Monday, March 23, 2009

Raftery With The Smooch


After what most people are billing as an uneventful first four days of the NCAA Tournament, I would tend to disagree with them. Just because there weren't a lot of huge upsets doesn't mean it wasn't exciting. There were many close calls with Memphis and even Pitt in the first round. I like to see the sleepers win a game here and there, but I'm glad to see all big names in the Sweet 16. The fact that we are blessed with these kinds of match-ups this weekend is awesome.

-Pitt v. Xavier
-Villanova v. Duke
-UNC v. Gonzaga
-Syracuse v. Oklahoma
-Memphis v. Mizzou
-UConn v. Purdue
-Mich St. v. Kansas
-Louisville v. Arizona

Sure I would've liked it if West Virginia, Marquette and Wake were there for bracket benefits, but no biggie.

The best part of the tournament, as always, was Bill Raftery.

-To the big fella
-The little guy
-With the kiss
-Onions, double order
-Little lingerie on the deck

It's all gold but what got me loving him to death was sometime back in high school when someone hit a bank shot on the first play of the game and he goes with, "A little smooch early."

My favorite of all time was in college when a dude banked a shot but it circled around the rim, hit the board again and fell in. Raf goes with "Oh with the double smoocharoo!"

This past weekend near the end of the Pitt/Ok State game a Pitt player went to the bench and an assistant coach leaned over and kissed him on the top of the head. There was a bit of a pause in Verne's commentary before Raf comes in with the emphatic "The Kissss!" Unbelievable.

Here is a clip of Ian Eagle talking about the origin of Raf's "Onions!" call. Audio Clip

And finally a little enjoyment from Raf himself calling a Gonzaga v. OK State game from a few years ago.

1 comment:

Rob Dauster said...

Gus Johnson and Bill Raftery. I effin LOVE IT. Seriously though, why are these two not teamed up more often?