March Madness Profile #3: Bill Raftery

With the announcing duos for Thursday and Friday's games being released yesterday, it is time to highlight one of the greats...Mr. Bill Raftery. As I've said multiple times throughout this blog, it won't completely be NCAA Tournament time until I hear Raftery announce: "Verne Lundquist, (insert team name) goes MANTAMAN!" His personality, enthusiasm, and style is as much a part of March Madness as brackets and 12 over 5 upsets. I hate to bring Billy Packer into this, but Raftery excels in the areas where Packer sucks. Raftery approaches his job with humility and doesn't see himself as bigger than the game, he has a sense of humor, and he adds to the overall viewing experience. He is able to do these things because first and foremost, Bill Raftery is a fan of college hoops just like us. He is a fan of the sport, fan of the competition, and fan of the pageantry of March Madness. There is a sense of genuineness and authenticity when one hears Raftery calling a game. One gets the feeling that Bill would be doing the same thing if he were watching the game in his living room and there wasn't a microphone in front of him (or a big check involved). The best announcers and announcing duos rise to the top, due in large part to the following three things: 1) Chemistry - The play-by-play guy and the color commentator have to click on some level. If they don't, neither one of them is going to be any good, and the broadcast is going to suffer. This is why good friends and life-long announcing partnerships are usually the best (is this turning into a marriage/relationship column?). Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery are an outstanding duo because they get along so well, allow each other the space to contribute to a broadcast, and have been paired together for so long. Verne's style makes Bill better and Bill's style makes Verne better. It's a perfect combination. 2) Enthusiasm - This is the factor that sets Bill Raftery apart as an individual announcer. He comes across as genuinely excited and enthralled during college basketball games. He's a fan of the game, this is very important. Some announcers speak and act as if it's a struggle for them to be commentating on a particular game for us, the viewing public. This is not a problem for Bill Raftery as he would be as jazzed for a game featuring Utah State as he would be for a UNC/Duke match-up. This enthusiasm is infectious as he can make the viewer care about any game at practically any time. He's happy doing his job. And this translates over the television so well as we should be happy to have the opportunity to listen to him. 3) Individuality - Chemistry and enthusiasm are essential to being a great broadcaster, but they have to be joined with (and maybe, in part, help to create) an announcers overt individuality. Raftery has this in bunches. He was a college basketball coach for more than a decade and has been announcing games for over 23 years. This experience gives him credibility when sharing his unique insights and opinions. Time and experience has only allowed Raftery to expand his ever-growing repertoire of hoops related catch-phrases. Some of my personal favorites:

• "Give it to the big fella!"
• "Send it in, (insert player's name)!"
• "...with the kiss!"
• "With the sweet kiss, off the glass..."
• "With a little dipsy do"
• "Dagger!"
• "Onions!"
• "With disdain to the tin!"
• "Put a little english on it"
• "With the teardrop, that'll make you cry"
• "We got a little nickel-dimer here"
• "With authority!"
• "A Large Edifice!"

There was also this exchange:

• Verne Lundquist: "I hope Dwyane Wade likes cajun cooking!" ... (dramatic 5 second pause) ... Bill Raftery: "JAMBALAYA!" - I actually remember this exchange, I don't think I saw it live but I believe it was played on Sports Center over and over again. (This is a Seinfeld/Newman reference by the way) The long pause followed by Raftery's over-the-top delivery just kills me. I wish this clip was on Youtube, because just thinking about it makes me laugh.

In 2007, Raftery along with his broadcast partner, Verne Lundquist, made a classic exchange after Memphis' Douglas-Roberts made an emphatic jam in Ohio State's regional final victory.
Raftery: "The speed! Done with alacrity! Sitting over there, he was salivating at an opportunity." Lundquist: "I'm still stunned at 'alacrity'." Raftery: "Don't ask me to spell it."

In the clip I'm posting, Raftery uses the word 'alacrity' again. It is a word, it means promptness, eagerness, and willingness. A good SAT word. Bill Raftery is not only entertaining, he is downright educational!

Bill Raftery is beyond hype and shtick. I'm a huge Gus Johnson fan, but Johnson is riding a wave of hype and popularity that is almost Obama'esque. Hype can only go so far and last so long. Let's hope that Johnson can sustain his 'game' and his abilities long past this period of hype. Raftery is not only beyond the hype, he transcends it. He was throwing out catch-phrases when the current crop of Sports Center anchors were in nursery school. Raftery is so steady and so consistent that his name really shouldn't come up when discussing "good" and "bad" college basketball commentators. This is because he practically IS college basketball announcing! There will never be another Bill Raftery. There can't be. He is the archetype. He is the prototype. He is THE college basketball color commentator of the last two generations. Earlier in this blog I commented on how we should be thankful for being able to experience the era when Gus Johnson was in his prime. The exact same should be said for being able to experience Bill Raftery in his prime (he's still there right now, I'll fight anyone on this). Granted, he doesn't have as many quality years left in him as Johnson, but when the day comes to tell my kids about Gus Johnson, I'd be remiss in not mentioning the Legend, Bill Raftery, first. Without Bill Raftery and his unique style, there never would have been a place for Gus Johnson in basketball. When Raftery finally calls it quits and retires the catch-phrases, it will truly be a time for "Onions."