Article excerpt:
I was raised on ACC basketball with Jim Thacker and Billy Packer. I remember the black and white days of CD Chesley and Charlie Harville. I remember shooting baskets with my Burke County buddies during halftime and between games dreaming of the day when we might star for the Wolfpack, Tar Heels, Deacons or Devils.
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| From "A View to Hugh" Website - see link below. |
Thacker, Packer, and McKinney were magic together on the C.D. Chesley syndicated sports network in the 1970s. And I have great memories of those basketball games coming on after Mid-Atlantic Wrestling, especially the wars between Norm Sloan's N.C. State Wolfpack and Lefty Driesell's Maryland Terrapins.
And little did I know that it was Charlie Harville who may have been responsible for Bones McKinney getting his big break in broadcasting, as it was Harville who recommended McKinney for the role to Mr. Chesley. From : "Player, Preacher, Coach, Commentator" on the website A View to Hugh:
... soon after the ’65-’66 basketball season started, (McKinney) got a call from ACC TV producer Castleman D. Chesley. It seems that Bones’ good friend Charlie Harville had recommended him as a possible broadcaster with the ACC network.
Another Harville reference here: ACC Hoops Tonight (GreensboroSports.com):
N.C. State never, and I mean NEVER loses when Jim Thacker, Billy Packer and Bones McKinney are mentioned in the same paragraph. We will be watching on our local WFMY TV 2 station and thinking back to the days of Thacker, Packer, McKinney, Woody Durham, Charlie Harville and Lonesome Lee Kinard...
Another nice post regarding televised ACC basketball memories, this from the Shelby Star:
Along Route 74: Growing Up in ACC Country Was a Big Deal
(Updated On 2/13/2015)
