Sports Column

Put ‘Schonz’ in hallowed hall

On Sports

By dwight jaynes

The Portland Tribune, May 29, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (10 Reader comments)

Bill Schonely was the Trail Blazers’ golden-throated play-by-play man for nearly 30 years.

TIM JEWETT / TRIBUNE FILE PHOTO

(Editor's note: This column appeared in the April 22, 2008 Portland Tribune. Since then, the Blazers have stepped up their campaign to get revered broadcaster Bill Schonely in the Basketball Hall of Fame. The team took its case Wednesday to the Portland City Council, which issued a proclamation urging the hall to honor Schonely.)

At the recent Final Four in San Antonio, the Basketball Hall of Fame announced its Class of 2008. The group will be inducted in September.

Halls of fame are terrific. They honor deserving heroes of the past. They help keep alive the history and heritage of a sport. They even encourage debate and controversy as we talk about who should be included and who should be left out.

Basketball’s hall gives a special media award, in addition to its enshrinements. Getting that honor, the Curt Gowdy Award, is considered on a par with going into the Hall of Fame. Only two media members, Chick Hearn and Dick Vitale (this year), are in the hall. But Gowdy Award winners include all the greats — Hearn, Johnny Most, Marv Albert, Bob Costas, Dick Enberg, Marty Glickman and many others.

As with so many of these types of honors, most of the recipients are from major markets and networks. Last season was special, because longtime Phoenix broadcaster Al McCoy was honored. A great guy and terrific broadcaster for decades, McCoy richly deserved it.

But so does our guy.

It’s time for the Trail Blazers’ Bill Schonely to win that Gowdy Award and take his rightful place among his peers. It’s an honor he’s deserved for years.

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