NEWS » Knicks on Oct. 25, when the players will receive their

(Want more Vin Scully? Go to our The Man. The Voice. The Stories.)He has been describing baseball games to us for 67 years now. Think about that: 67. Oh, and by the way, he has gotten pretty good at it. But would you like to guess who doesnt think thats, like, the coolest broadcasting feat ever?Vin Scully. Who else?I attribute it to one thing and one thing only -- Gods grace, Scully said in a conference call on Sept. 19, to allow me to do what Ive been doing for 67 years. To me, thats really the story. Not really me. Im just a vessel that was passed, hand to hand, down through all those years.So clearly, we cant leave it to a man this humble to put his career in true historical perspective. But if you ask his peers, it wont take long to learn were not the only ones who think its mind-boggling that Vin Scully has been calling baseball games for 67 years.No one ever did any sport any better than Vin has done baseball, said his old friend, and former colleague at NBC, Bob Costas. And no one ever did whatever their best sport was nearly as long as Vin did baseball. So thats whats really unique. If the question is the greatest all-around sportscaster, he is in the argument, and maybe he wins the argument. But if the question is who the greatest baseball broadcaster is, there is no argument.So what makes Scully special? According to his friends, whats the one common theme? Hes a poet. There is the language of baseball. And then there is the language of Vin Scully, the Shakespeare of the broadcast booth.Charley Steiner, Dodgers broadcaster: I look at us, or at least I look at myself, as a reporter whos running up a sand dune, pencil in his hand, fedora on my head, PRESS attached to the ringband, praying like hell to keep up with a story -- running and just doing everything you can to tell the story as best as you can. And so, were sprinting. Vin, on the other hand, is a poet, and the game seemingly comes to him. He has a wonderful vocabulary. He is well-read, above and beyond baseball. He has the facility to come up with those words in those moments where you just sit back and your jaw drops.Ned Colletti, former sportswriter (and Dodgers GM): If he was a writer, he would be one of the greatest writers of the last century. It could be writing anything. He could be writing spiritual essays. It could be writing politics. It could be writing a love story. It could be writing anything: baseball, sports. He would be one of the greatest writers of our lifetime and the last 100 years because of how he thinks and how he uses the right word.John Lowe, longtime friend and baseball writer: I dont know if how many people know this, but he is able to read lips. ... So it was Game 3 of the 87 NL Championship Series, Cardinals at Giants. That was the Jeff Leonard show, you might remember. ... He (Leonard) hits one out. He goes around the bases, one flap down. The crowds going crazy, and hes standing in the dugout, and the crowd is pleading for a curtain call. And on camera, you see what he says to somebody in the dugout. And Vinny can read his lips and shouts, Leonard has said, Make them wait. And so Vinny says Make em wait. The Sir Laurence Olivier of Candlestick Park.Charley Steiner, on the first Dodgers game he ever broadcast with Scully:?I had finally accomplished my goal. I was going to become the Dodgers announcer. First game. You may remember in 2005, there was a horrible hurricane down there in Florida, and it was really a dicey proposition as to whether or not we were even going to play that first game. There were mud puddles in the outfield. The palm trees, some palm trees, were down. Some were just hanging on. The left-field scoreboard is dangling by a thick wire. And so, Im on the air, the new Dodger guy. Vin is to my left. And Im trying to paint this picture that the field is in disarray, and some palm trees, some big old palm trees, are down and out, some middle-aged palm trees are still kind of hanging on, and they have just planted some new ones. And I think, well, thats pretty good. And now, beginning his (56th) year ... was the voice of the Dodgers. Heres Vin Scully. So Vin kind of sits down, metaphorically speaking, kind of like Van Cliburn. He separates the tails from his jacket, and he sits down, and hes saying, You know, well, Charley, youve been talking about the palm trees, and ... the old palm trees are on the side, and theyre going to be removed. And some of them are just hanging on, and maybe therell be another season. And then theres the new ones that have just arrived. ... Pause. ... But isnt that what spring training is all about? And I said, OK, its time for me to go. I cannot play on this field.When youve done something for 67 seasons, youre bound to impact a wide range of people. From former Cy Young winners to former college classmates to commissioners and colleagues, the depth and breadth of Scullys associations is astonishing. And everyone has a memory. Here are a few more gems we collected in our interviews.Orel Hershiser, current Dodgers broadcaster, former Dodgers Cy Young winner: When you watch TV and youre grazing, theres very few voices in the world that when youre grazing ... if you hear them, you stop. If you hear Vinnys voice, you stop. You stop grazing, and you see thats an important event: Vin Scullys doing it.Jerry Reuss, former Dodgers pitcher, on getting caught up in Scullys storytelling -- during a game:?Id have to sneak back into the clubhouse while the game was going on, and then when Vin started on a story or telling something, Id be stuck there. And Id say, Wait a minute, Ive got to be out there on the bench. Im not here to listen to Vin.Charley Steiner, on Scullys typically polite way of dealing with a mild pregame dinner crisis: Ill give you one little moment which I still find funny. ... They gave us some steak ... a few weeks back, and ... the meat was a little rough. And so, Vin being Vin, says to Maria, the waitress, I think we need a sharper utensil. ... I just looked at him and said, Youre good.Larry Miggins, Cardinals outfielder in the 1950s who went to Fordham with Scully:?We had an assembly at Fordham Prep and all the classes were together. He was sitting right behind me, and he reached over and grabbed my shoulders and said Larry, someday youre going to be in the big leagues. I had played varsity baseball at the time and we had won the City championship. He said, Someday Im going to be in the big leagues (as a broadcaster) and the first time you hit a home run, Ill be there to announce it and tell the world about it. We never talked any more about it, and then it happened -- in 1952. I didnt see him after the game, and I heard about it that winter when we got together with some guys in the Bronx. He got the biggest kick out of it.Giants broadcaster Jon Miller, on when he realized how good Scully was:?I remember when I was a senior in high school and my grandmother lived in Eugene, Oregon. It was about a 10-hour drive, and in the evening the Dodgers played the Cubs. I always remember even that it was the Cubs. And so I heard Vinny do this game, he and Jerry Doggett. And this was probably 1969 Id say, and I dont remember anything about the game. There was nothing fascinating about the game. It was just a regular game. But (listening to) Vinny in the car for the whole game and hearing the whole deal from start to finish, which I had never done before. I just thought it was remarkable how thoroughly entertained I was and how totally caught up into the game that I was, and how Don Kessinger came up and Vinny would weave in the story of how Kessinger decided to become a switch hitter, and how that had so remarkably changed his career, and who it was that had suggested that he try switch-hitting, and he was having so much trouble as a hitter that he felt that he had nothing to lose, because it looked like hes just gonna hit .220, and he wasnt going to be in the big leagues if he hit .220. And Don Kessinger finally hit a popup to short, and he was out. And it was just that he had pushed this guy out and told me something. Now I actually cared about Don Kessinger.Ned Colletti, on the compassion of Scully:?After I left the GM job (in 2014), I talked to Vin on the phone. And the conversation had me in tears by the time it was completed. (He said) Jamie McCourt called me (in 2006, when Colletti was hired) and told me, We just hired a man named Ned Colletti to be our general manager. What do you think? Well, figuratively speaking, Im thinking Im down in the boiler room, and shes up on the top deck. And Im thinking, Why are you asking me? But I told her that I was thrilled and excited and the Dodgers had gotten it right, with a great person and a true baseball man. And he said, You know what, Ned? I was right. ... And now this life will take you to another destination, maybe still with the Dodgers, but another chapter that will be safe and wonderful. And we will never miss you because you will always be a part of our lives and part of our hearts for all the days that remain. I had a tough time getting through it. But I was grateful, forever grateful, that he told me how he felt and didnt mind expressing it to me.Bob Costas, on the special circumstances that helped create the legend:?Hes a unique and distinctive broadcaster. But he also had, and made good use of them, unique circumstances. Hes been at this for so long that his broadcasts are simultaneously current and nostalgic. Youre engrossed in tonights game, and at the same time you are transported to your earliest baseball memories. That can be true if you are 25 or 65. ... What (also) happened with Vin is that hes a local announcer, and people always like the local announcer more than the national announcer because hes announcing, by and large, their teams. And now the technology lets people around the country hear it. They are eavesdropping on a local broadcast. ... And when he did the national broadcast in the 80s, baseball was still pretty close the national pastime. The Game of the Week still mattered. There werent a zillion games on TV and a zillion highlight shows or call anything up you want on the internet. The internet didnt even exist. So think of the rating of the World Series games. ... The last game, Game 7 of the 86 World Series, went up against Washington against the Giants on Monday Night Football -- and the football game got single digits, and the baseball game got like a 37 ... like close to a Super bowl rating. ... These circumstances, start to finish will never be recreated.ESPN.com Dodgers writer Doug Padilla and ESPN The Magazine researcher Doug Mittler contributed to this report Dwight Howard Magic Jersey . It was the second consecutive win for the Pacers (2-5), who lost their first five preseason games. Jeff Teague led the Hawks (1-5) with 17 points and eight assists and Al Horford had 12 points and seven rebounds. Mike Scott scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half. Jason Williams Jersey . 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CLEVELAND -- The colossal LeBron James banner soaring over downtown is getting a small -- but significant -- upgrade.The iconic 10-stories-tall mural was removed Monday and will be replaced with a new one that includes a gold patch of the Larry OBrien Trophy on the back of James uniform to represent the Cavaliers winning the NBA title last season, ending Clevelands 52-year championship drought.The new banner is expected to be installed by Friday. The Cavs open their season against the New York Knicks on Oct. 25, when the players will receive their championship rings and a title banner will be unveiled in the rafters of Quicken Loans Arena.James likeness has towered over the city, and the black-and-white image of the superstar, his muscular arms outstretched, has become a tourist stop and symbol of civic pride.Sherwin-WWilliams considered temporarily removing the giant James banner this summer during the Republican National Convention but changed its mind after a public backlash.ddddddddddddThe company ended up making a $150,000 donation to the LeBron James Family Foundation.An original banner of James was taken down after he signed with the Miami Heat in 2010. The new one was installed in October 2014, a few months after the three-time champion re-signed with Cleveland.The golden upgrade comes as the Indians, who play at Progressive Field next door to the Cavs arena, are leading the AL Championship Series 2-0 over the Toronto Blue Jays. The Indians are trying to end a World Series drought dating to 1948. ' ' '