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OT - Bill Walton

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I specifically watch late night Pac games just to get my dose of Walton. If not for Walton I think ratings on those games would slightly decrease. Its entertainment in its finest form
 
MexicoHusky

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I both like Walton and dislike Walton. I think he's a pretty funny guy. But he's super aloof. Also, his partiality for Arizona is a little annoying....but I get that part. His son went there.

The part that bothers me is his commentary sometimes seems political. He has an affinity for elites and elite athletes. For example, he doesn't seem to like boxing out. He prefers everyone to just play the ball. Which on paper sounds really nice, but I always get the impression that he didn't care for physical play as a player. More to the point, I don't think he cared to be boxed out. In Walton's mind, boxing out and similar techniques are things lesser athletes do. A true athlete (like himself) jumps straight up. Goes for the ball. Doesn't play a man. Anyone who needs to box out or play a man when rebounding is beneath him.

I get a "Master Race" vibe from Walton.
 
August_West

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NDakotaHusky said:
I both like Walton and dislike Walton. I think he's a pretty funny guy. But he's super aloof. Also, his partiality for Arizona is a little annoying....but I get that part. His son went there.

The part that bothers me is his commentary sometimes seems political. He has an affinity for elites and elite athletes. For example, he doesn't seem to like boxing out. He prefers everyone to just play the ball. Which on paper sounds really nice, but I always get the impression that he didn't care for physical play as a player. More to the point, I don't think he cared to be boxed out. In Walton's mind, boxing out and similar techniques are things lesser athletes do. A true athlete (like himself) jumps straight up. Goes for the ball. Doesn't play a man. Anyone who needs to box out or play a man when rebounding is beneath him.

I get a "Master Race" vibe from Walton.
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Nah, no master race thing. its more like "tap your game into the cosmic energy of the universe and let it flow to the heights of creative improvisation rather than mundane repetition"

which is ironic, becuase Bill Walton was one of the most fundamentally sound post players to ever play the game.
 
StoweD210

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tcf15 said:
Gets me every time.
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There's no longer version of that clip? Now I'll never know if the other announcer was ever around a live volcano. Or if he just ignored it and said something like "Utah will be facing the winner of Oregon and Cal tomorrow."
 
kobe

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EBonz30 said:
Bill Walton should be banned from television.

He use to do NBA on NBC back in the 90's and wasn't that bad.

He seems to get worse and worse every year.

At this point I mute the TV when I watch games done by him, he is a clown and is all over the place, insanity.

I hope ESPN doesn't pay him, bizarre.
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If you drop acid he makes a lot more sense....I've heard from a friend of course.
 
Jimdish255

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Bill Walton did the absolute most glowing evaluation of our program and the win in our NC Game on the post-game of the Westwood One Radio broadcast a few years ago. Wish I had that clip to put on a loop. Wasn't even drunk.
 
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jleves said:
Not the first time I've posted about him but I have to imagine all the second tier ESPN announcers pile into a room on Sunday and draw straws for who has to do a game with Walton.

So bizarre, so disruptive to the game, so tough on the other guy.

I have no idea why ESPN keeps him on staff.
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Walton is like Vitale if Vitale didn't make me want to willingly get curb stomped. He's fun and the games he's calling are generally pretty meaningless, there's a reason he was a higher profile NBA color guy before he decided he didn't want to travel as much due to health reasons.
 
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August_West said:
In this thread Ive learned who Id throw down and rage with and who I'd point to the nearest surgery center for stick in the butt removal.

Bill has a comment for the latter group:

"Sorry for partying, not sorry though" - Bill Walton.

The world is a lot more colorful place with Bill Walton in it. The only thing I can even stomach about ESPN these days is the fact that they let this guy off the leash.
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Thank you. Bill is one of the few guys that aren't entirely cookie cutter and bleached of any personality on ESPN's payroll. He occupies a sweet spot between having the ESPN platform and not being force-fed talking points by his producers, like most of his colleagues are.
 
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August_West said:
Nah, no master race thing. its more like "tap your game into the cosmic energy of the universe and let it flow to the heights of creative improvisation rather than mundane repetition"

which is ironic, becuase Bill Walton was one of the most fundamentally sound post players to ever play the game.
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He probably sees himself (correctly) as someone who had amazing fundamentals (but what great player of his era didn't) but also a few truly unique skills that were at his point, and maybe even now, unmatched.
 
Dogbreath2U

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PcketknfNiels said:
He probably sees himself (correctly) as someone who had amazing fundamentals (but what great player of his era didn't) but also a few truly unique skills that were at his point, and maybe even now, unmatched.
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When he was healthy, he was the best player in the NBA for a short period of time, an awesome talent. I feel like we all missed something really special in what Bill Walton could have done if his feet held up.

He's not, however, at that level as a color commentator, but as was said before, he can be entertaining when watching some game you really don't care much about. For me, he gets a little extra leeway because he was a rare talent. Anyone who saw the game against what was then Memphis State saw one of the great performances in the Final Four. He was 21-22 from the field in that game, I believe.
 
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Dogbreath2U said:
When he was healthy, he was the best player in the NBA for a short period of time, an awesome talent. I feel like we all missed something really special in what Bill Walton could have done if his feet held up.

He's not, however, at that level as a color commentator, but as was said before, he can be entertaining when watching some game you really don't care much about. For me, he gets a little extra leeway because he was a rare talent. Anyone who saw the game against what was then Memphis State saw one of the great performances in the Final Four. He was 21-22 from the field in that game, I believe.
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Well I don't think anyone doesn't know that he was at 1 time arguably the best player in the world. If anybody in here is commenting on him without knowing that then that opinion is irrelevant. As far as his commentating, I wouldn't want him calling a final 4 game or high profile NBA game, but being a funny out of his mind storyteller for pretty much any regular season college game is fine by me. Part of the appeal of college basketball is that it's not professional and sports are meant to be fun to watch, I think he exemplifies that better than anyone else ESPN has. I'd much rather listen to him than listen to Vitale sniff K or Pitino's jock, or even over listening to Bilas rail against NCAA sanctions or his heavy handed remarks about how he feels student athletes should be paid. I'm not watching a college basketball game to hear about inside baseball NCAA politics for 2 hours.
 
Edward Sargent

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jleves said:
Not the first time I've posted about him but I have to imagine all the second tier ESPN announcers pile into a room on Sunday and draw straws for who has to do a game with Walton.

So bizarre, so disruptive to the game, so tough on the other guy.

I have no idea why ESPN keeps him on staff.
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For the same reason Donald Trump might be President he says people like
 
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