When the Seattle lost the Supersonics but gained the Sounders FC, fortunately for the city’s sports fans one thing remained in place: the well-practiced pipes of play-by-play announcer Kevin Calabaro, who is “as much an icon in the Seattle area as majestic Mount Rainier,” writes goal.com’s John Zielonka.
Not wanting to follow the NBA franchise out to a flyover state, Calabro was quickly contacted by the Sounders, who offered him the job on the spot, “despite the fact he’d never broadcast the sport” before. No matter, though. “After attending several USL Sounders matches last year with owner Adrian Hanauer and keeper Kasey Keller,” the experienced pro had already “started to form a pattern during the games as to how he would broadcast the action,” according to Zielonka.
Now in the booth at Qwest Field, the 52-year-old vet and 20-year voice of the Sonics called the Sounders’ MLS debut “as good a sports experience as I’ve ever had on opening night in a long, long time.” Clearly bit by the soccer bug, Calabro is excited to be involved in a “unique position” in which “the Seattle soccer community has got its time, its showcase and its forum.”