Enberg’s Path to Discovery Goes Through Book

A “Sound and Vision” column by Mike Penner during the 2003 NCAA Final Four included a quote from Dick Enberg about his friend, the late Al McGuire.

Enberg said, “If I ever write a book, Al will get a chapter.”

The line struck Jim Perry like a bolt of lightning. Perry, who had been Enberg’s sports producer in 1967 at Channel 5, immediately called a friend to get Enberg’s phone number in La Jolla.

Perry, who had written a John McKay autobiography in 1974 when he was USC beat writer for the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, thought it was time to write another book.

And who better to write about than Enberg, not only one of L.A.’s most popular sports announcers, but also one of the country’s all-time favorites?

Perry pitched the idea to Enberg, who at first was skeptical. He had thought about writing a book, but wondered if anybody could take the many branches that make up his life and career and organize them properly.

Eventually, Enberg said yes to Perry. The result is the recently released autobiography, “Dick Enberg: Oh My!” In the 254-page book, Enberg’s sense of humor, his enthusiasm and his sensitivity are vividly clear.

“We could have written 400 pages,” Enberg said over breakfast Wednesday in Pasadena.

As it is, there is plenty of fascinating reading. Enberg is from Michigan, but he spent six years, as a child, in Southern California. Then his family moved back when his father bought a 40-acre fruit farm near Armada, Mich.

“Moving from a house in the San Fernando Valley to a farm in Michigan was the equivalent of moving to a different planet,” Enberg says in the book. “In California, we had indoor plumbing.”

In Michigan, they had a two-hole outhouse.

Enberg has had ups and downs, and he doesn’t dodge the downs. When he was 14, his parents’ marriage ended after his mother admitted to having an affair with a neighbor. Enberg’s mother had become close to the man while helping take care of his wife, who died of cancer.

Enberg went through a divorce in the mid 1970s, which he writes about. He also writes about his insecurities early in his broadcasting career and how he almost quit his job with the Angels in his first year because of problems with broadcast partner Don Wells. Enberg was picked for the lead announcing job over Wells.

“You know, it wasn’t until we did this book that I found out it was Gene Autry himself who wanted me to me be the lead announcer,” Enberg said. “I learned a lot of things like that from the research Jim did for the book.”

The book’s 16 chapters include one on John Wooden and UCLA, one on Don Drysdale, his broadcast partner with the Angels and Rams, and, yes, one on McGuire. The final chapter is on Ted Williams, Enberg’s childhood idol who later became his friend.

“Writing this book has made me realize just how great my life has been,” Enberg said.

It’s enough to make one say “Oh my!”

Ratings Game

If there is no such thing as bad publicity, then the Lakers should still be drawing big television ratings, right? Not quite. On FSN West, the ratings are down 33% from last season, from a 4.3 to a 2.9. On Channel 9, they’re off 26%, from a 5.7 to a 4.2.

But there are reasons for the decline beyond the performance of the team. For one thing, with Nielsen’s use of the people meter, all ratings are down. Also, last season, the addition of Karl Malone and Gary Payton helped increase interest early in the season.

One other thing: Maybe Channel 9 executives were right when they said that delaying East Coast games meant higher ratings. This season, Channel 9 is televising all games live, when fewer people are home and available to watch.

Short Waves

FSN and the Arena Football League have reached a two-year, revenue-sharing deal in which the 11 FSN-owned regional networks will televise more than 100 AFL games a season. The deal, which supplements NBC’s coverage, will increase the number of non-NBC televised games from 39 this year to more than 120 next year.... As part of a deal Champ Car has with its new television partners CBS and NBC, the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach April 10 will be televised by NBC.

Ricky Williams, on CBS’ “60 Minutes” Sunday night, admits he retired from the Miami Dolphins to avoid dealing with his failed drug test.... All the promotion ESPN did for the movie “3” apparently paid off. It got a 5.0 cable rating, the highest for an ESPN movie.... The next FSN West high-definition Laker telecast will be Monday night. The HD telecasts are available only on Time Warner cable and a few other systems.

Gail Goodrich’s UCLA jersey will be retired at Saturday’s Michigan-UCLA game, which CBS is televising. Let’s hope CBS gives Goodrich his just due. Goodrich, by the way, has been dabbling in broadcasting with NBA TV.... Speaking of NBA TV, it will televise a marathon of nine classic NBA games beginning at 1 p.m. Dec. 24.

The second installment of a behind-the-scenes look at the Clippers will be on “NBA Inside Stuff” Sunday at 3 p.m. on Channel 7.... TV Guide reports that the stars of ABC’s “Desperate Housewives” have taped an NBA promo that will air on Christmas Day. The actresses, the magazine reports, are all fully clothed.

In Closing

Want to try your hand at being a radio talk-show co-host for a day? A spot on Roger Lodge’s morning show on KMPC (1540) next week is being auctioned off on EBay. At last check, the top bid was $810. Producer Dick Fallon, who came up with the idea, says proceeds will go to a children’s charity.