Breaking News: Brian Davis and Grant Long Named Thunder Play-By-Play and Colour TV Commentators

Grant Long Rocking the Shades

Via The Sports Animal Text Alerts:

Brian Davis and Grant Long have been named play-by-play and colour commentators for the TV broadcasts of the Thunder.

It says to tune into the Sports Animal, but they're talking about the Rider Cup (ugh.)

I've done a quick search, and it says that both are former basketball players.


Brian Davis was a member of the 1991 and 1992 back to back Duke national championship teams. He was selected 48th overall in the 1992 NBA Draft. For one season, he went to Europe to play with Gheorghe Muresan on Elan Vernais Pau-Orthez. The next season, he had an average season with the Timberwolves before dropping out of basketball altogether. He co-owns a company developing a upscale community in Durham, North Carolina called "West Village". The other owners are none other than Christian Laettner and some Duke graduate named Tom Niemann, and the company is called "Blue Devil Ventures". They have donated 2 millions to Dukes basketball program (as if they needed it) and have reportedly tried to buy the Memphis Grizzlies and D.C. United. Why he would want to start doing Thunder play-by-play is anyones guess. He seems like a Duke guy more than anything.

Grant Long is a former journeyman Power Forward for the Heat, Hawks, Pistons, Grizzlies, and Celtics who was known for his defense and rebounding. Now that I think about it, I sort of remember him....but not really. What would make him come to Oklahoma City to do broadcasts?

Still, from the look of that photo, he has some Slammin' shades.

Brian Grant was just on the Sports Animal.

Basically, he was with FSN in the Pacific Northwest. He's also done some Pac 10 basketball and football, along with some Chicago Fire play-by-play. He says he's really excited to be here, and excited about how much fun he'll have. Grant Long got on the phone, and professed that he grew up in a small town, so he's not worried about moving from a big city to Oklahoma City.

Well, I can't say that I'm not a little disappointed. I'm sure these guys are great announcers, but I would've preferred if we could've had someone local who's been doing if for years, like a Bob Barry Sr. and Al Eschbach combination. It will take some getting used to, but hopefully these guys will prove to be great announcers. And please, please don't let them be massive homers. Un-biased commentary is golden (shoutout to Bob Fitzgerald and Jim Barnett, Warriors announcers).

Apparently, earlier everybody thought that Brent Price was getting the job. That would have been extremely cool, especially since Mark Price (his brother) was my favourite basketball player pre-Adonal Foyle.

Reguardless, a big welcome to Brian Davis and Grant Long!

EDIT: This is the WRONG Brian Davis. He is actually an old white guy who used to fill in on SuperSonics broadcasts. Thanks to Joe at thunderguru.com for the correction.

Judgement Day is Upon Us!

Today at 5 PM, the NBA OKC name will be announced!

Just wanted to give everyone a run down of the places to check:

1. The actual unveiling will be at Leadership Square (211 N.Robinson) in Oklahoma City. It says that the unveiling will be at 5PM, but it doesn't say when you really should be there. It's also your first opportunity to purchase team gear. I'll be there, and I should (hopefully) be holding up a "SIGN ADONAL FOYLE" sign, and a Sonics jersey (not in protest). Why? Because Adonal Foyle is the greatest player of all time, why else? Stop by and say hi if you want.

I'll be on the phone with Okluschen during the unveiling (which will probably be the first place that will show the logo), and he'll put it up on the blog ASAP.

2. The Team's Official Website should have the logo up at 5PM, but the site will most likely be highly trafficed by not only OKC fans, but interested fans nationwide. Also, the team might be slow to update the site, since they want the "official" unveiling to be first. If you're still thinking of checking it, the site is fully Flash oriented (not HTML), so it takes longer to load. Still, it would be one of the places to check.

3. Your Local News. 4,5, and 9 all have newscasts at 5, and will most likely have reporters on the scene. Hurricane Gustav is gone now, but KOCO still might have a whole lot of reporters in New Orleans, along with their news chopper. So I'd probably recommend going with 4 or 9. 4 might be a better choice because they went with 2 sports stories over Hurricane Gustav on Saturday. Not nessessarily a good thing, but it does mean you might get the logo information faster.


4. WWLS the Sports Animal will probably have the info, but it will really only be useful for the name, and not the logo. You can't really see anything on the radio.

5. The Oklahoma City NBA Sports Blog....to the Max!!!! It's a great place, and we'll have all info up as soon as possible. Semi-live blog coverage.

Lastly, we will have our new blog name announced tomorrow (Thursday), and a new design hopefully in place by Friday or so. Stay tuned for more developments, and lets hope that they don't copy off of the Golden State Warriors' Mascot!

WWLS, Flagship Station of the City

At 5PM today, Clay Bennett announced on the Total Dominance Hour that WWLS the Sports Animal would be the new flagship station of the Oklahoma City. This is good news, seeing as how WWLS is the primary sports station in the area. Previously, the Hornets used NewsRadio 1000 KTOK in 2005-2006, and they used 94.7 THE BUZZ in 2006-2007. It's nice to see it on a station that's actually relevant to what it's presenting. I mean, I bet a bunch of people were angry when after a Green Day song finished, a Hornets games came on. Or, heck, even talk show radio fans.

I was psyched because I figured it would be word on the team's name, but I suppose this is important information as well. No word on who will be the radio or TV announcers, though. (Bob Barry Sr., please?)

UPDATE:
Darnell Mayberry of the NewsOK NBA in OKC Blog sponsored by John Holt Chevrolet has some more in depth details about the merger, as well as the announcement that Matt Pinto will probably continue to his 2nd year of play by playing with the team. This, however, still leaves the question of the TV Announcer....

Ranking the Top OKC Sports Media Members, The Top 2

OK, the day is finally here. You may have guessed by now who the top two are but I garunteee some of you will be suprised by the order that they're in. Before we get to our top two though, lets take a look at some of the guys (and girls) that didn't quite make the cut.



In no particular order, I considered:

Jenni Carlson, KEBC (whatever that is) radio host and Oklahoman columnist: Hey, I know Jenni, I like Jenni, couldn't make the cut though.

Curtis Fitzpatrick, WWLS morning radio co-host, KOCO sports anchor, Sports Night Oklahoma co-host: Curtis was right on the cusp, but he's never been the leading man on anything. Number 3 guy at KOCO, too. Still, a bright future and a young talent.


Bob Barry Sr., Voice of the Oklahoma Sooners and KFOR sports anchor: Could have made a past list but not now. Way past his prime. Also, doesn't really have an avenue for expressing his opinion.

Doug Gottlieb, ESPN radio host and television NCAAB corespondant: Thought about putting him in the running, but way too national for this list.

Kirk Humphries, WWLS host and golf corespondant: Also close, but golf is his specialty and I didn't really want any specialty guys on this list.

James Hale, KOKC radio host and OU insider: Again another specialist. Never really been a fan. I think he says "uhhh" every six seconds.


Robert Allen, WWLS corespondant, OSU insider, and voice of the Yard Dawgs and COX's coverage of Oklahoma High School Football: Yet another specialist. I like him, but he can't be put into the top 10, he's a role player.

Chris Callahan, KOCO sports anchor: He was quality, but he left, so I guess it doesn't count.

Now, with no more further delay, the top 2...





2) Al Eschbach, WWLS radio host: Unlike everyone else on the list, Al does just one thing. However, he does that one thing to perfection. Really, it can be argued that Al is the most important figure in Oklahoma sports media history. One of the first of his kind, a pioneer into the genre of sports talk and he is one of the reasons it became such a huge success, not just regionally, but nationally as well. Anyone who knows sports talk knows about Al. His trademark hat and candid personality helped build a legend. He may have the best overall sports knowledge in the state. Argues his point very well. He was even featured on a SportsCenter special about sports talk radio. There was one other Okie on that feature though...
Knowledge: Past 5, Present 5
Charimsa: 9
Opinion: 10
Resources: 8
Overall Score: 37/40

1) Jim Traber, WWLS radio host and co-host of FOX25's The Locker Room: OK, I have to clarify, I personally don't think he's the best in the city. However, given the criteria I outlined for choosing the best, it was hard to argue. Who's more opinionated, has a more firey personality, or has more resources than Jim Traber? As a former major leaguer, he has a strangle hold on qulaity interviews and "reliable sources" in the city. Traber is often trashed and critisized by callers but he unarguably keeps them listening. His arguments are a unique blend of knowledge and intimidation. It should also be noted that Jim always feels that he has the moral high ground on his callers. However, getting past the superiority complex, Jim Traber just may be the most complete sports media guy there is, even if he isn't winning any popularity contests anytime soon.
Knowledge: Past 4, Present 5
Charisma: 10
Opinion: 10
Resources: 10
Overall Score: 39/40

Ranking the Top OKC Sports Media Members, 3-6

OK, it's day 2 of our series that counts down to the top sports personality in print or on the air waves in OKC. Without further delay, lets continue the countdown...


6) Toby Rowland, KREF Morning Radio Host and KWTV Sports Anchor: OK, I'll be the first to admit that the six spot may be a tad lofty for Toby, especially considereing that he tops sports directors BBJ and Mark Rodgers even though he himslef his just a #2 guy. However, no doubt that the heir apparent to Dean Blevins and News 9 is on a come up in the OKC sports scene. He's young and full of all sorts of energy on top of a very complete knowledge of the current sporting world. He's a personal favorite, which may have had some influence on his position. Again though, he's an up and coming media star.
Knowledge: Past 3, Present 5
Charisma: 10
Opinion: 8
Resources: 5
Overall Score: 31/40


5) Mike Steely, WWLS Morning Radio Host and co-Host of Fox25's The Locker Room: In all honesty, his morning radio show is as close to perfection as it gets. Though the phony celebrity callers and philosophical debates on Mother's Day take center stage, Steely's vast knowledge of sports history is also top notch. Also co-hosts The Locker Room with Jim Traber. The two complement each other well, as Jim Traber takes himself very seriously and Steely takes nothing seriosly, to create by far the most successful program put together by Fox25.
Knowledge: Past 5, Present 4
Charisma: 10
Opinion: 7
Resources: 6
Overall Score: 32/40


4) Dean Blevins, WWLS Corespondant, KWTV Sports Director, and co-Host of The Sunday Night Sports Blitz: Dean is perhaps the greatest professional in the business, at least in the city. News 9 has had the best nightly sports broadcast among all the major stations. This is partly due to funding, but partly due to the immense skill of Blevins. The personality could use some color, but Dean alsways gets the best interviews and usually breaks the story before anyone else.
Knowledge: Past 5, Present 5
Charisma: 6
Opinion: 7
Resources: 10
Overall Score: 33/40


3) Berry Trammel, WWLS Radio Host and Oklahoman Chief Sports Columnist: For years, people have awoken to Trammel's words on the front page of the sports section. Trammel is at that age where he's old enough to have an enourmous knowledge of sports history but not too old to the point where he's pushing retirement and near senility. His ideas are often challanged by Traber and Eschbach on the Dominance Hour, but he always defends them (even if it isn't that well) and isn't afraid to step outside of popular opinion.
Knowledge: Past 5, Present 4
Charisma: 7
Opinion: 9
Resources: 9
Overall Score: 34/40

OK, tomorrow, the top 2 are revealed as well as a look at those who couldn't quite make the cut. Try not to lose too much sleep in anticipation.

Ranking the Top OKC Sports Media Members, 7-10

While thinking of what to write on our young yet promising blog, inspiration struck me. People love rankings. People also (at least here in Oklahoma) enjoy following their favorite sports media member as much as they do they're favorite sports team. So I thought why not further draw from our very regionally focused fan base and create a ranking of the top sports personalities in city limits?!?!

I derived the rankings not from my own presonal opinion (well, not directly at least) but instead I developed an objective set of criteria thet each is to be judged upon. The criteria was a verstatile and complete knowledge of not just one sport, but all major sporting avenues, charismatic appearances on radio, television, or in his or her writings, being starkly opinionated (controversial or not), and access to solid resources (players, coaches, general managers, you know, poeple that know stuff). Media members got a score (out of 10) for each category (knowledge, charisma, opinion, resources). The knowledge score was derived from two parts. These were present knowledge (knowledge of the sporting world since 2000) and past knowldge (knowledge of the sporting world before the year 2000). Candidates got a maximum of 5 points for each one of these sub-categories and these were added together to get the larger overall knowledge score.

So, without delay, here is the bottom of the top 10:


10) Myron Patton, KREF radio host and FOX25 sports director: It's hard for Myron to be really be competitive being the highlight talent for both the last place sports radio and news provider. He left the state awhile to be an actual news anchor in Louisiana, but came back to both Oklahoma and the sports scene.
Knowledge: Past 3, Present 5
Charisma: 9
Opinion: 6
Resources: 4
Overall Score: 27/40





9) Mark Rodgers, WWLS radio host and KOCO sports director: Some might think this is kind of low for Mark, but honestly, I've never been a fan. I don't have a problem with him or anything, I just think he's all the Jim Traber bark with none of the Jim Traber bite. Though I think that KOCO sports coverage is generally better than say KFORs, I think ninth is about right for him. Radio show is average, no more no less.
Knowledge: Past 3, Present 4
Charisma: 9
Opinion: 8
Resources: 5
Overall Score: 29/40




T-7) Bob Barry Jr., WWLS radio host and KFOR sports director: I really enjoy BBJ, personally. He's bright, experienced, and makes me laugh (whether or not it's intentional). I enjoy his radio a lot more than the nightly news though. Senior was also in consideration for the list, but wasn't able to make the cut, sadly.
Knowledge: Past 4, Present 4
Charisma: 8
Opinion: 8
Resources: 6
Overall Score: 30/40






T-7) John Rohde, JOX radio host and Oklahoman writer: The number 2 guy at the Oklahoman. Known for out of the box ideas and sports projects/ranikings/stories for the Oklahoman. I enjoy him, not a favorite, but usually an interesting article.
Knowledge: Past 3, Present 5
Charisma: 8
Opinion: 7
Resources: 7
Overall Score: 30/40

Come back Tuesday for 3-6 on the list and Wednesday for the revealing of the top 2!