Kevin Calabro is considered to be one of the top NBA play-by-play announcers.
But he had been without a team to call his own since the Seattle SuperSonics relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008 to become the Thunder.
Last week, Calabro was hired by the Portland Trail Blazers -- one of the Sonics' biggest rivals just 2 hours, 50 minutes south of Seattle -- to be their play-by-play broadcaster on television.
One of the main factors for Calabro to return to local broadcasting was travel.
Calabro, 60, was the lead voice for ESPN Radio's national NBA broadcasts, while also calling games for TNT, TBS, NBA TV and the Pac-12 Network. That meant working about 65 games annually away from his Seattle area home.
"You add that all up, that's a lot of trips to the airport and a lot of wear and tear on your body,'' Calabro told the Seattle Times. "I don't care what age you are, that wears you down.''
Calabro said he is excited to be part of a NBA team again after almost a decade without one to call his own.
"The opportunity to get hunkered down into a community again, where you can actually walk on a bridge across the river to a home game, that really intrigues me,'' Calabro said. "That sense where you can actually do 41 home games, drive there at 4 o'clock in the afternoon for a 7 o'clock game. You can do game prep in the morning and not have to leave town, sleep in your own bed.''
The Blazers' games on television are aired on Comcast SportsNet Northwest.
He's gone
Sometimes, text messages can cost a person his or her job.
Johnny Manziel's spokesman said Monday that an attorney who accidentally sent The Associated Press a text message with details related to the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback's domestic violence case has resigned from the defense team.
On Monday, Denise Michaels confirmed her earlier tweet that Bob Hinton had withdrawn from the case, which is being led by El Paso attorney Jim Darnell.
The AP reported last week that Hinton's inadvertent text indicated he had doubts about Manziel's ability to stay clean and that he was given a receipt that allegedly shows Manziel may have spent more than $1,000 at a drug paraphernalia store the day following a hit-and-run crash. The text was sent Wednesday after the AP sought comment via text about the crash.
Manziel, 23, faces a misdemeanor assault chart on allegations of hitting and threatening former girlfriend Colleen Crowley in January.
He said it
From Brad Dickson of the Omaha World-Herald:
• "Taxes dropping in Nebraska are much rarer than professional sports championships in Cleveland."
• "College World Series concession stands feature foot-long taquitos. These things are so large, a confused emerald ash borer was found inside. 'You mean this isn't a tree?' "
• "The 2016 CWS featured the first video review in College World Series history. This is a new plan to bring the worst of college football and the NFL to the CWS."
• "Attendance is down at the College World Series. I realized this after noticing there were only 189 people ahead of me at a TD Ameritrade Park urinal."
• "LSU has banned opponents' marching bands from performing at halftime next season for safety purposes. That's certainly warranted. If I had a nickel for every oboe accident that occurs each year."
SPORTS QUIZ
How many NBA championships have the Portland Trail Blazers won?
ANSWER
One. The Bill Walton-led Blazers won their only championship in 1977, defeating the Philadelphia 76ers in six games.
Sports on 06/28/2016