I miss Gene Peterson and Jim Foley

Remember how Foley used to "disguise" his voice to criticize the refs? "That was a terrible call (Fake accent)

 

He is right, 39 had the local package for a while. I remember a bloodbath between Calvin and Pete Maravitch of the New Orleans Jazz...where they both scored 50.

 

I may be biased (I only actively remember the last 2-3 years of Gene and Jim together, and Craig is a fellow SHSU alumni) but Craig has grown on me a lot, especially the last few years. I hope they are able to find a good replacement for him on the radio once/whenever they finally move him to TV full time.

 

Not surprised by the donkeypunch testimonial.

I’ve never told my GP story in all of my years on clutchfans.

My dad was friendly on a first name basis with GP from their days playing golf in Kingwood. Dad says he really got to know him playing cards in the clubhouse.

I moved to Austin in 96 and GP offered my dad some free tickets to a Spurs/Rockets preseason game. I brought my friends and we were all given access to a restricted area, which is where we all met Gene, who came out and went out of his way to meet and greet our group.

This started a tradition when I lived in NYC and LA, a few times over the last 20 years, where he would offer tickets for non-marquee matchups (which means I got to go to Nets and Clippers games), and I always had a quick conversation where I thanked GP and he couldn’t have been kinder or more generous. He would often apologize for not being able to get Knicks or Lakers tickets. Are you kidding me?

In GP’s final season calling games, once the Clippers were somewhat relevant, I got good tickets on my own for a Clippers game in the lower bowl of Staples, and it had been a while since I had caught up with him.

Jim Foley was already done calling games for the season, and Craig was the rookie being groomed for the job since GP had also announced retirement, so he was sitting right next to Gene in the radio booth.

(Jim and Gene called the final game of the season together for posterity sake)

I was on the same side of the arena as the road radio crew, so I just walked up to GP during a timeout or halftime break and approached them.

I wanted to thank Mr Peterson for his generosity over the years and also congratulate him on his incredible career.

At first, it seemed like an awkward fan moment, Craig looked like he was ready to cut me off, but then GP started rattling off my history, remembering my name, mentioning my dad and my move to the west coast, he asked me to introduce him and referred to “my wife” who was my girlfriend at the time. I think he even asked why we didn’t ask him for tickets. (We never wanted to seem like a burden)

It was a humbling experience for both myself and it seemed like Ackerman just sat back and took in a radio legend being congratulated and thanked by his fans.

I’ve always had a higher level of respect for Craig due to this interaction and have been rooting for him ever since. He knows his place in Rockets history, he knows there will never be another like GP, yet he was personally passed the torch to carry on the legacy.

How Sweet It Is
Cleanup in Aisle 3

 

Oh, don't worry, I let her know as soon as I found out he was her dad. I reinforced many times that I wasn't the only one who thought that and we were so lucky to have had his golden voice for so many years.

 

I could listen to those guys call games all day long.

 

Wish we could bring them back. Gene & Foley are the best. Can't replace those guys.