Joe Posnanski lists his Thirty-Two Great Calls (with video and transcripts).
So that’s one problem — is the CALL great or is the MOMENT great? And does it even matter?
Another difficulty is figuring out what makes a great call: Is it the announcer finding the perfect words to define the moment? Is it the musical blending of words and crowd noise, like Vin Scully’s call of The Catch? Is it a vivid description of what’s happening, so vivid that you can see it on radio, feel the wind blowing on television? Is it a great catch phrase — “How about that?” or “Going, going gone” or “Oh, my!”
Or is it simply brilliant emotion put to words? One of the most famous calls in sports history wasn’t even made by an announcer — it was an unknown fan screaming over announcer Bud Palmer, “Look at Mills! Look at Mills!” as Billy Mills raced to the finish line in the 10,000-meter race at the 1964 Olympics. Do I include that on my list? You’ll have to wait and see.
Your clip intrigued me, but the link doesn’t work.
Indeed, as of 11:37 MDT it is not working. I will update when it does work.
Ken – Your links to Posnanski have been fantastic, especially considering it’s Fall. I don’t know how you find these nuggets of internet brilliance, but you do. The dilbert.blog is another of my new favorites. And of course, there’s always newmexiken.com, cheers.