Sunday, September 11, 2005

Chris Schenkel 1923-2005

Saturday afternoons in the winters of my youth meant a 90-minute excursion into the world of professional bowling, courtesy ABC Sports. And the voice who brought that excitement into our living rooms for years has been stilled with the death today of sportscasting legend Chris Schenkel.

The mellifluous, smooth-as-silk voice seemed as if it was made for bowling, with its hush-hush concentration attitude (though fans today are encouraged to whoop it up as if they were at an NBA game). His voice helped illuminate the exploits of guys like Dick Weber, Carmen Salvino, Mark Roth, Marshall Holman and many others who put on the short-sleeved shirts and funny shoes, and threw that ball down the lane.

Schenkel called many other sporting events, including Olympic games (he was there when Nadia Comaneci scored her 10's), Indianapolis 500's, college and pro football games (he was one of the first to call New York Giants games on TV) and Masters golf.

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