The Houston Rockets named their replacement for Gene Peterson and Jim Foley on Thursday. And the jobs are going to one person, Craig Ackerman.
Ackerman has worked for the team for 14 years, having started as an intern. For the past five years, he’s done studio work, and he’s filled in for Peterson and Foley when one or the other had to miss a game.
I’ve got to admit, I’ve got no real clue as to who Ackerman is. I’ve kind of tuned the Rockets radio out the past several years, and when I’ve made the effort with the Rockets, it’s been to watch the games on Fox Sports Houston with Bill Worrell and Clyde Drexler. So I don’t know if the guy’s any good, or not. But really, can he be any worse than Peterson and Foley?
I know Gene Peterson and Jim Foley were institutions in the city, but for me it had just gotten to where I found their games to be unlistenable. So while I can’t say I’ll go out of the way to listen to the games on the radio, I can say that I won’t be going out of the way to not listen.
It is kind of strange that the Rockets are going to have one guy doing the entire broadcast, instead of a play-by-play guy and a color commentator. But seeing as I can’t remember the last time Clyde Drexler actually added something interesting to a broadcast, maybe Ackerman’s working solo isn’t such a bad thing. – John Royal
This article appears in Jun 26 – Jul 2, 2008.
