At least five affils of the Trail Blazers radio network
"are considering reducing or eliminating game coverage
because of Bill Schonely's pending departure as the team's
play-by-play announcer," according to Jeff Manning of the
Portland OREGONIAN. More than 20 of the 31 stations in the
radio network "have written letters" to the team "protesting
its decision to replace Schonely." Manning wrote that the
Blazers "are learning firsthand about the unique emotional
bond that a longtime announcer has with fans," and that in a
league where players consistently change teams, Schonely "is
the Blazers." Last year, Blazers Senior VP/Marketing
Operations Harry Hutt signed Schonely to a three-year deal
which called for him to do play-by-play in only the first
year. Hutt's logic was to give Schonely one "triumphal
year" and then "move him out," but the plan "backfired" when
Schonely "went public with his unhappiness about the pending
reassignment." Hutt: "Unfortunately, due to a lot of
misconceptions, things got contentious." Manning reported
that one of those "misconceptions" is that after this year,
Schonely will be out of broadcasting. Schonely will be used
in specials and halftime shows (OREGONIAN, 4/30).
