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Kevin Calabro |
Kevin Calabro is an American play-by-play announcer. He was the announcer for the Seattle SuperSonics of the National Basketball Association until the team moved to Oklahoma City. On July 21, 2008 it was announced that Calabro will become the voice of Seattle Sounders FC, the city's new Major League Soccer expansion franchise. As of November 7, 2008, Calabro is the play by play announcer for NBA games on ESPN.
The National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association named him "Sportscaster of the Year" for the state of Washington in 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2006.
Calabro is a graduate of Ben Davis High School (1974) calling games during high school on WBDG, 90.9 FM. He graduated from Butler University (1978). He began his professional career as the play-by-play announcer for the Kansas City Kings in the 1983–84 season. In the 1987–88 season, he came on board with the SuperSonics alongside original Sonics play-by-play announcer Bob Blackburn. He has been calling games for the team since then, reaching a milestone 1,500 games in 2006. Calabro had an option with the SuperSonics for the 2008–09 season. However on April 11, 2008 Calabro stated he would not continue with the team should they relocate to Oklahoma City. 1
Calabro simulcast in both television and radio for 19 years with the SuperSonics. In 2006, KJR-AM lost its radio contract with the organization. The television and radio broadcasts were separate, with Calabro doing television broadcasts on Fox Sports Net and Matt Pinto doing radio broadcasts on 770 KTTH. Calabro called radio games when no television broadcast was available.
Calabro has done work on the national level with TNT, TBS, ESPN Radio, and NBA TV. He has also lent his voice to several Microsoft games, including NBA Inside Drive, NBA Full Court Press, and NFL Fever and more recently has been the play-by-play voice of the Sony PlayStation NBA game franchise.
Calabro is known for using the phrase from the George Clinton song whenever a Sonic player makes an exciting play, "get on up for the down stroke!"
Calabro's brother, David Calabro, is a popular sportscaster and the sports director with the NBC-affiliate station WTHR in Indianapolis.
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The Clutch Shooting of Ray Allen |
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| Example of Kevin Calabro's distinctive voice and play-by-play style, from 2006 | |
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