Everyone knows Dick Enberg - Oh My! is his traditional catch phrase. His early career before sports is extremely interesting and probably best forgotten. He grew up in Michigan, then went to Indiana and became an announcer there. His first really big gig - and the first college basketball game he ever announced - was the 1961 NCAA championship game between Cincinnati and Ohio State. Not bad - however, at that time, college basketball was as popular as, say, NCAA soccer is now. So not the biggest deal.
He moved to Southern California in the 60s, and became a professor at Cal State Northridge. He started doing Angels games in the late 60s and was their main play by play announcer. He also did UCLA basketball games in the 60s and 70s. This led to Dick singing "Raindrops ke
ep falling on my head" on center court at the end of the 1970 season. Take a look at this video explaining why - just tells you how wacko college basketball was back then. Minutes upon minutes of players just holding the ball on their hips....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uorpzVp6ROM
While in SoCal, Dick started getting involved in the entertainment industry, being a host for forgettable game shows and a voice-over for the many animated cartoons of that time. Now - as you all know, I am a game show fanatic, so if I have never heard of some of these shows, then you know they are obscure. Here are two of them from the 70s:
Baffle! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBNFxZkq1XE
Three for the Money! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2A2oJ95e6ig&t=72s
Gah! The clothes! My eyes!
Hanna Barbera dominated the 1970-80s TV landscape, making so many animated shows like "The Jetsons", "Laff A Lympics", "Scooby Doo and Scrappy Too" and other forgetful shows. They wanted to take advantage of the growing popularity of the NFL - and created a show abot a family that played football -lots of it. Their neighbor was a cranky old guy voiced by Paul Lynde.
They needed an announcer to voice the "action" on the field during games. Who else, but Dick!
Here's the opening to that wonderful show. It lasted 14 epsiodes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLVQ9g_Tzt0
We all know what Dick did from there - he was the star of NBC sports from the late 70s on into the 90s. So many NFL game highlights; he did the 2 painful AFC championships games in 86 and 87 that I won't link to here. He also was the lead for the bowl games that NBC did - remember, in the 80s, NBC had the Rose Bowl (kick off around 5 pm) and then the Orange Bowl (around 8); ABC had the Sugar that ran opposite the Orange. Charlie Jones always did the Orange Bowl, and Dick Enberg had the Rose. It warmed the whole East Coast on Jan 1 when Dick opened with a scene from Southern California, showing a sunny day in the 70s while it was freezing in the Midwest/east:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOUwBuF-X50
Let's focus on some good Dick Enberg Browns moments - both from the 1994 season. We had a tense regular season game at Dallas (defending super bowl champions); Browns led by 5 with :10 left. Dallas has the ball at the 9 yard line, no timeouts. What a play.....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbhtOX8UT0I&t=70s
That led to the playoffs - Janice and I were there, last row of the old stadium, January 1, 1995. I wanted these puffy coats....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qYnh1CBM_k&t=18s
Thank God it's a bye this week for the Browns! On to the games:
Car 24, Atl 17. I still don't trust Atl's offense. Home game for Carolina, 3 in a row on the road for Atlanta....I like the spot here for the Panthers.
Cin 19, Jax 16. Jacksonville giving 6? That's too much! I think the Bengals have the run game to stay with the Jags.
LAR 20, NYG 16. This is the type of game where I can't fully trust the Rams - yet. Both off a bye.
Phi 24, Den 13. I give up. I keep hoping for any spark out of the Broncos....No spark is coming. What a great, balanced team the Eagles are.
Hou 20, Ind 17. Too bad about Watson. Seriously! Houston's D line should keep Ind in check while I don't trust Savage.
NO 31, TB 17. I have Tampa as the 30th rated team in the league; going on the road to a hot Saints team?
Ten 24, Bal 21. I have no clue here. Ten could win 37-3, and Baltimore could shut them out. No idea.
Sea 23, Was 16. This is not a layup as one might think. I still don't trust Seattle's offense.
SF 20, Az 16. This is the week for the Niners! I know the Cardinals are off a bye, but Stanton? I don't see the Cards moving the ball much. Cmon Shanahan!
Dal 31, KC 30. Should be a great game. Chiefs can't stop the run - so it will be Zeke, Zeke, Zeke - and Dallas can't stop anyone.
Mia 24, Oak 20. The Raiders are all out of sorts. I think Miami will stop Lynch and the running game with ease - and can focus on the pass defense.
Det 24, GB 20. I have no idea how the Lions will react after that last game.
Best bets: 11 of them. Last week: 5-8; overall: 62-47-2
Car +2.5
Cin +6
LAR/NYG under 42
Phi -7
Ind +7
Ind/Hou under 45.5
NO -7
Was/Sea under 45
SF +2.5
KC/Dal over 53.5
Mia +3
Supercontest picks: Last week: 4-1; overall: 25-15
Car -1
Ind +13 (line was set Wednesday evening)
NO -7
SF +2
Mia +3
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