Former SuperSonics fans - Calaboro to call Sounders FC action
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http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/soccer/371677_sounders22.html?source=mypi
Calabro to call Sounders FC action
BELO contract puts all matches on television
By MATTHEW GASCHK
SPECIAL TO THE P-I
Less than three weeks ago, Kevin Calabro was in the doldrums after the city of Seattle agreed to a buyout of the Sonics lease with KeyArena, clearing the way for the NBA franchise to move to Oklahoma City.
The voice of the Sonics would not be following the team.
His path to recovery was accelerated Monday when he was announced as play-by-play voice of the Seattle Sounders FC for its inaugural season in Major League Soccer next year.
The club announced a multiyear television partnership with BELO to broadcast games on KING/5 and KONG/6, 16.
"When one door closes, many will open," Calabro said. "It's hard to see the Sonics moving on as they have, but this is something new on the horizon that many people can rally around and I'm enthused to be a part of."
Excluding games broadcast nationally, KING/5 or KONG/6, 16 will broadcast all Sounders matches with exclusive pregame and postgame shows.
"I think anything local of this magnitude is attractive to us," said Ray Heacox, BELO president and general manager. "And the chance for us to be involved with anything that says leadership and great effort locally excites us."
Along with broadcasting the games, KING/5 will broadcast a weekly soccer show hosted by sports anchor Paul Silvi, Heacox said.
For the Sounders FC, it marks another in a line of successful decisions after already announcing the name amid a maelstrom of support for retaining the Sounders name and a partnership with Microsoft and Xbox Live.
In BELO and Calabro, they add two more big local names to that list.
"This is huge," Sounders FC part-owner Adrian Hanauer said of Calabro's hiring. "He's world class. There's certainly a learning curve, but I have zero doubt that he's going to make the broadcast fantastic for casual sports fans and purists as well. It's just one more in a long list of things that have gone our way."
Calabro will serve as play-by-play voice; his color commentator has not yet been determined.
In addition to his 21 years with the Sonics, where he won several regional Emmy Awards, he has also been a contributor on NBA broadcasts for TNT, TBS and ESPN Radio.
"I was absolutely shocked when things developed the way they did with the Sonics, but you have to get over those and you have to move on from a professional standpoint," Calabro said. "I'll cry, then I'll wash my hair and get out of the bed and I'm good to go."
Calabro told Seattle P-I columnist Jim Moore in a July 9 article that the team formerly known as the Sonics, now reportedly called the Oklahoma City Thunder, offered him a job in their new home.
He said the basketball team offered "top, top dollar," but Calabro is too happy in the Pacific Northwest.
Now he doesn't have to look anywhere elsewhere.
Calabro's son, Joe, 12, got the five-time "Sportscaster of the Year" interested in soccer, and the father and son have watched MLS games along with a healthy schedule of European games over the past year. Though he has not broadcast soccer before, Calabro's résumé features a wide range of sports including minor league hockey in Indianapolis and college football and basketball in several markets.
The Sounders FC will launch its inaugural season in March, 2009. Hollywood producer Joe Roth is the majority owner. Other owners include Hanauer and comedian Drew Carey.
The team has already sold more than 16,000 season tickets.
Calabro to call Sounders FC action
BELO contract puts all matches on television
By MATTHEW GASCHK
SPECIAL TO THE P-I
Less than three weeks ago, Kevin Calabro was in the doldrums after the city of Seattle agreed to a buyout of the Sonics lease with KeyArena, clearing the way for the NBA franchise to move to Oklahoma City.
The voice of the Sonics would not be following the team.
His path to recovery was accelerated Monday when he was announced as play-by-play voice of the Seattle Sounders FC for its inaugural season in Major League Soccer next year.
The club announced a multiyear television partnership with BELO to broadcast games on KING/5 and KONG/6, 16.
"When one door closes, many will open," Calabro said. "It's hard to see the Sonics moving on as they have, but this is something new on the horizon that many people can rally around and I'm enthused to be a part of."
Excluding games broadcast nationally, KING/5 or KONG/6, 16 will broadcast all Sounders matches with exclusive pregame and postgame shows.
"I think anything local of this magnitude is attractive to us," said Ray Heacox, BELO president and general manager. "And the chance for us to be involved with anything that says leadership and great effort locally excites us."
Along with broadcasting the games, KING/5 will broadcast a weekly soccer show hosted by sports anchor Paul Silvi, Heacox said.
For the Sounders FC, it marks another in a line of successful decisions after already announcing the name amid a maelstrom of support for retaining the Sounders name and a partnership with Microsoft and Xbox Live.
In BELO and Calabro, they add two more big local names to that list.
"This is huge," Sounders FC part-owner Adrian Hanauer said of Calabro's hiring. "He's world class. There's certainly a learning curve, but I have zero doubt that he's going to make the broadcast fantastic for casual sports fans and purists as well. It's just one more in a long list of things that have gone our way."
Calabro will serve as play-by-play voice; his color commentator has not yet been determined.
In addition to his 21 years with the Sonics, where he won several regional Emmy Awards, he has also been a contributor on NBA broadcasts for TNT, TBS and ESPN Radio.
"I was absolutely shocked when things developed the way they did with the Sonics, but you have to get over those and you have to move on from a professional standpoint," Calabro said. "I'll cry, then I'll wash my hair and get out of the bed and I'm good to go."
Calabro told Seattle P-I columnist Jim Moore in a July 9 article that the team formerly known as the Sonics, now reportedly called the Oklahoma City Thunder, offered him a job in their new home.
He said the basketball team offered "top, top dollar," but Calabro is too happy in the Pacific Northwest.
Now he doesn't have to look anywhere elsewhere.
Calabro's son, Joe, 12, got the five-time "Sportscaster of the Year" interested in soccer, and the father and son have watched MLS games along with a healthy schedule of European games over the past year. Though he has not broadcast soccer before, Calabro's résumé features a wide range of sports including minor league hockey in Indianapolis and college football and basketball in several markets.
The Sounders FC will launch its inaugural season in March, 2009. Hollywood producer Joe Roth is the majority owner. Other owners include Hanauer and comedian Drew Carey.
The team has already sold more than 16,000 season tickets.
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Comments
Fantastic that he will be calling the soccer games. I am stoked for some Sounders FC action!!!