The Schonz at 92: ‘I’m one of the old guys now’

Bill Schonely and I had lunch the other day in our annual celebration of his birthday.

His 92nd, which comes Tuesday, June 1.

“I remember as a young kid, I would see some of the older people walking around,” the legendary voice of the Trail Blazers said. “I thought, ‘Boy oh boy, are they old. I don’t ever want to be old like that.’

“Well, guess what? I’m 92. I’m one of those old guys now.”

To some, it may seem like yesterday that Schonely was calling play-by-play on radio for the Trail Blazers. But it has been 23 years since he was unceremoniously retired by Blazer management after 28 years on the microphone.

Plenty of water has streamed under the bridge since then, and the franchise’s various powers-that-be have done what they can to erase the undeserved indignities that infuriated the denizens of Rip City. Schonely still handles a variety of on-air duties with voiceovers, lead-ins and flashback moments, but his more important responsibility in recent years has been as an ever-popular ambassador for the franchise.

A banner with Schonely’s name and proverbial mike waves atop Moda Center. In 2012, he was honored with the “Curt Gowdy Award” at the Naismith Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Springfield, Mass.

Lots of good things have happened since 1980, when a heart attack while playing golf on a Blazer caravan trip in Pendleton nearly cost him his life. He had open-heart surgery the next year. Four decades later, it’s still ticking, with the help of a pacemaker and defibrillator.

Does that surprise him?

“It does in a lot of ways,” he said. “In a lot of other ways, it doesn’t. I’m glad I’m 92 and can still get around. Not like I used to, but I can do whatever I can for whomever I can.”

The NBA’s one-year-plus hiatus due to COVID-19 was hard for everyone. It was doubly difficult for “The Schonz,” who thrived on his interactions at Moda Center on game days.

Schonely’s game-day routine didn’t vary much. He would drive to Moda early in his 2009 Cadillac CTS with, of course, “RipCity” license plates. Once at the scene, he headed upstairs to the Pyramid Taproom at Schonely’s Place, where he would order a glass of white wine and meet with his adoring public.

“I’m having a sip of the grape right now,” he said when we talked again a night after our lunch date. “I love my Chardonnay. That’s my only vice left.”

After greeting customers and pressing flesh and posing for photos, Schonely would “visit some suites and shake some hands and kiss babies and do whatever (Blazer officials) wanted me to do,” he said. He’d then stop by the media room to say some hellos and sometimes grab a dessert. Then he’d head for the court to watch pregame warmups and exchange hugs with Coach Terry Stotts and with his favorite current player, Damian Lillard.

“Terry called me the other day and said, ‘One of these days, we’ll be able to hug again,’ ” Schonely said.

Once the national anthem was played, he’d go to his seat, or sometimes perch on a high-riser chair behind the visitors’ bench. Often he would leave at halftime to join his beloved bride, Dottie, at home.

Then came COVID. For more than a year, life as he knew it was taken away from him. The man so accustomed to being in the public eye was isolated.

“It was really tough,’ Schonely said. “I thought maybe the world had forgotten me. I couldn’t even get into my office at Moda Center.”

When games resumed in December, it was without fans and with only a handful of team personnel in attendance. Schonely was on the outside looking in.

“I understand safety and all of that, but it was a tough time for me personally,” he said. “I’ve always been involved since 1970. It’s been ‘Go, go, go,’ and I’ve loved every minute of it.”

On Thursday, as the Blazers hosted the Nuggets for Game 3 of their first-round playoff series, the worm turned. Fans were back, and so was “The Schonz.” The club sent a limousine for him at his Tigard home.

“That was nice,” he said. “I don’t drive at night if I don’t have to. The limo driver — his name was Brad — said his folks had season tickets the first year in 1970. He said he’d listened to every game he could growing up, had become fascinated with the broadcasts and is still a season ticket-holder. I told him a few stories. I felt right at home. Right from the start, it was terrific.”

Schonely was greeted at Moda by Rebecca Felch, executive assistant to Blazer CEO Chris McGowan. And then by Aaron Grossman, the club’s communications coordinator.

“They guided me around,” Schonely said. “I’m using a cane more and more because I haven’t had my hip procedure yet. I didn’t want to stumble around. Walking down the corridor on the way to my seat, a lot of people noticed. They were probably thinking, ‘What’s going on with The Schonz?’ But they were very nice. A lot of people came by and said hello. I wasn’t prepared for that. I guess word got around that the old man was there.”

Schonely left at halftime, “and I’m glad I did. I was a little tired. We listened to the third quarter on the radio, and I got home in time to watch the fourth quarter on TV with Dottie.”

Schonely told me he misses the interaction with the fans.

“But more than anything, I miss doing the games,” he said. “I loved telling the story of the game. That was part of my heart and my soul. I know it’s time for somebody else, but I still miss it. It may sound self-serving, but I don’t mean it that way.”

Schonely’s health is pretty good, considering he is in his 10th decade on the planet.

“I’m OK physically other than my hip,” he said. The Schonz had his left hip replaced a couple of years ago. Now the right one bothers him enough that he has had some pain injections to help him sleep. He’s not going to have a full replacement but will have a surgical procedure on the hip done later in June.

“I used to jump rope, climb up and down stairs with ease,” he said “Now it’s tough for me to walk. I have a balance problem. But this new procedure should help me.”

Schonely’s love affair with the fans has helped keep him going through the years. He is not proficient on the computer, so I printed off some of the birthday wishes that readers of kerryeggers.com had extended to him in advance.

“They were awesome,” he said. “A couple of them brought a tear to my eye. Dottie read them, too. She was crying. She said, ‘Bill, you have to read this one.’ It was out of sight.”

What does Schonely have planned for his birthday?

“As little as possible,” he cracked. “We’ll go out to dinner, but we haven’t planned it yet. I don’t want a big hullabaloo. I said, ‘Dottie, sweetie, you don’t have to do anything. Just don’t create any Dottie do’s.”

Truth be told, Bill wants only to spend some quiet time with his wife of 32 years, who also happens to be his high school sweetheart. But he asked me to extend a few words to those of you who are reading this.

“Please tell them, ‘Thank you for your support all of these years,’ ” he said. “And, ‘Don’t forget to make your free throws.’ ”

Readers: what are your thoughts? I would love to hear them in the comments below.

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