Richard Alan Enberg (January 9, 1935 – December 21, 2017) was an American sportscaster. Over the course of an approximately 60-year career, he provided play-by-play of various sports for several radio and television networks, including NBC (1975–1999), CBS (2000–2014), and ESPN (2004–2011), as well as for individual teams, such as UCLA Bruins basketball, Los Angeles Rams football, and California Angels and San Diego Padres baseball.
Enberg was well known for his signature on-air catchphrases "Touch 'em all" (for home runs) and "Oh, my!" (for particularly exciting and outstanding athletic plays). He also announced or hosted the Tournament of Roses Parade for many years, sometimes with the help of family members. Enberg retired from broadcasting in 2016, after seven seasons as the Padres' primary television announcer.
Early life and education
Enberg was born on January 9, 1935, in Mount Clemens, Michigan, as the first child to Belle Elizabeth (Weiss) and Arnie Enberg.[1][2] His paternal grandparents were Finnish immigrants, whose original name was Katajavuori, which means juniper mountain.[1] Before they lived in America, they changed their name to the Swedish-sounding Enberg.[1] His mother was of English, French, German and Native American descent.[3] He had a younger brother, Dennis.[4] Enberg's family first moved to Bridgeport, Connecticut, when he was two years old,[1] then to southern California in 1940[1] for several years, and then back to a farm near Armada, Michigan.[5]
In the late 1960s, Enberg began a full-time sportscasting career in Los Angeles, working for KTLA television (anchoring a nightly sports report and calling UCLA Bruins basketball) and KMPC radio (calling Los Angeles Rams football and California Angels baseball). After every Angels victory, he would wrap up his broadcast with "And the halo shines tonight" in reference to the "Big A" scoreboard at Anaheim Stadium and the halo at the top, which would light up for everyone in the area to see, particularly from the adjacent freeway. Enberg was named California Sportscaster of the Year four times during this period.[9]
In 1973, Enberg hosted the game show Baffle, which lasted just a year before being cancelled in 1974. A year later, producer Monty Hall hired Enberg to host the shorter-lived Three for the Money.
Enberg replaced Curt Gowdy as lead play-by-play announcer for the NFL on NBC in 1979, and on the network's telecast of the Rose Bowl in January 1980. He was in the booth in Pasadena for nine straight years, until ABC took over the broadcast in 1989.
Well, and so the end of the 1997 NFL season and for NBC Sports, Super Bowl XXXII is the end of our 32 years covering AFL, NFL action. NBC's been there from the start, from Joe Namath all the way to John Elway, from Curt Gowdy to those of us who had the honor of calling this game tonight, and on behalf of all of our crew, all the men and women who have brought you the sights and sounds of NFL football here on NBC since 1960, we want to thank you for your effort, and those of you who have watched, and we congratulate the Super Bowl champions. The underdogs have won. The 13 years of defeat have been erased at least for tonight as Denver wins it, 31-24. Don't wander away, more to come from San Diego. Greg Gumbel will be back after station identification. Denver Broncos are Super Bowl champs.
— Dick Enberg at the end of Super Bowl XXXII, NBC's final NFL telecast until the 2006 season.
According to his autobiography, Oh My!,[12] Enberg was informed by NBC that he would become the lead play-by-play voice of Major League Baseball Game of the Week beginning with the 1982 World Series (for which he served as pregame host and shared play-by-play duties with Joe Garagiola alongside analyst Tony Kubek) and through subsequent regular seasons. He wrote that on his football trips, he would read every Sporting News to make sure he was current with all the baseball news and notes. Then he met with NBC executives in September 1982, and they informed him that Vin Scully was in negotiations to be their lead baseball play-by-play man (teaming with Garagiola while Kubek would team with Bob Costas) and would begin with the network in the spring of 1983.
According to the book, Enberg wasn't pleased about the decision (since he loved being the California Angels' radio and television voice in the 1970s and was eager to return to baseball) but the fact that NBC was bringing in Scully, arguably baseball's best announcer, was understandable. Enberg added that NBC also gave him a significant pay increase as a pseudo-apology for not coming through on the promise to make him the lead baseball play-by-play man. Enberg returned to the Angels' radio booth to call 40 games in 1985, citing a desire to reconnect with the sport, which he has described as having been "in my DNA since I was in diapers".[13]
NBC planned to use Enberg as one of its announcers for The Baseball Network coverage in 1994,[16][17] but the players' strike that year ended the season before he had the opportunity to call any games.
Wimbledon Championships
As NBC's voice of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, the last tournament for him being in 1999 (alongside Bud Collins and, later, John McEnroe), Enberg regularly concluded the network's coverage of the two-week event with thematically appropriate observations accompanied by a montage of video clips.
Enberg during his tenure at CBS, was notably on the call[18] alongside Dan Dierdorf for an NFL game between the New England Patriots and New York Jets on September 23, 2001. It was during this game that New York linebacker Mo Lewis injured the Patriots' starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe. Bledsoe's injury resulted in Tom Brady becoming New England's quarterback, beginning the Brady–Belichick era for the Patriots that saw them enjoy nearly two decades of dominance and win six Super Bowl titles. As a result, Lewis' hit on Bledsoe is often noted for its impact on NFL history.[19][20]
One of the more notable games Enberg also called was the 2005 AFC Divisional matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Indianapolis Colts that saw the Steelers go on to upset the Colts 21-18 en route to their victory in Super Bowl XL in what is considered one of the biggest upsets in NFL history. Coincidentally, Enberg also called a previous playoff game between the two teams for NBC, the 1995 AFC Championship Game, a 20-16 Steelers victory that is often marked as one of the NFL's greatest games.
Another enduring element of Enberg's broadcasting legacy was his ability to provide warm and poignant reflections on the sporting events he covered. Enberg Essays, as they came to be known, were a regular feature of CBS's coverage of college basketball's Final Four.
On March 27, 2010, Enberg called his final college basketball game for CBS, an East Regional tournament final featuring the Kentucky Wildcats versus the West Virginia Mountaineers.[21] After becoming the Padres' play-by-play announcer, Enberg said he hoped to continue calling late-season NFL games for CBS, but his name was omitted from the network's announcing roster for 2010.[22] He continued to call the US Open for CBS through 2011.
Enberg returned to call one match and serve as an essayist during the 2014 US Open, to help commemorate CBS's last year covering the event before ESPN took over in 2015.[23]
On September 14, 2009, Juan Martín del Potro defeated Roger Federer to win the Men's US Open Championship. Enberg hosted the post-match ceremony during which del Potro requested to address his fans in Spanish. Enberg declined the request saying that he was running out of time but went on to list the corporate sponsored prizes del Potro won.[24] A couple of minutes later, Del Potro made the same request again and only then Enberg relented saying "Very quickly, in Spanish, he wants to say hello to his friends here and in Argentina". An emotional del Potro finally spoke a few sentences in Spanish to a cheering crowd. Many viewers expressed disappointment with Enberg and CBS over the interview.[24] A CBS executive later defended Enberg, noting that the contract with the United States Tennis Association required that certain sponsors receive time during the ceremony.[25]
ESPN (2004–2011)
Beginning in 2004, Enberg served as a play-by-play announcer for ESPN2's coverage of the Wimbledon and French Open tennis tournaments, adding the Australian Open the following year. Enberg came to ESPN on lease from CBS, where he already called the US Open, the one Grand Slam tournament not covered by ESPN until 2009. At the 2004 French Open, Enberg called a match per day and also provided his "Enberg Moments". At Wimbledon in 2004, he participated in a new one-hour morning show called Breakfast at Wimbledon. ESPN asked CBS for permission to use Enberg during the summer of 2004 at both the French Open and Wimbledon. Enberg then surprised his new bosses by volunteering for the 2005 Australian Open in January 2005. "I've never been to Australia," he said. "At my age then [69], to be able to work a full Grand Slam is something I'd like to have at the back of my book." Enberg stopped calling the French Open after 2009 due to his Padres commitments, though he continued to call the Wimbledon and Australian Open tournaments over the next two years. In June 2011, it was reported that his ESPN contract had ended and that the 2011 Wimbledon tournament would be his final one for the network.[26]
San Diego Padres
In December 2009, Enberg was hired as a television play-by-play announcer by the San Diego Padres, signing a multi-year deal to call 110–120 games a season for channel 4SD.[27] Enberg primarily teamed with Mark Grant on the Padres' telecasts.
In his debut season as a Padres broadcaster, Enberg took some criticism from fans over a perceived lack of enthusiasm for the home team. Told that he was regarded by some viewers as getting "too excited" over plays by opposing players, Enberg responded, "I find that a real compliment."[28] He did move to placate the critics, however, by limiting the use of his signature home run call of "Touch 'em all!" to Padres home runs.[29]
In 2012, Enberg returned as play-by-play voice of the Padres as they moved their telecasts from 4SD to Fox Sports San Diego, in the first year of a 20-year deal between the team and the newly formed network. On September 23, 2015, Enberg indicated he would call Padre games for one more season in 2016, then retire.[30]
On May 21, 2016, Enberg served as a special guest play-by-play broadcaster for the Detroit Tigers in their home game with the Tampa Bay Rays, calling the game on Fox Sports Detroit alongside analyst Kirk Gibson. The Tigers were Enberg's boyhood team, as he lived in the Detroit area.[31] Enberg also called a weekend series for the Tigers post retirement, an interleague series between the Tigers and the Dodgers, August 18–20, 2017 for FSD and one game for FS1.
Enberg's last game with the Padres was October 2, 2016. In his last week on air, he made a guest appearance with Los Angeles Dodgers announcer Vin Scully, who also was retiring at the end of the baseball season, after a 67-year career.[32]
In addition to his career in sports broadcasting, Enberg hosted three game shows besides the aforementioned Sports Challenge: The Perfect Match in 1967, Baffle on NBC from 1973 through 1974, and Three for the Money on NBC in 1975. He also lent his voice to the animated CBS cartoon series Where's Huddles? (1970), the film Rollerball (1975), and the American-dubbed version of the animated UK Christmas special Robbie the Reindeer: Hooves of Fire (2002); made appearances in the films Two-Minute Warning (1976), Gus (1976), Heaven Can Wait (1978), The Longshot (1986), The Naked Gun (1988), and Mr. 3000 (2004); and appeared as himself in episodes of such television programs as The King of Queens and CSI: NY. In addition, Enberg was seen in a series of commercials for GTE during the 1980s and early 1990s, and was the voice of the announcer in the classic Talking Football tabletop game from Mattel.
Enberg was inducted into Central Michigan University's Athletics Hall of Fame in 1993.[36] The university named an academic center for him in 2007. A student-athlete award in Enberg's name is presented annually to a Central Michigan student.[36]
Enberg was raised in Armada, Michigan and was responsible for the naming of the Armada High School yearbook, the Regit (Tiger spelled backwards), a name it has to this day. A hallway in the Macomb Academy of Arts and Sciences, which is run by Armada school district and shares the building with its administration office, was named after him.
UCLA named its Media Center in Pauley Pavilion after Enberg in 2017 in his honor.
Indiana University awarded Enberg an honorary doctorate of humane letters in 2002. He would be inducted into the Indiana University Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame in the fall of 2006.
Enberg also received honorary doctorates of humane letters from his alma mater Central Michigan University in 1980 and Marquette University in 2009, and gave the addresses at both universities' May commencement ceremonies.
In 1997, the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) honored Enberg with an award in recognition of his longtime support of the organization's Academic All-America program. The Dick Enberg Award is given annually to a person whose actions and commitment have furthered the meaning and reach of the Academic All-America Teams Program and/or the student-athlete while promoting the values of education and academics. Past recipients include Gerald Ford, Mike Krzyzewski, Pat Summitt, and Joe Paterno. Enberg continued to be an avid supporter of the program, often lending his voice to video presentations related to CoSIDA's annual Academic All-America Hall of Fame ceremony.[37]
In 2006, Enberg was Awarded the Ambassador Award of Excellence by the LA Sports & Entertainment Commission for his involvement in the community.[38]
For his contributions to the Rose Bowl game and parade through the years, Enberg was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame on December 31, 2011.[39]
The National Baseball Hall of Fame named Enberg the 2015 recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award for excellence in baseball broadcasting. He was presented with the award in a ceremony during the Hall's induction weekend on July 25, 2015.[40] Enberg was the second American sportscaster (after Curt Gowdy) to be selected for broadcasting awards from each of the Halls of Fame in professional football, basketball and baseball.
On August 20, 2017, the Detroit Sports Media (formerly Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association) named Enberg the 2017 recipient of the DSM Ernie Harwell Lifetime Contribution Award for a lifetime of service to the sports broadcasting community.
Personal life
Although Enberg was Finnish on his paternal side, his surname was of Swedish origin.[41] During an ESPN television broadcast from the Wimbledon tennis championships on June 24, 2010, Enberg said his father was born in Finland, and changed his name from the Finnish "Katajavuori" to the Swedish equivalent Enberg on arrival in the U.S. as he felt it would be a simpler name. The surname means "juniper mountain." Enberg said it pleased him that Jarkko Nieminen was doing so well as Finland is close to his heart and it is a small nation with few tennis facilities.
While working at Saginaw, Michigan radio station WSAM early in his career, Enberg considered changing his name professionally to "Dick Breen" after being told that "Enberg" was too Jewish-sounding.[42] The story of his surname is also detailed in his autobiography, Oh My!
Enberg was the father of actor Alexander Enberg, actor-musician Andrew Enberg, and daughter Jennifer Enberg by former wife Jeri Taylor. At the time of his death, he was married to his second wife, Barbara (née Almori), with whom he had one son, Ted Enberg (also a sportscaster), and two daughters, Nicole and Emily.
Ted Enberg is a play-by-play broadcaster for ESPN, Pac-12 Network and called the U.S. Open Tennis Championships in 2017. Ted currently resides in San Diego and has a sports podcast with PodcastOne entitled, Sound of Success. He is married to Sara Elizabeth Miller. Ted would ultimately portray his father in the 2022 HBO series Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty.[43]
Enberg penned a one-man theatrical play titled COACH, as a tribute to his former television broadcast partner and late friend, Al McGuire, the extraordinary college basketball coach and commentator. It debuted at Marquette University's Helfaer Theater in 2005. It drew positive reviews as an accurate portrayal of the eccentric coach. At the 2007 NCAA Final Four in Atlanta, Enberg presented three performances of COACH at the Alliance Theater. Those attending the April 1 matinée included Hall of Famers coach Dean Smith (whom McGuire defeated in the 1977 NCAA Championship in Atlanta) and former UCLAAll-American center Bill Walton. The play was then performed at Hofstra University, near Al's old neighborhood on Long Island in New York. It has since been booked in San Diego, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, Portland, Maine, North Carolina and Indiana. The most recent performance was at the New York Athletic Club in Manhattan. Actor Cotter Smith portrayed McGuire in the one-man show.
^"CFL-NBC". Archived from the original on October 27, 2009. Retrieved October 27, 2009.((cite web)): CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^Dozer, Richard (October 10, 1979). "CBS upsets Pirate, Oriole broadcasters". Chicago Tribune. p. D2.
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