'Onions!' and All: Bill Raftery Still Steals March Madness
Now in his 12th year on CBS's top college basketball broadcast team, Bill Raftery's presence has never been stronger.
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- Thread starter NYShoreGuy
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Love it.... My one and only face to face interaction with Bill was in 1991. My wife and I chaired our son's grammar school sports award dinner. We were lucky to get Oliver Taylor, MVP of the 1991 BET as a featured guest (he was great by the way... I remember thinking he would go far after hearing him give some remarks... he happily signed autographs for the kids afterwards).... but I was having trouble getting a main Speaker..... We had Bob Hurley SR. in '89 when St A's was named top team in the country... but was striking out with various "big names" this time around. I finally got a local high school coach to speak and he did fine.... but during my search, I called a few people and one knew Bill Raftery. I never got a call back about Bill, so I went on with my search.
The night of the awards dinner I was MCing and while I was welcoming the people who were in attendance, starting to tell them about the evening's program..... I saw Bill enter the gym...... I introduced our surprise now guest co-speaker as he walked up to the podium and he went on to regale the crowd in a way only he could do.... it was the cherry on top of a great evening. Afterwards he told me that he heard that we were in the need of a speaker, so he just showed up to see if we still needed anyone. His timing was impeccable That's the Bill Raftery I met.
Actually, my first impression of Bill was watching him animatedly ripping his jacket off while coaching SHU in Walsh Gym. Thought he was great then too.
The night of the awards dinner I was MCing and while I was welcoming the people who were in attendance, starting to tell them about the evening's program..... I saw Bill enter the gym...... I introduced our surprise now guest co-speaker as he walked up to the podium and he went on to regale the crowd in a way only he could do.... it was the cherry on top of a great evening. Afterwards he told me that he heard that we were in the need of a speaker, so he just showed up to see if we still needed anyone. His timing was impeccable That's the Bill Raftery I met.
Actually, my first impression of Bill was watching him animatedly ripping his jacket off while coaching SHU in Walsh Gym. Thought he was great then too.
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Got to know Bill & Hoddy for about 2 1/2 years scouting recruits for them until both left. The Raf you see on TV is the same person off camera. Cordial, funny and just a great person.
BTW That coat throwing incident cost him his wallet. He told the manager to NEVER again let him bring anything of value in his coat when he was on the court or he would be dismissed from the team immediately.
BTW That coat throwing incident cost him his wallet. He told the manager to NEVER again let him bring anything of value in his coat when he was on the court or he would be dismissed from the team immediately.