Getting to Know Me

Hello. Welcome to my first column anywhere!

My name is Bill Crawford. I'm not related to Greg Crawford (as far as I know). He has invited me to contribute to Craw's Corner as a columnist. Even though I've never done a column on anything anywhere, I think I can offer some insights on various topics, such as sports, the latest news and weather, as I've always had a passion for sports and weather and whenever I can contribute something I feel is newsworthy, I'll do it with the utmost professionalism.

I will let tell right off the bat (I love that baseball term) that I'm not a debater. I'm not all that great arguing an issue. Believe me, there are a lot of hot button issues that if you want a discussion, you can listen to your favorite talk radio station. There are plenty of talkers out there.

To give you a little bit of information about me, I was born in Medford, Oregon in 1956. I spent my first eight years of formal education in Central Point and in the summer of 1970, I moved with my mother and sister to Eugene, where I graduated from Churchill High School in 1974. (There was a brief moment when I lived in South Lake Tahoe, California and attended South Tahoe High School.) After high school, I attended what is now Southern Oregon University in Ashland (Go Raiders!) and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Speech Communication.

I've been in radio professionally since 1977, having started my career in the Rogue Valley. My career has taken me as far south as the San Joaquin Valley in California and as far north as Juneau, Alaska. I was also honored by being a radio personality in Sacramento, San Francisco and in Portland (KXL and KKSN). I'm presently at KKNX/KEED in Eugene, where I'm a radio personality, producer and occasionally, a salesperson. I'm also in the sales department at KORE (Fox Sports Eugene). KKNX is the Eugene radio affiliate of the Oregon State Beavers for football, men's basketball and baseball, while KORE is the Eugene radio affiliate of John Canzano (The Bald-Faced Truth), the Portland Trail Blazers and the Las Vegas Raiders.

Musically, KKNX is a classic hits/oldies station while KEED is a classic country station. KORE has Dan Patrick, Colin Cowherd, Canzano and a live and local sports/talk show featuring Oregonian/oregonlive.com sportswriter James Crepea. All three stations have an online presence: KKNX is on radio84.com, KEED is on keed1450.com and KORE is on foxsportseugene.com.

I am also the play-by-play voice of the Eugene Challengers American Legion baseball team on KKNX and do high school sports for Wynne Broadcasting of Klamath Falls. I'm presently the play-by-play voice for Henley Hornets football and do postseason play-by-play for Henley, Mazama and Lost River High Schools as needed for football, boys and girls basketball, softball and baseball.

My favorite TV shows these days are "Survivor," "Pawn Stars," "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives," "Fixer Upper," "Property Brothers" and "Home Town." I also enjoy classic TV shows like "The Andy Griffith Show," "Match Game" and "The Three Stooges."

I was also a HUGE fan of "Portland Wrestling" and at one time, I would've loved to have had the late Frank Bonnema's job or Don Coss' job as the host. The Portland Sports Arena's Crow's Nest would've been a fun place to be. I'd like to think I could've handled Playboy Buddy Rose, Rip Oliver and Rowdy Roddy Piper...even The Claw (anyone remember The Claw?). I'll never know, though.

Personally, I'm married with two daughters and two grandsons. I also have a younger sister and my mother is still with us, alive and (lovingly) as stubborn as ever at the age of 93. It goes without saying that family is very important to me.

That should just about cover it. I look forward to sharing my thoughts about various topics. I'm not an expert, though. I don't pretend to be. I'm just me.

I found this saying in "Reader's Digest" a number of years ago..."Be yourself, because nobody can tell you that you're doing it wrong." Words to live by.