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Don James / Bruce King

K

KMan

As I've spent the last 24 hours reflecting on the legacy and impact of Husky football coach Don James, I thought a little bit about the weekly game recap show he did with Bruce King. I recall this show aired on KOMO on Sunday mornings and recapped the previous game's highlights. Why KOMO? They were the ABC affiliate in an era where only a few games each Saturday was broadcast, and only ABC carried the Pac-10.

I was kind of curious if KOMO would break out any of those old clips from that era in some of their coverage on James' passing. Tonight at 11, Mike Ferreri put together a short report on James and referenced those old shows. Even better, KOMO sent someone out to do an interview with Bruce King! I couldn't believe it. Bruce retired from KOMO in 1999, and I haven't seen him do anything on TV save for a couple of Poulsbo RV commercials in the early 2000s. But there he was ... same voice, same gray curly hair, same big glasses. He looked really good and sounded great. He's in his late 70s now (he retired at 65 in '99) but didn't look any worse for wear. I was sure glad to see that... he was the sports guy of my childhood.
 
Nice post Kman. I am a Seattle native, and definitely remember those Bruce King/Don James shows. They were always fun when the Dawgs won, but you could really see a different mood when they lost. But both were true professionals.

As a sidelight, Bruce King eventually replaced Keith Jackson at KOMO-TV. Keith of course went on to become one of the most famous college football play by play guys of all time. Of course, Jackson, a Coug, reported mostly on the Jim Owens-coached Huskies.

Bruce left KOMO for WABC New York sometime around 1980, but returned to Seattle about a year later. NYC isn't for everyone.
 
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searadiofreak said:
As a sidelight, Bruce King eventually replaced Keith Jackson at KOMO-TV.
Click to expand...
George Ray replaced Keith Jackson and was KOMO sports director from 1964 to 1968. Bruce King replaced Ray, who left to work for the Seattle Pilots' publicity department. We know what became of that gig!
 
T-K said:
George Ray replaced Keith Jackson and was KOMO sports director from 1964 to 1968. Bruce King replaced Ray, who left to work for the Seattle Pilots' publicity department. We know what became of that gig!
Click to expand...

That is why I used the word "eventually", as I wasn't sure there was someone in-between Keith and Bruce. Thanks for the clarification. I don't remember George Ray, but was probably too young.
 
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searadiofreak said:
That is why I used the word "eventually", as I wasn't sure there was someone in-between Keith and Bruce. Thanks for the clarification. I don't remember George Ray, but was probably too young.
Click to expand...

You don't remember George Ray on KOMO, or George Ray, period? George Ray spent a gazillion years at KCTS working their telethons. He slowly reduced his responsibilities down to hosting KCTS Cooks, which he finally gave up and retired for good about a year ago. He hasn't looked good on air the last few years; every time I saw him I got the impression his health was on a downward spiral.
 
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