PORTLAND — Bill Schonely, the longtime Portland Trail Blazers broadcaster who coined the phrase “Rip City,” died Saturday. He was 93.
Affectionately known as “The Schonz,” Schonely was the NBA team’s broadcaster for its inaugural season in 1970 and held the job until the franchise caused an uproar when it decided to replace him in 1998.
He died in Portland with his wife of 31 years, Dottie, by his side, team officials said. The cause of death was not released.
Before becoming an Oregon icon, Schonely worked in the Seattle market for multiple broadcast outlets.
He was the original voice of the Western Hockey League Seattle Totems, calling their games from 1958 to 1969. He also did University of Washington football games, Seattle minor-league baseball, hydroplane races and roller derby. At KOMO, he occasionally worked alongside future ABC Sports broadcaster Keith Jackson, who died in 2018.
Schonely left his Totems job to be part of the broadcast crew of the 1969 Seattle Pilots, who left town and became the Milwaukee Brewers after one major-league baseball season. Schonely would say Jimmy Dudley “was the main guy” on Pilots broadcasts.
Trail Blazers founder Harry Glickman made Schonely, a native of Norristown, Pennsylvania, the sixth employee of the organization.
Schonely’s catchphrase “Rip City,” now enshrined on one of the team’s uniforms, was born during a February 1971 game against the Los Angeles Lakers. The Blazers were far behind, but made a comeback.
Schonely recalled in an interview last year that Jim Barnett winked at him before taking a shot mere steps inside the midcourt line. It fell.
“I was gonna say ‘Rip the twine’ or something but I came up with ‘Rip City! All right!’ And look what happened,” Schonely said. “It took a little while for that phrase to catch on. I had no idea that all of this was going to happen. But it did, and wherever you go, it’s humbling to me, but it’s ‘Rip City.’ ”
Schonely said he thought of the phrase because during his days broadcasting baseball in Seattle, players would refer to line drives as “rips.”
Other Schonely phrases included “bingo, bango, bongo” and calling the midcourt line “the equator.”
In a statement released by the team, former Portland guard Terry Porter said, “The Schonz was a cornerstone of the organization since Day 1. He was the ultimate Trail Blazer — the voice of the Trail Blazers. He was someone that Blazers fans grew up listening to for many, many generations. His voice will be missed, his presence will be missed, but his legacy will not be forgotten. It’s intertwined with every part of this organization.”
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden called Schonely “a true Oregon legend.”
“My friend Bill Schonely provided the soundtrack for generations of @trailblazers fans and forever made our beloved Portland into #RipCity,” Wyden posted to Twitter.
Schonely called 2,252 Blazers games and was recognized by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame with the Curt Gowdy Media Award in 2012.
Despite his forced exit in 1998, Schonely and the Blazers eventually made up. Schonely served as ambassador for the team and was a frequent fixture at home games until his formal retirement last year.
At that time, Schonely said he was not sure what he would do in retirement. He said he had no hobbies because the Blazers had been his life.
“Now it’s time for me to turn it over to other people,” Schonely said. “My health is not as good as it used to be.
“But I’m still as ornery as ever. I’ll keep on doing what I can for this organization, which has been very good to me over these years.”
A public celebration of his life is being planned, Blazers officials said.