Books written by or about sports broadcasters are always interesting and this one on long-time Los Angeles Clippers announcer Ralph Lawler is no exception. Here is my review of his memoir, "Bingo!"
Title/Author: “Bingo! Forty Years in the NBA” by Ralph Lawler with Chris Epting
Rating: 5 of 5 stars (excellent)
Review: When a team’s long-time
broadcaster writes a book, there are plenty of interesting stories that can be
shared and fans of that team will enjoy them immensely. That is true no matter the sport or how successful
the franchise has been. For the Los Angeles
Clippers, a basketball team with no championships and a history of mostly losing,
that broadcaster is Ralph Lawler. From the
team’s days in San Diego to its move to Los Angeles and then some, Lawler has
been there for many Clippers games and his stories of his time broadcasting the
team (and a few with the Philadelphia 76ers) are told in this interesting
memoir.
While I love many of the stories Lawler tells about the Clippers
and his adventures in radio, especially early in his career, what struck me the
most about his memoir was the name dropping. I suppose that in Los Angeles it
shouldn’t be surprising to read that Lawler knew and befriended so many
celebrities, sports and otherwise, but it was something that I didn’t expect to
see. This is primarily because the other
professional basketball team in the city, the Lakers, are the ones who seem to
attract all the attention.
Speaking of the Lakers, Lawler devoted one of his many side
stories to the first Laker to become a superstar, George Mikan. I mention this because throughout the book,
Lawler shows how passionate he is for not only the Clippers, but for the entire
history of pro basketball. He talks up
Mikan as one of the greatest players in the history of the game because he was
the first big man to succeed in the NBA and it was because of him that some
rule changes took effect, such as widening the lane. As one who enjoys learning about the history
of all sports and appreciates kind words about players from different eras, it
was refreshing to read about a player from several decades ago be described as
an all-time great.
Of course, as expected, the best writing is about the
Clippers. While the team has had more
losing than winning, when that winning came, he wrote about it with a lot of knowledge,
a lot of love and even some great interviews with some of those players. From Chris Paul to Quentin Richardson to
Blake Griffin, many former players for the team are mentioned as great people
for Lawler to have been around. But he
saves the most love for Bill Walton. While
Walton’s time with the Clippers may have been very short due to all the
injuries he suffered, he and Lawler became very good friends. Walton wrote a letter to the voters for the
Basketball Hall of Fame to campaign for Lawler’s induction as a broadcaster. It was successful as Lawler was named for his
broadcasting and is always grateful to Walton for this.
It should be noted that the title is only one of two catchphrases
that is attached to Lawler. “Bingo!”
came about when the Clippers acquired Bingo Smith, a noted three-point
shooter. Whenever he made a three, Lawler
would exclaim “Bingo!” and that just stuck with him long after Smith
retired. The other catchphrase for Lawler
was “Oh Me! Oh My!” and the best story about that is not how it started but how
it was used to play a prank on Lawler by three members of the Clippers during
their best years, the “Lob City” teams with Blake Griffin and Chris Paul as the
main stars.
One doesn’t have to be a Clippers fan to enjoy this book. Any reader who enjoys the game of basketball
will want to read Ralph Lawler’s story.
It is one filled with a lot of great memories, great basketball and
great relationships.
I wish to thank Santa Monica Press for providing a copy of
the book in exchange for an honest review.
