Looks like Bill Walton interviewed Ken Kesey at a Grateful Dead concert in Oakland on December 31, 1985. How did it go? You tell me. Were the Raiders in LA?
JP
Bill Walton was involved in a Rose Bowl game in 1998 when he appeared on ESPN’s GameDay to predict the outcome of the UCLA-Oregon game. Walton, who was wearing a UCLA football T-shirt, picked UCLA to win and thrust his arms into the air.
Media career
[edit]
Walton overcame his stuttering and became a broadcaster.
Walton overcame a stuttering problem at age 28 with the help of legendary broadcaster Marty Glickman, after a lengthy conversation between the two at an event.[89][90]
Walton said about his speech issues and subsequent career, “I’m a stutterer. I never spoke to anybody. I lived most of my life by myself. But as soon as I got on the court I was fine. But in life, being so self conscious, red hair, big nose, freckles and goofy, nerdy looking face and can’t talk at all. I was incredibly shy and never said a word. Then, when I was 28 I learned how to speak. It’s become my greatest accomplishment of my life and everybody else’s biggest nightmare.”[91]
After his retirement as a player, Walton became a basketball color commentator. Walton worked for CBS (1990), NCAA on CBS (1991),[92] NBC (1990–2002), the Los Angeles Clippers (1990–2002) and ABC/ESPN (2002–2009). After 19 years working in broadcasting, he left ESPN in November 2009, as the result of back problems, which dated back to an injury he suffered in college at UCLA. Following surgery on his back, Walton returned to broadcasting as a part-time commentator for the Sacramento Kings for 2010–11 and 2011–12. In July 2012, ESPN and the Pac-12 Network announced that Walton would return to full-time broadcasting as a game analyst for Pac-12 conference basketball coverage.[93]
Walton frequently worked alongside Dave Pasch while calling Pac-12 games. His commentary has been noted for his frequent use of catchphrases and hyperbole. Walton typically was paired with Steve “Snapper” Jones for national NBA games because he and Jones had a point-counterpoint banter during games.[94]
Walton’s 2003 TV series Bill Walton’s Long Strange Trip aired on ESPN with Walton as subject and star.[95]
While broadcasting a game between the Oregon Ducks and USC Trojans, Walton talked about a speech Bob Dylan gave at MusiCares, and ESPN had prepared graphics about Dylan’s career highlights.[96]
While broadcasting a Washington–Oregon January 2019 game with Dave Pasch, Walton mentioned he had appeared in the motion picture Ghostbusters. Ghostbusters was filmed in 1984 and Pasch questioned Walton about his claim throughout the game as to the specifics of his appearance and character, but Walton refused to provide more details. Research validated Walton’s claim.[97][98]
Walton hosted his own satellite radio show, One More Saturday Night (named after the Dead song of the same name), heard on Sirius Radio‘s Jam On and XM Radio‘s Grateful Dead channel.[99]
In 2001, Walton received an Emmy Award for “Best Live Sports Television Broadcast”. In 2018, he won the CoSIDA Dick Enberg Award.[100][101]
Personal life
Bill Walton was involved in a Rose Bowl game in 1998 when he appeared on ESPN’s GameDay to predict the outcome of the UCLA-Oregon game. Walton, who was wearing a UCLA football T-shirt, picked UCLA to win and thrust his arms into the air.
Rosamond Press 
Leave a comment