Sun Jan 10 05:36:24 UTC 2010

You betchya I remember. I may even have a tape of part of a game he did in 
1968 subbing for Bill Anderson who had had one of his many heart attacks!

Mike

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bennett" <bjprows at comcast.net>
To: "NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List" <nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, January 09, 2010 4:12 PM
Subject: Re: [nfbwatlk] OT - Bob Blackburn, former voice of Sonics, dies

> Thanks for this.  Many on this list know that bob Blackburn was a hero to 
> me.  When he worked in Portland, oh those many years ago, my brother and I 
> went to the press box and Bob and Raleigh Truitt interviewed us.  We were 
> about eight years old at the time.  Ever after, I kept track of him, and 
> even had tape recording of his football broadcasts of Oregon State 
> football, including the years when Terry Baker was QB and hysmann trofee 
> winner.  He also broadcast the Portland Pilots basketball team, as well as 
> OSU basketball.
>
>
> Mary Morman and I were cohosts on a Evergreen Radio Reading Service Talk 
> show, a couple of years ago and we interviewed him.  He was right, his 
> voice hadn't changed, and he talked about that on the show with us.  I got 
> a chance to look at the ring he got, as he brought it to the studio to 
> show us.  It was *biiiiiig*.  (That means really big.)  (grin.)
>
> We were about to have a second chance last spring to interview him, but a 
> week or so before the broadcast, he had another heart attack. The 
> interview *may* sbe on the archieved broadcasts portion of the WTBBL web 
> site.  don't know.
>
> Anyway, I really enjoyed all his broadcasting. Mike, remember his 
> broadcasts of the Portland buckeroos hockey team?  He once broadcast a 
> game when they scored four goals in 45 seconds.  That was amazing.
>
> Bob Blackburn will be missed by this listener.
>
> /s/
>
> Bennett Prows
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Albert Sanchez" <albertsanchez at suddenlink.net>
> To: "NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List" <nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Saturday, January 09, 2010 12:11 PM
> Subject: Re: [nfbwatlk] OT - Bob Blackburn, former voice of Sonics, dies
>
>
>> Thanks for the article about Bob B. Sure would like to hear the recording 
>> referred to in the article.
>> A.S.
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Mike Freeman" <k7uij at panix.com>
>> To: "NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List" <nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Saturday, January 09, 2010 11:11 AM
>> Subject: [nfbwatlk] OT - Bob Blackburn, former voice of Sonics, dies
>>
>>
>>> Bob Blackburn, former voice of Sonics, dies.
>>>
>>> By CASEY MCNERTHNEY SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF.
>>>
>>> Bob Blackburn, the announcer who spent a quarter century calling Seattle 
>>> SuperSonics games and announced their 1979 championship win over the 
>>> Washington Bullets, died Friday. He was 86.
>>>
>>> He arrived in Seattle when the Sonics did in 1967, beating out more than 
>>> 100 other candidates who auditioned for the play-by-play job.
>>>
>>> It was hard for me to believe I was that important," he told P- I 
>>> reporter Dan Raley in 2006. I hate the word 'celebrity. I just had a 
>>> wonderful job connected to the public. Scott Eklund/P-I Bob Blackburn
>>>
>>> He was Seattle's first professional sports voice, arriving before Pete 
>>> Gross for the Seahawks and Dave Niehaus for the Mariners. For the first 
>>> 16 years, Blackburn was the play-by-play announcer, color man and 
>>> engineer.
>>>
>>> After the Sonics beat the Bullets in Andover, Md., Blackburn received a 
>>> championship ring with a large diamond in the middle and his name 
>>> engraved on the side.
>>>
>>> He survived open-heart surgery in 1983, and returned to the air with 
>>> three of his five major arteries unclogged. He was replaced by Kevin 
>>> Calabro in 1992.
>>>
>>> Blackburn grew up in the Los Angeles area, listening to Pacific Coast 
>>> Conference football broadcasts as an 8-year-old kid bedridden with 
>>> tuberculosis. It was there he imagined himself behind the microphone.
>>>
>>> He landed a series of jobs in California, playing music, reporting news, 
>>> calling games and building a r?sum? He worked his way north, handling 
>>> play-by-play duties for the Portland Beavers baseball team for 18 years, 
>>> doing college football on the side and meeting every celebrity 
>>> imaginable, with a photo of him and Elvis Presley together still a 
>>> prized possession.
>>>
>>> After leaving his job as the Sonics' voice, Blackburn became a 
>>> professional auctioneer. He also led worldwide vacation tours, talking 
>>> people through 85 countries. When interviewed by the P-I in 2006, he was 
>>> the spokesman for a retirement community.
>>>
>>> Blackburn married the former Pat Hardin in 1948, and they raised six 
>>> children.In the past few years, he'd made periodic appearances as a 
>>> Sonics legend.
>>>
>>> At this age, most of my friends have had a voice change," Blackburn told 
>>> Raley in 2006. I probably would not be able to broadcast all the games. 
>>> But after 50 years, I think it still sounds the same.
>>>
>>> ANNIVERSARY BROADCAST
>>>
>>> On the 25th anniversary of the championship Blackburn, forward John 
>>> "J.J. Johnson and retired Seattle Times reporter Greg Heberlein were 
>>> members of a panel discussion about the Sonics at the Museum of History 
>>> and Industry.
>>>
>>> The discussion was produced, moderated and recorded by Feliks Banel, who 
>>> provided this recording.
>>>
>>> Information from the seattlepi.com archive is included in this report 
>>> and seattlepi.com reporter Greg Johns contributed. Casey McNerthney can 
>>> be reached at 206-448-8220 or caseymcnerthney at seattlepi.com . .
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
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