Wheeler On "Homer-ism"

Written by wendell maxey | 27 May 2009

Not many guys call a basketball game like Brian Wheeler. Some say he's the best in the NBA. Other say he's too much of a "homer". What's funny is, "Wheels" would likely agree with the latter.

The Daily Vanguard – the newspaper of my alma mater Portland State University – is currently running a featured story written by Skyler Archibald on Wheeler. It details how Wheels got his start in broadcasting and eventually became the voice of the Portland Trail Blazers.

What jumps out for me is the whole “homer-ism” angle of the story.

“I try not to come across as a homer. I want to give the fans an actual account of the game but I also know that most, if not all, of the people tuning in are Blazers fans and that is the team that they care about the most,” Wheeler said.

During the season both Wheeler and the rest of the Blazers broadcasting team (read Wheeler’s wingman - Antonio Harvey, and Mike Barrett and Mike Rice on the television side) took plenty of heat from some listeners and even a writer or two during the season about being “homers” in the way they call games. 

Last I checked, they work for the organization. They are an extension of the team off the court. Call it a combination of backing and bantering about the Blazers, as much as it is about knowing who cuts the check.

So in this case, is being a "homer" wrong?

If it were another journalist, beat writer or columnist, then I'd have more of an issue with playing the "homer" card. But that's not what we are talking about here.

Even Wheeler described his style as a “mixture of homer-ism and downright honesty” and that he gave a promise to the “Blazers management during his interview process: to call the game like a fan would call it.”

I think it was February. Might have been March. It was a weekday, I remember that because I was stuck upstairs in my house painting my daughter’s bedroom bright yellow. Bright yellow with stripes. Portland was on the road. Think they were playing Houston. So I busted out the radio and tuned in to Wheels and ‘Tone (Harvey) call the game.  I’m glad I did.

For two to three hours, they put me in that arena. Felt like I was a kid again instead of a writer that sees these guys at work regularly. I didn’t care about homer-ism, even though the sound bites were there. All I cared about was them calling the game and painting the picture for me.

Every call. Every play. Every basket.

That's Wheels at work.