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Saturday, June 14, 2008

Sportscaster Charlie Jones, 77, dies of heart attack

He was also a play-by-play announcer for the Cincinnati Reds and Colorado Rockies...according to Wiki.

Charlie Jones, the deep-voiced sportscaster whose career as a play-by-play announcer dated to the beginning of the American Football League in 1960, has died. He was 77.

Jones died of a massive heart attack Thursday at his home in the La Jolla district of San Diego, said his wife, Ann.

...Jones started at ABC in 1960, the year the AFL made its debut. He moved to NBC in 1965, remaining with that network until 1997.

Jones announced 28 different sports, while with NBC, from golf to tennis, baseball to figure skating. He called events at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

Repoz Posted: June 14, 2008 at 12:12 AM | 16 comment(s)
Related News: General, Obituaries, Announcers, Television

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1. Benji Posted: June 14, 2008 at 12:20 AM (#2819390)

I liked Charlie. He always seemed to be thrilled to be bringing the game to you.

2. AndrewJ Posted: June 14, 2008 at 08:21 AM (#2819469)

Jones cohosted "Almost Anything Goes," a summer replacement series in 1975 which was HUGE -- teams of small town residents competed against each other in campy obstacle course games. He also played himself in the 1980s track-and-field drama "Personal Best," featuring (for the time) quite explicit lesbian scenes between Patrice Donnelly and Mariel Hemingway.

Not a terrific week for veteran TV people.

3. Pasta-diving Jeter (jmac66) Posted: June 14, 2008 at 09:32 AM (#2819480)

His voice represents to me the old AFL--I mean the old AFL, when Denver wore those cute vertical-striped socks & the Chiefs were the Texans and the Jets were the Titans

Cotton Davidson, Abner Haynes, Charlie Tolar....

(Al Dorow??)

4. salfino Posted: June 14, 2008 at 10:46 AM (#2819496)

Also Old AFC. He did lots of Jets games when they were on the verge of doing good things in the late 70s, early 80s. No one's voice, not even Kurt Gowdy, who did so many other sports, says crisp, fall Sunday football afternoon to me me more than Charlie Jones's.

5. RMc is the President of the United States Posted: June 14, 2008 at 10:49 AM (#2819499)

Everyone knows Jones was too easy on Dick Cheney. Screw him.

6. David Wrightwing liquid feces Posted: June 14, 2008 at 04:36 PM (#2819725)

I'll remember him most as the voice of the Rockies, he and Dave Campbell were the only ones I enjoyed listening too.

7. Tom Nawrocki Posted: June 14, 2008 at 04:40 PM (#2819729)

Jones cohosted "Almost Anything Goes," a summer replacement series in 1975 which was HUGE -- teams of small town residents competed against each other in campy obstacle course games.

My mom's hometown in Illinois was featured on that show, so you'd think I would have liked it, but I couldn't help feeling embarrassed for those people. There was a demeaning quality to a lot of the events.

He also played himself in the 1980s track-and-field drama "Personal Best," featuring (for the time) quite explicit lesbian scenes between Patrice Donnelly and Mariel Hemingway.

They're quite explicit for now.

8. Srul Itza Posted: June 14, 2008 at 05:08 PM (#2819747)

My mom's hometown in Illinois was featured on that show, so you'd think I would have liked it, but I couldn't help feeling embarrassed for those people. There was a demeaning quality to a lot of the events.

Sounds like he was ahead of his time. Fear Factor for the 70's.

9. Fred Garvin, Male Prostitute Posted: June 14, 2008 at 05:30 PM (#2819759)

Charlie Jones was just a puppet of the administration.

Wait, what?

10. Softball-Playing Human Refuses to Be Walked Posted: June 14, 2008 at 06:13 PM (#2819804)

Fred Garvin FTW.

11. Justin T Posted: June 14, 2008 at 07:08 PM (#2819863)

You hear alot about people having "massive heart attacks" that kill them. It's kind of an unnerving term that always makes me visualize the agony of the person as they suffered this "massive" heart attack. Is that how heart attacks are actually graded medically or something? Like, massive, normal, and sissy? Why not just say the guy had a heart attack? Or why not sometimes say it was "huge" or "enormous"?

If Charlie Jones is who I think I remember he is as an NFL announcer a while back, then I thought he was pretty good. Like Benki said, he seemed genuinely gregarious.

12. BeanoCook Posted: June 14, 2008 at 09:17 PM (#2819928)

Charlie Jones did over 10 Fiesta Bowls and several Orange Bowls. He just so happened to call several national title games as the Orange and Fiesta hosted more championship games from the late 60s to early 90's than any bowl game(s). He was instrumental in helping to grow the Fiesta Bowl from a 3rd tier game into one of the 4 BCS Bowls.

13. AndrewJ Posted: June 14, 2008 at 09:17 PM (#2819929)

Not a terrific week for veteran TV people.

And not a great last year or so for Cincinnati Reds broadcasters (Jones, Joe Nuxhall)...

14. Fred Garvin, Male Prostitute Posted: June 14, 2008 at 09:20 PM (#2819930)

You hear alot about people having "massive heart attacks" that kill them. It's kind of an unnerving term that always makes me visualize the agony of the person as they suffered this "massive" heart attack. Is that how heart attacks are actually graded medically or something? Like, massive, normal, and sissy? Why not just say the guy had a heart attack? Or why not sometimes say it was "huge" or "enormous"?

I've always wondered that too. How come no one ever dies from a minor heart attack? It's always "massive."

15. Charlie O Posted: June 15, 2008 at 11:26 PM (#2820933)

Jones called the very first Oakland Raiders game in 1960, a loss to the Houston Oilers at Kezar Stadium.

16. Bob T Posted: June 15, 2008 at 11:49 PM (#2820945)

It's a lot harder to die from a minor heart attack. A "massive" heart attack usually means that there's been some serious arterial damage. They are the kind that make you go from living to dead pretty fast.

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Saturday, June 14, 2008

Sportscaster Charlie Jones, 77, dies of heart attack

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