Yankees voice John Sterling holds memorable place in Celtics history

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Yankees voice John Sterling holds memorable place in Celtics history originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

John Sterling will forever be known as the voice of the Yankees, his Upper East Side baritone the soundtrack to five World Series championships, his home run calls (“All rise!”) and signature celebration (“The Yankees win! Thuuuhhh Yankees! Win!”) as iconic as Coney Island.

Here’s what Boston fans might be surprised to hear: He holds an important place in Celtics history, too.

Fire up the highlights of Larry Bird’s seminal 60-point game vs. the Atlanta Hawks in 1985, and that’s Sterling, in his role as Atlanta’s play-by-play man throughout most of the Dominique Wilkins era, on the mic.

His calls are as memorable as Bird’s performance itself, so much so that it’s hard to believe it was the work of an opposing play-by-play man. He captured the historic nature of the outburst in increasingly incredulous tones.

“I think it’s the greatest shooting exhibition I’ve ever seen!” he marvels late in the broadcast. “Larry Bird! What more can you say? Larry Bird! Larry Bird!”

I asked Sterling about it a few years ago, and he lit up that people were rediscovering the game on ESPN Classic, not to mention YouTube. His part in that magical moment is worth revisiting with Monday’s news that the 85-year-old has decided to retire after 35 years in the New York radio booth and 64 in broadcasting.

“Bird went crazy,” he said. “You know what I remember the most? These were the good old days, when you broadcast right next to the bench. You were so into the game. You could hear everything going on – the good stuff, the bad stuff, the arguments, everything.

“Every great shot Bird hit, our bench went nuts. They went absolutely nuts. And I went nuts. It was one of those things, I’ve played basketball and tennis all my life, and I know what happens when you get quote-unquote ‘in the zone.’ Well, Larry Bird was in this phenomenal zone. He’s falling into our bench. He’s falling into our broadcasting table. That’s really what I remember. It was a fabulous experience. I was so happy to be a part of it.”

The day didn’t start that way….

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/yankees-voice-john-sterling-holds-163914707.html

Author : NBC Sports Boston

Publish date : 2024-04-16 16:39:14

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