Al McCoy Appreciation Thread

[Superbone]

Al McCoy is a legend in broadcasting.

From AZCentral:

McCoy is in his 45th year of calling Suns games, the longest play-by-play tenure in NBA history. Throughout his stay, he has become synonymous not only with the Suns, but with Arizona sports.

Not only is he a legend with incredible stamina, he's a genuinely nice guy. Somebody jumped on my son's head and banged his face into the floor and he lost a couple teeth a number of years ago playing youth basketball. Somehow a friend of a friend got him a message and he sent a really nice email to my son.

I'm now a middle aged dude and I grew up listening to Al on radio and TV calling Suns games ever since I was a young boy. He is the best! Well deserved, Al. I've listened to you for so long I feel that I am on a first name basis with you. Congratulations, Al! You deserve the Ring of Honor just as much as any other person up there! Enjoy your night!

[O_Gardino]

Al Mcoy is the reason my wife is a basketball fan. For reals. She didn't care about the sport (or any sports) until she heard him on the simulcast. The way he tells the story of the game really pulled her in and captured her imagination. Because of Al, I can share my love of the Suns with my wife.

[The Bobster]

Al's always been a bit of a homer, but he's our homer - as many of us here grew up listening to him on the radio or watching him on tv.

[LazarusLong]

I first heard Al when he was doing Phoenix Giants games on the radio in the mid-60s. The Giants were the TripleA affiliate to the San Francisco Giants, and had just moved back from Tacoma to play in what then was the relatively new Municipal Stadium (near the Phoenix Zoo). Al also had a show on the old KRUX “Top 40” AM radio station.

When the Suns franchise started, Bob Vaché was the team’s broadcaster. He was the top TV sports broadcaster in the city, working for Ch. 12. Early the second season Vaché was killed in a car accident, and Hot Rod Hundley, who had been the color commentator, became the lead man. Red Kerr, the Suns’ first coach, was replaced by Jerry Colangelo during the second year, and Red joined Hundley to broadcast games.

The next year, Joe McConnell became the Suns broadcaster. He logged two solid years with the Suns, but left to do more sports in the Midwest: pro football, pro baseball and college football.

Al took over the Suns’ fifth season, when the team was going through changes. Connie Hawkins’ play started falling off, Cotton Fitzsimmons had left the team in a power struggle with Colangelo, and Jerry then fired Cotton’s successor, Butch Van Breda Kolff, seven games into the new season. Al, though, proved to be a steadying influence.

[The Bobster]

There was incredible stability here in the 70's with Colangelo, McCoy, Proski, MacLeod, Bianchi and Van Arsdale.

We had a model franchise from the mid-70's to the mid-80's, when things turned to shit for a couple of years, but they bounced back. I wish I had enough optimism to feel the same way about the current regime.

[UglyTruth]

Very impressive.

Crazy that he's been doing it for 45 years. I wonder how much these play by play guys make in terms of salary.

[Mori Chu]

Al McCoy is amazing and one of a kind. When I was a teen I'd listen to Suns games on the radio because they weren't broadcast in Tucson (why??). Al made me feel like I was there at the game and made every broadcast exciting, even during the Jason Kidd "malaise" years. He had so many catch-phrases and turns of phrase that somehow were extremely sweet and endearing despite being the slightest bit cheesy. The fact that some of his successors tried to mimic this aspect with much worse results shows how hard it is to get this right.

I think a lot of us have a story like the following: We'd see a Suns game airing on TV, turn it on to find that Leander or whoever was doing the TV commentary, and we'd mute our TV and turn on the radio so we could hear Al call the game as we watched it on the screen. He was that good. You'd go out of your way to hear this guy call a game.

A Suns legend and icon. There will never be another one like Al McCoy. "SHAZAM!!"

[pickle]

Al was the Suns to me for many years. I identify with him far more than I do with any other of those ring of honor inductees.

[The Bobster]

Al was the Suns to me for many years. I identify with him far more than I do with any other of those ring of honor inductees.

I would go -

1. Colangelo
2. McCoy
3. Van Arsdale
4. Fitzsimmons

I think the natural inclination is to associate the public voices of the team first in your mind. I listened to countless "Talk to the Suns" with Jerry Colangelo on KTAR as well as "Talk to the Coach" with John MacLeod. McCoy, Van Arsdale and Fitzsimmons have the advantage of being on countless Suns' television and radio broadcasts.

[pickle]

For sure. When I first arrived in AZ I barely spoke a lick of English. Those were not pleasant times that I care to relive in any great detail. Suffice it to say that watching the Suns and listening to them on the radio once I started picking up English were the few minor joys of life then. Our TV was second hand and crappy and we'd often turn off the sound and listen to the radio.

Fond memories of Al's broadcast.

[Indy]

I was incredibly honored to be at the ceremony, sharing it with my brother and my mom. We all started watching Suns basketball together in 88 religiously. It was one of the few things we all shared. Al is synonymous with Phoenix Suns basketball for us, despite not getting to hear him every game for quite a long time now. (Ever since DVRs became so easy to use, I rarely watch live games [unless I was at the games the last 10 years or so], so the "turn down the TV and turn up the radio" doesn't work anymore... )

The ceremony was great (with some very interesting/strange moments), and it was well worth the red-eye flight, $300/ticket, and even the two days away from my immediately family now in Michigan.

Thank you Al for everything you have done to make my passion for Phoenix Suns basketball burn so brightly.

[Mori Chu]

For sure. When I first arrived in AZ I barely spoke a lick of English. Those were not pleasant times that I care to relive in any great detail. Suffice it to say that watching the Suns and listening to them on the radio once I started picking up English were the few minor joys of life then. Our TV was second hand and crappy and we'd often turn off the sound and listen to the radio.

Fond memories of Al's broadcast.

BTW Pickle, to me your English writing seems to be 100% fluent, and I doubt anyone reading your posts can tell that you picked up English as a non-native speaker. You've done an excellent job improving over the years. Shazam!

[Indy]

For sure. When I first arrived in AZ I barely spoke a lick of English. Those were not pleasant times that I care to relive in any great detail. Suffice it to say that watching the Suns and listening to them on the radio once I started picking up English were the few minor joys of life then. Our TV was second hand and crappy and we'd often turn off the sound and listen to the radio.

Fond memories of Al's broadcast.

BTW Pickle, to me your English writing seems to be 100% fluent, and I doubt anyone reading your posts can tell that you picked up English as a non-native speaker. You've done an excellent job improving over the years. Shazam!

Totally agreed. You write better than many applicants I see to my open positions (including native speakers).

[pickle]

Thanks guys, I appreciate that. I moved to the states early enough that it was just painful but not impossible. Plus I have a bit of a perfectionist personality so I couldn't allow myself to make mistakes, which also meant that I didn't really open my mouth to talk to anyone for nearly a year and a half, but that was a long long time ago. The important thing is, I found the Suns. Then later on I found this site.

[Phoenix219]

Saw this and got scared shitless that something had happened to him or he retired or something. Nope, just a good ole appreciation thread. So relieved.

[O_Gardino]

Saw this and got scared s*** that something had happened to him or he retired or something. Nope, just a good ole appreciation thread. So relieved.

He was inducted into the ring of honor.

[Indy]

Nice fluff piece on Al.

http://www.newsweek.com/al-mccoy-phoeni ... ter-580924

"AL MCCOY, VOICE OF THE PHOENIX SUNS SINCE 1972, IS NBA'S LONGEST-TENURED BROADCASTER"

Longtime residents of Phoenix are innately aware of the city’s native charms. The palette of colors in the sky as the sun sets behind the silhouette of the Estrella Mountains. The smoky aroma of mesquite as a cowboy-sized steak sizzles on an outdoor grill. The mellifluous voice and familiar phrasings of Phoenix Suns play-by-play announcer Al McCoy.

Zing go the strings! McCoy, 83, is seated courtside half an hour before tipoff, as has long been his custom. He has been the voice of the Suns on KTAR radio for 45 years. That is more than half his life and longer than any of the Suns players or the team’s coach, Earl Watson, have been alive. Some stations boast that they play “the greatest hits of the Seventies, Eighties, Nineties and Two Thousands.” KTAR and the Suns just plays Al McCoy. It’s the same difference.

...

[Superbone]

Nice fluff piece on Al.

http://www.newsweek.com/al-mccoy-phoeni ... ter-580924

"AL MCCOY, VOICE OF THE PHOENIX SUNS SINCE 1972, IS NBA'S LONGEST-TENURED BROADCASTER"

Longtime residents of Phoenix are innately aware of the city’s native charms. The palette of colors in the sky as the sun sets behind the silhouette of the Estrella Mountains. The smoky aroma of mesquite as a cowboy-sized steak sizzles on an outdoor grill. The mellifluous voice and familiar phrasings of Phoenix Suns play-by-play announcer Al McCoy.

Zing go the strings! McCoy, 83, is seated courtside half an hour before tipoff, as has long been his custom. He has been the voice of the Suns on KTAR radio for 45 years. That is more than half his life and longer than any of the Suns players or the team’s coach, Earl Watson, have been alive. Some stations boast that they play “the greatest hits of the Seventies, Eighties, Nineties and Two Thousands.” KTAR and the Suns just plays Al McCoy. It’s the same difference.

...

Thanks for sharing. Good to see Al get some national exposure too.

[Superbone]

Meanwhile, McCoy has missed fewer than 10 games in his 45 seasons. Only the rise of the sun itself is a surer bet than the call of the bespectacled McCoy for a Suns’ game. “I’m living proof that dreams do come true,” says McCoy, who missed one New Year’s Eve game in 2005 and a few before the passing of his wife of 54 years, Georgia, in 2012 (he called the Bobcats-Suns game a few hours after she expired as a palliative measure). “Why would I want a night off?”

Wow.

[Indy]

Meanwhile, McCoy has missed fewer than 10 games in his 45 seasons. Only the rise of the sun itself is a surer bet than the call of the bespectacled McCoy for a Suns’ game. “I’m living proof that dreams do come true,” says McCoy, who missed one New Year’s Eve game in 2005 and a few before the passing of his wife of 54 years, Georgia, in 2012 (he called the Bobcats-Suns game a few hours after she expired as a palliative measure). “Why would I want a night off?”

Wow.

Yeah, that got me too.