Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 17, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Basketball analyst Bill Raftery before the game between the Houston Cougars and the Texas Longhorns at Fertitta Center.
Any true college basketball fan will know all about legendary announcer Bill Raftery, who was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2017.
They’ll also know all about Raftery’s iconic catchphrases, such as yelling “Onions!” when a player hits a big shot or “a little lingerie on the deck” when a defender gets crossed over.
But if those same fans tune in to watch the 2026-27 season-opener between Villanova and Notre Dame, they’ll be surprised to notice that Raftery has decided that he’s going to shy away from using those iconic catchphrases.
Bill Raftery Won’t Use Catchphrases For Game In Rome
Raftery, the son of two Catholic parents and the brother of a Catholic nun, is set to call the game, which features two of the United States’ most prominent Catholic universities playing in Rome.
In honor of that, and the fact that Pope Leo XIV, the first American Pope and a Villanova graduate, could well be watching, Raftery has decided to temper his language a little bit.
“I’ve got to refrain from some probably in deference to the pope,” Raftery told The Associated Press. “But something might pop out that might cost me a day in the confessional booth.”
Raftery, who was first a coach at Seton Hall before shifting to broadcasting in the 1980s, says all his calls have been spontaneous.
“Part of what you’re doing, not that you think of it as entertainment, but it’s to make the audience enjoy what they’re watching,” he said. “I can’t express deep enough to just be a small part of a lot of kids’ lives and a lot of great institutions. It’s like you got on the bandwagon and you never got off. Everything I did or said was to be said succinctly and with meaning — to get in and out of the play-by-play man’s way.”
But for this one time, he’s done a little planning. And we can’t say we blame him for proceeding with caution.