Dick Enberg has his Big Finish all mapped out: He gives the final score and bids the audience good night. “The next sound you hear is my forehead hitting the desk,” he said.
It would be no surprise. A bright and engaging conversationalist, Enberg’s signature “Oh my!” call has been music to sports fans’ ears for 40 years. Since the full-time start of his career in Los Angeles in 1965 as the voice of the California Angels, Los Angeles Rams and UCLA basketball, he’s done almost every major sporting event you can name: the Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl, Olympic Games, French Open, Wimbledon, World Series and on and on.
He will talk about his career at a Denver Forum luncheon next Thursday at the Oxford Hotel. No doubt he’ll bring a few copies of his book, “Oh My!,” stories of his life in sports.
At 70, his love for games still is as intense. “It’s been 50 years of rubbing shoulders with greatness,” he said from his New York hotel room. “It’s a nice lifestyle, and they pay you.”
He is often asked about his greatest sports memories. No. 1, he said, is the 1968 UCLA-Houston basketball game, which ended the Bruins’ 47-game winning streak. “It was my first time on national television, the first time a game was televised in primetime, and it was the largest crowd (52,693) ever to see a game.”
Enberg is at Churchill Downs this weekend for the Kentucky Derby. For once, he’s there as a spectator, celebrating his 22nd wedding anniversary with his wife, Barbara. Where else would a sportscaster take a date on such an important occasion?
The Kentucky Derby (4:04 p.m. Saturday, ESPN) is one of the few horse races that still draws an audience. By the way, I got the horse right here – it’s Bandini, says my source, a length from the horse’s mouth.
Tickets for Enberg’s Denver appearance are available at 303-832-9030.
Honor for Ebersol
Dick Ebersol, who sustained serious injuries in a November plane crash near Montrose that killed his son, Teddy, was honored at the 26th-annual Sports Emmy Awards in New York on Monday night.
Ebersol told the crowd expressions of sympathy are “a memory I’ll carry for the rest of my life. I’m so deeply grateful. …”
NBC won seven Emmys, mostly for its coverage of the Summer Olympics.
Around the dial
Highlights of the CU football spring game, with comment from coach Gary Barnett, air at 2 p.m. Monday on Fox Sports Rocky Mountain. … Crash course: Last Sunday’s big-wreck 500-mile race from Talladega gained a 6.1 overnight Nielsen rating, up 3.4 percent from the previous year. … Quotable: “I am here to propose a toast to the sportswriters. It’s up to you whether you stand or not.” – Freddie Trueman.
Dick Kreck’s column appears Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. He may be reached at 303-820-1456 or dkreck@denverpost.com.
