Opinion: Was there a sport that Dick Enberg couldn’t call?

To the editor: Dick Enberg’s game calls were among the cleanest and most straightforward of any sports announcer who ever sat behind a microphone or looked into a camera. The Los Angeles Times’ report of his passing indicated the scope of his abilities in listing many of the sporting events that he called so easily and so very well. (“Sportscaster Dick Enberg — voice of baseball, football, tennis and more — found dead at his La Jolla home at 82,” Dec. 21)

Looking back, his work almost sounded as though he was reading from some magic script. The action on the playing field and his report always matched so flawlessly.

As a long-time motorsports professional, I’d like to add one more sport that this master always got right, even though he did not do very many events over his long career: Enberg could (and did) call a motor race as good as anybody else and far better than most.

His lilting, friendly, informative voice is missed.

Doug Stokes, Duarte

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To the editor: Enberg rightfully belongs in the pantheon of great Southern California sportscasters. The highlight of his association with UCLA basketball was the weekly “tape delayed” telecast of sold-out and not-aired-live home games at 11 p.m. on KTLA-TV Channel 5, which gave the masses a chance to see the Bruins work their magic from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s.

All across Southern California, fans avoided news about the game until they could watch it “live” at 11 p.m. Given the overwhelming success of the Bruins (who lost fewer than 15 games over a nine-year stretch), for most viewers it was like watching a ballet — relishing the individual performances rather than focusing on the score.

Enberg did a marvelous job describing the efforts of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Sidney Wickes, Bill Walton, Marques Johnson and other UCLA basketball greats. His rendition of “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” only further endeared him to his legion of fans.

Noel Johnson, Glendale

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