Ralph Lawler

Ralph Lawler hadn't missed a Clippers broadcast in 25 years. Not for a cold or flu or even a kidney stone attack. He's been at the microphone for every dreary Clippers loss and the occasional uplifting victory. Until Friday night. Fox yanked Lawler and analyst Michael Smith from Friday's Prime Ticket broadcast of the game against the Denver Nuggets after Clippers season-ticket holder Arya Towfighi objected to an on-air exchange between the announcers toward the end of Wednesday's 106-91 Clippers loss at Memphis.

MEMPHIS, Tenn -- Imagine waking up here Monday morning and realizing you really are a loser. And now everyone in the country who watches TNT or ESPN knows you're a loser, your team built on grit, grind and "Believe Memphis," but rolling over like a submissive dog when pressured. I was a Memphian. I worked in this Mid-South sweatbox 32 years ago, never returning until forced to do so now. But I can tell you after all these years the place still smells like no one showers. Elvis is buried here forever and I cannot imagine how upset he must be. The city's highlight is Beale Street, a rundown slab of bars with police running a wand over anyone wanting to enter the area Saturday night.

MEMPHIS, Tenn -- Imagine waking up here Monday morning and realizing you really are a loser. And now everyone in the country who watches TNT or ESPN knows you're a loser, your team built on grit, grind and "Believe Memphis," but rolling over like a submissive dog when pressured. I was a Memphian. I worked in this Mid-South sweatbox 32 years ago, never returning until forced to do so now. But I can tell you after all these years the place still smells like no one showers. Elvis is buried here forever and I cannot imagine how upset he must be. The city's highlight is Beale Street, a rundown slab of bars with police running a wand over anyone wanting to enter the area Saturday night.

Someone had to tell Hamed Haddadi that he had been likened to Borat's older brother. The Memphis Grizzlies center had been lampooned by Clippers broadcasters Ralph Lawler and Michael Smith during a November 2009 game, with Smith asking his colleague if he wasn't sure Haddadi was related to the fictional character created by comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. Some listeners didn't consider the comparison a compliment given that Borat was a crude chauvinist. Haddadi didn't know the difference.

I go away for a week, and you people just lose it! I'll get to the Fox TV executives, and their inappropriate and idiotic comments regarding Ralph Lawler , as well as the guy who won't let his 8-year-old son hear Mike Smith's lame attempt at humor but has no problem sending the kid to school now that everyone knows his father is a Clippers season-ticket holder. But first of all I have to know this: Are there that many people who have fallen off the perspective cliff, or just the 20 or so who chose to send a Saturday letter to The Times' sports section grousing about the job Pete Carroll is doing?

"Blake gets his first field goal in the second half. Don't go away, 89-77, it's down to 12. Don't go away!" It's Ralph Lawler's 2,513th Clippers game here and in San Diego, of which 1,613 have been losses, not that you can tell by his excitement level. Blake Griffin has just scored as they try to rally from a 16-point deficit in a game against the San Antonio Spurs, as Richard Jefferson fires off a three-pointer. . . . "Jefferson!" says Lawler as the ball arcs toward the basket, and goes in. "Go ahead and go away.

Ralph Lawler has every reason to complain about his job. As the radio and television announcer for the Clippers for 11 of the past 12 seasons, he has worked for a team that not only has had merely one winning season during that stretch but also has endured an almost unfathomable series of injuries to its top players. But the Clippers' futility has not taken its toll on Lawler. "This is the best job in the world," Lawler said.

Ralph Lawler would have every reason to complain about his job. As the radio and television announcer for the Clippers for 11 of the past 12 seasons, not only has he worked for a team that has failed to make the playoffs and had only one winning season during that stretch, he has witnessed an almost unfathomable series of injuries to the team's top players. But the Clippers futility has not taken its toll on Lawler. "This is the best job in the world," Lawler said.

To read that Clippers announcer Michael Smith babbled out some on-air, racist-sounding inanities, apparently intended to be humorous, is one thing. To find out that Ralph Lawler, a Hall of Fame-quality broadcaster, went along for the ride is, however, surprising. They both ended up sounding like a couple of dumb yokels just off the bus in the big city. But from Lawler we expect more. He should have had the presence of mind to stop the chatter as soon as he sensed its offensive nature. After all, Los Angeles is a cosmopolitan city, not some backwoods burg where ignorance passes for comedy.

The NBA season hasn't started but the Los Angeles Clippers are already big winners. The club confirmed today that it is not renewing its arrangement with over-the-air KTLA and has signed an exclusive long-term television deal with Fox Prime Ticket, the cable network that already carries a majority of the Dodgers' games. While there was no official word on the details, three sources said the Clippers' new deal runs through the 2015-16 season. The sources, none of whom were authorized to speak publicly, also said the agreement was worth almost double the $12.5 million a year in revenue the Clippers had been receiving from its contracts with KTLA and Fox. "It's a very good deal for us," Clippers President Andy Roeser said today.

From Dallas -- I'm going to tell you a few things about Clippers honk Ralph Lawler you probably don't know. In quick order with details to follow, they involve Marge Hearn, Coldwell Banker, and as crazy as it sounds; a willingness to take his wife with him wherever he goes. When I'm done here, I suspect you will be a little upset and probably think less of the Basketball Hall of Fame for not honoring the old coot by now. Now as good people go, if you have ever spent time with Vin Scully, you've met Lawler.

Ralph Lawler and Michael Smith are good announcers for the Clippers. But as far as promoters and sales pitchmen, this is getting embarrassing, almost like carnival barkers. Just because of an infusion of talent, they sound like giddy kids at Christmas when the Clippers are leading, and then retreat to explaining away, making excuses that this team is still the top such and such, while the same old Clips slowly lose another game; from hype to denial in 10 seconds. I want this team to be good, but the pregame and postgame sales pitches, well, I'm turning the volume off until this unabashedly biased, unfounded promotional business goes away.

Fasten your seat belts, gang. Given the Clippers' euphoria around here, I thought I'd check with the broadcaster who seemed to be doomed to a lifetime of defeat, Ralph Lawler , and ask him where in Staples Center he'd now like the championship banner to hang. Oh me oh my, he takes me seriously, and bless his soul. "Opposite end," he says of the Lakers. Then he looks up to the American and Canadian flags' end of the building, and while chuckling, adds, "There's really quite a bit of room for it. " PHOTOS: Lakers vs. Clippers Bingo!

If you could attend just one of the two NBA games at Staples Center on Sunday, which would you choose? Would you try to squeeze in alongside the Jack Nicholsons and George Lopezes on celebrity row to see Kobe Bryant and the two-time defending champion Lakers on Sunday night? Or would you opt for the matinee featuring rookie Blake Griffin and the Clippers, a team with one winning season in the last 18 years? For Charles Barkley, an 11-time NBA All-Star and a basketball hall of famer, it's not a tough call.

"Blake gets his first field goal in the second half. Don't go away, 89-77, it's down to 12. Don't go away!" It's Ralph Lawler's 2,513th Clippers game here and in San Diego, of which 1,613 have been losses, not that you can tell by his excitement level. Blake Griffin has just scored as they try to rally from a 16-point deficit in a game against the San Antonio Spurs, as Richard Jefferson fires off a three-pointer. . . . "Jefferson!" says Lawler as the ball arcs toward the basket, and goes in. "Go ahead and go away.

Traffic issues, we know them well. After all, who hasn't suffered through a mega-traffic jam in Southern California and had to miss work? Well, not Ralph Lawler . Until Wednesday. Lawler, the Clippers' venerable play-by-play man, was making his usual drive to Staples Center from his home in La Quinta, along with his wife, Jo . He never got to the game against the Spurs, running into a massive tie-up near Cabazon, two accidents causing the closure of Interstate 10 in each direction.

'Novak for the win," Ralph Lawler says, his deep voice climbing up the sound ladder with each syllable, in perfect rhythm with Steve Novak's three-point shot as it arcs and settles into the net. As time runs out, there is Lawler's voice, sweet sounding as any symphony, musical and exuberant and just so heartfelt. BIIIIINNNGOOO.

One thing certain about this Clippers season -- it takes a lot less effort for Ralph Lawler and Mike Smith to pull the bandwagon. BOB GINN Arcadia

With the Clippers down 15 points to the Memphis Grizzlies after two quarters, Clippers Coach Mike Dunleavy told his team that the Clippers were being far too accommodating a host at Staples Center. "What I said at halftime was, 'Look, they're too comfortable out there,' " Dunleavy said of the Grizzlies, who had thoroughly dominated a Clippers team that looked flat-footed and uninspired. But that all changed in the fourth quarter, when the Clippers finally turned aggressive, rallied to overcome a 20-point Memphis lead and beat the Grizzlies, 98-88, Sunday.

To read that Clippers announcer Michael Smith babbled out some on-air, racist-sounding inanities, apparently intended to be humorous, is one thing. To find out that Ralph Lawler, a Hall of Fame-quality broadcaster, went along for the ride is, however, surprising. They both ended up sounding like a couple of dumb yokels just off the bus in the big city. But from Lawler we expect more. He should have had the presence of mind to stop the chatter as soon as he sensed its offensive nature. After all, Los Angeles is a cosmopolitan city, not some backwoods burg where ignorance passes for comedy.