One of my heroes growing up was Calvin Murphy, the diminutive guard from the Houston Rockets who wound up in the Hall of Fame. He has sat alongside Bill Worrell for 15 years as a color commentator and is being replaced this season with former UH and Rockets star Clyde Drexler for home games and former Rockets forward Matt Bullard for away games.
Bullard is a very good commentator. He made it all the way to the final rounds of an ESPN reality show pitting former players against each other vying for a spot as an ESPN basketball analyst. He filled in last season and has done Comets color for a few years.
Drexler hasn’t done any commentary that I’m aware of and I’m concerned about his on-screen presence. I love Clyde as a player, but his personality doesn’t seem particularly well-suited to the broadcast booth.
Murphy and Worrell had irrepressible chemistry. Some absolutely hated Murphy with his trademark crazy suits and his over-the-top comments. But, the two seemed the perfect pair. I’ll definitely miss the guy.
Worrell is a class act and he’ll continue to do his job with excellence and professionalism. I’m just hoping Drexler is up to the task.
In the Chronicle story, they mentioned Dave’s site, ClutchFans.net and the petition on the bulletin board. Nice plug of the site.
Contributors to the Web site www.clutchfans.net started an online petition Thursday seeking Murphy’s return to the broadcasts, citing his acquittal and saying “there is no legally valid reason now for not bringing him back.” The petition had 284 signatures, including some duplicates, as of Thursday afternoon.
“That’s good for my ego,” Murphy said, laughing. “I appreciate that people still believe and care.”
Nice for the Chron to mention a rival even if they consider it JUST a fan site.