RIP Dr. Jack Ramsay

[old_tony]

RIP, Dr. Jack.

He was the coach of the 76ers for the first NBA game I ever attended when I was 8 years old.

Twenty years later I was interviewing him.

 

[Mark2010]

Didn't realize he was quite that old. That 1977 Portland team was one of my all-time favorites. Bill Walton, Bob Gross, Dave Twardzik. I was a young guy living in the northwest at the time and, before the age of cable TV, I would listen to a lot of their games on radio.

 

[Bob Cook]

Probably didn't realize he was quite that old because he physically active all his life. He was a triathlete up until age 70.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/26/sports/basketball/26ramsay.html?_r=0

Jim Durham (died in 2012) and Dr. Jack were a hell of a radio team.

 

[exmediahack]

Bob,

I liked your story from his last go-around with the Pacers. Good man all around.

As a boy, I had the NBA Guide (a yearly booklet) and the NBA Register. The Guide always had the pictures of each team's owner, head coach and GM. Still remember Ramsay's busy eyebrows and that he was born in 1924. The times I met him, I was always impressed by how quickly his mind worked and how in concert it was with his words. Even into his 80's, he was extremely well-spoken, lucid and didn't really sound like a, well, an "old man".

 

[HanSenSE]

I met him when I was 10 years old after a Warriors game. A friend of my dad's was also a St. Joe's grad. Very nice and always enjoyed his analysis on the air. RIP.

 

[clintrichardson]

I met him when I was 10 years old after a Warriors game. A friend of my dad's was also a St. Joe's grad. Very nice and always enjoyed his analysis on the air. RIP.

For a while he was an analyst on Sixers games and he was very good there too. He didn't have the kind of broad personality that would ever land him a national television gig, but he delivered more insight than you hear on most network games.

 

[old_tony]

I've often wondered if he was the model physically for Jeff Dunham's Walter.

 

[Webster]

Classy of the Sportscenter top 10 to have number 1 a classic Dr. Jack call of "Slamma". Having lived in Miami for a while, I would have gone with a "Lenard" after a Voshon 3 .

 

[Liut]

Jim Durham (died in 2012) and Dr. Jack were a hell of a radio team.

Yes, they were. One of the best. RIP.

 

[Bob Cook]

I've often wondered if he was the model physically for Jeff Dunham's Walter.

Holy ****, that is uncanny. Has Walter even worn a plaid jacket?