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Dick Enberg

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Dick Enberg

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.

Enberg was born on January 9, 1935, in Mount Clemens, Michigan, as the first child to Belle Elizabeth (Weiss) and Arnie Enberg. His paternal grandparents were Finnish immigrants, whose original name was Katajavuori, which means juniper mountain. Before they lived in America, they changed their name to the Swedish-sounding Enberg. His mother was of English, French, German and Native American descent. He had a younger brother, Dennis. Enberg's family first moved to Bridgeport, Connecticut, when he was two years old, then to southern California in 1940 for several years, and then back to a farm near Armada, Michigan.

Following high school in Armada, Enberg attended Central Michigan University, where he played college baseball and earned a bachelor's degree in 1957. In his senior year at Central Michigan, Enberg was elected president of the student body. During this time, he was employed at WSAM in Saginaw, Michigan, then a Detroit Tigers radio affiliate. Enberg then went on to graduate school at Indiana University Bloomington, where he earned master's and doctorate degrees in health sciences. While at Indiana, Enberg voiced the first radio broadcast of the Little 500, the bicycle racing event popularized in the film Breaking Away.

He was also the play-by-play announcer for Indiana Hoosiers football and basketball games and in 1961 called his first NCAA basketball tournament event, the championship game between Cincinnati and Ohio State. From 1961 to 1965, he was an assistant professor and baseball coach at Cal State Northridge, then known as San Fernando Valley State College. Enberg was also a member of the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity.

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.

In the 1960s, Enberg announced boxing matches at L.A.'s Olympic Auditorium. Enberg also presided over the Trophy presentation for Super Bowl VII in 1973.[citation needed]

In 1968, Enberg was recommended by UCLA athletic director J.D. Morgan to be the national broadcaster for the syndicated TVS Television Network to cover the "Game of the Century" between the Houston Cougars, led by Elvin Hayes, and the UCLA Bruins, led by Lew Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar).[citation needed]

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