Walton fires up Zag fans
So.
Bill Walton.
Sheesh, we printed a tiny piece quoting Walton with Tuesday’s “Zags Tracker,” and the Gonzaga faithful nearly came unglued.
I couldn’t have gotten more reaction if I’d spent a couple thousand words reviewing the Ted Bundy Tapes that are airing on Netflix.
Just one little item on Walton — in which he basically said Gonzaga got screwed out of a national championship — and Zag fans have their hair on fire.
Calm down, everybody.
Big Bill is living in a world of his own, he has a lot of fun in it, and every once in a while, he’s going to wander into your life.
It’s OK.
Just enjoy the goofiness, go along with it and the Earth will keep turning.
Besides, Walton DOES know basketball.
THE THING about Bill is that you have to pick the nuggets of wisdom out of all the nonsense.
Try to ignore his tours with Spike, and all the references to Woody Guthrie and “Roll On, Columbia” whenever Walton comes back to the Northwest — which he genuinely loves, by the way.
There’s some real knowledge mixed in with all the stories and the outrigger ride in Hawaii.
It’s just…
Well, a barrage of emails came in the day after Walton was quoted on Tuesday.
I’m going to pick one that seems representative.
This is from Bob Kleypas and his wife, Patsy Cameron (no relation)…
“We do agree with your statement about Walton being in GU’s corner on the title game, as we heard the same from him during the San Diego game.
“However, we find him (Walton) the most horribly distracting commentator we have ever heard.
“He is a big, blustering buffoon talking about himself or some stupid non-related ‘story’ while the game goes on, and we get no take on what is happening on the floor.
“When he does comment on the players, it is obvious that he is reading from a text fed to him, and he actually has little history with or knowledge of the Zags or the WCC.
“If you have any influence with anybody who could get him off the broadcast, we beg you to use it to get any of the many well-qualified ESPN commentators.”
SORRY, I have no clout with ESPN.
So that’s out.
And honestly, I like Walton’s stream-of-unconsciousness babble on an occasional basis — perhaps because some announcers take the game far too seriously.
Have a few laughs and grab Bill’s knowledge when he offers it between tales of the ocean and John Wooden’s pyramid for success.
I think Walton falls into the same category as the late Cubs broadcaster Harry Caray — lots of hilarious and meaningless prattle in between a few genuine bits of knowledge.
Caray acted crazy (well, most likely drunk) and made some outrageously awful calls — I heard him do a game on radio and scream: “Did you see THAT?”
No, Harry. we didn’t. And it was the end of an inning, so we never learned what happened.
WITH THE Cubs, however, Harry’s partner was savvy Steve Stone, a former Cy Young winner who knew the game from every angle, and picked all the right times to fill in some blanks.
Walton generally has a decent straight man, too.
I’ll agree with Kleypas and Cameron that having Walton overwhelm us on every Zags game might be too much.
Once in a while, though?
Those kids in The Kennel loved it.
Yeah, he’s going to talk about Jerry Garcia, Maui Jim (the sunglasses company) and compare Corey Kispert to former NBA star Dan Majerle.
Yo…
“Roll on, Columbia.”
You know, Kispert DOES look and play a little bit like Majerle.
But let’s keep it to a couple Zags games per season, Bill.
Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns for The Press appear on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He also contributes the “Zags Tracker” package on Gonzaga basketball each Tuesday.
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Twitter: @BrandNewDayCDA
Email: scameron@cdapress.com