He was the essence of what a sportscaster should be. He had the ability to capture what was happening and enable listeners to see it as vividly as if they were in the arena themselves.

There's a huge void in Bay Area sports broadcasting right now. I can't ever remember a time in 40 years that Bill wasn't on the air. He was my closest friend in broadcasting. We had a lot of wonderful times together.

I don't see how anybody could do that, but he did. And his work didn't suffer. Broadcasting was his passion. What he really needed was to be at a microphone.

The American Right has an amazing ability to lionize leaders whose lives are the precise antithesis of the political values that define their image.

In essence, I see the value of journalism as resting in a twofold mission: informing the public of accurate and vital information, and its unique ability to provide a truly adversarial check on those in power.

I never doubted my ability, but when you hear all your life you're inferior, it makes you wonder if the other guys have something you've never seen before. If they do, I'm still looking for it.