I loved Harry Kalas. His name was comical, but his voice was as distinguishable as my father’s when he was upset at me. Harry Kalas passed away at the age of 73 today and I’m very sad.

I’m a baseball purist and I have a thing for the old time announcers. I loved Harry Caray of course and I loved Jack Buck and I loved Harry Kalas. Why am i talking about a baseball announcer in a football blog you might be asking?

Harry was the great NFL films announcer who took over after John Facenda died of cancer in the mid 80’s. Facenda captivated me with his talk of Vince Lombardi and the frozen tundra of Lambeau field. I can do a spot on impression of that guy and I’m proud of it. When Harry came along he took over as the voice during football’s real growth into mainstream america. Football is now the most popular sport in the country and Harry has something to do with that for sure. His career was solidified when he became the voice of campbell’s chunky soup. I’m kidding of course, but that did help put his voice in more homes in America.

I wasn’t a Philly fan or I’d have better stories, but the sad thing for me is that the voices of my youth are starting to disappear and I pray I can cling to the memories that they helped create for me. Let me apologize to Harry and his family for their loss and to all the fans who will now miss a friendly and familiar voice who gave us a great excuse to stay home instead of go to the game.

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