Finally on this California trip, I broke away from the Rose Bowl grind Saturday to take in a Los Angeles landmark. A human landmark.
I had lunch with Ross Porter.
Porter, 79, grew up in Shawnee, was calling Shawnee Hawks baseball games in the old Sooner State League at age 15, went to OU, became sports director at WKY-TV (Channel 4) and left in 1966 for KNBC-TV in Los Angeles. Fifty-one years later, Porter remains an LA icon. He was hired away by the Dodgers in 1977 and spent 28 years calling LA games. Porter called NFL games for NBC from 1970-76, Pac-8 basketball games from 1972-76 and Nevada-Las Vegas football and basketball from 1978-92.