Editor's note: Like you, NBC Sports Bay Area insiders, reporters and analysts are feeling the sports void during the coronavirus stoppage. They'll share their thoughts every Monday, Wednesday and Friday in "What I Miss About Sports." Next up in the series: Warriors television play-by-play broadcaster Bob Fitzgerald.
What do I miss about sports? In one word: EVERYTHING.
You have to understand on my ninth birthday, I told everyone my two wishes were to host a sports talk show and to be the Golden State Warriors play-by-play broadcaster. Hank Greenwald used to host Sportsphone 68 on KNBR and Bill King was the Warriors' play-by-play broadcaster. They were both my idols, and I wanted to be just like them.
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I called my first Warriors game in 1993 and finished up at KNBR after 28 years. To be able to live your childhood dreams daily is a rarity. To have this whole industry on hold (understandably) is a shock to the system, to say the least.
Before my family moved to California when I was a young kid, I would go to Comiskey Park in Chicago and ask my dad what Harry Caray did for a living. I saw the players on the field and in the clubhouse but I never understood the old guy hanging around talking to everyone. Harry Caray was the White Sox broadcaster of my early childhood. I thought he just ate hot dogs and drank Old Style.
When I found out he talked about the games and that was actually a job, I knew the world of sports had to be part of my life. And for over 30 years, it has been my life.
Sports marks the calendar for me. Notre Dame football in the fall. Then the start of the 49ers and Chicago Bears season. Then, on to the Warriors and the NBA. Then, the start of the NBA and NHL playoffs and the beginning of baseball. My White Sox and Kruk and Kuip: No better way to spend the summer.
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I miss reading about each league, watching an endless number of games, constantly talking about sports with friends and family. For my play-by-play job, I miss the research and preparation. Figuring out the best way to set up each matchup, telling the story of the season. Matching the moment, particularly the past seven Warriors playoff seasons.
Five straight trips to the NBA Finals and three parades? It's hard to believe it all really happened, but it did, and I miss the build-up to the next playoff pursuit for the Dubs.
I miss the surprise of the unexpected.
Hey, this Eric Paschall kid is legit!! I think Steph Curry has become the best shooter of all time. These Steve Kerr-led Warriors are going to be champions, I just know it.
The discovery of new players, the growth and development of teams, the career arc of my favorite players. To watch Steph, Klay and Draymond now as 30-year-old men is definitely different. I still think of them as their rookie selves very often.
I miss the camaraderie of our TV crew, the cohesion of really talented people all pulling together to do something special each and every time we televise a Warrior game. I miss the National Anthem because each time it's done, I know all the pre-game BS is over and its time for the GAME! And that's something I’ve looked forward to since waking up each day the Warriors play.
There is an awful lot that goes into the gaps between anthems, but once it's game time, there honestly is nothing better. I’m that nine-year-old kid again, still awestruck that I’ve called more Warrior games on TV than anyone in the history of the franchise (Bill King is next with 21 seasons). To say I’m grateful, lucky and appreciative would be an understatement.
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To me, sports will always be about friendships that often mean much more than the games. The conversations and experiences I have shared with Bob Myers, Steve Kerr, Steph Curry, Rick Welts, Joe Lacob and Peter Guber have added to my life in an immeasurable way. To sit next to Jim Barnett for 22 years, and now Kelenna Azubuike, makes “work” more like fun on a daily basis.
I don’t pretend to have any sage or profound words regarding this time in our country and our world. I just know sports has a place in our lives as something that often brings out the best in us. And I know it will again. But it doesn’t mean I don’t miss it every day.