The Ageless Question Is Finally Answered By The Legend Himself: What Is Bill Raftery's Most Memorable 'ONIONS' Call?
If you know me, you know my love for Bill Raftery. He's my number 1 answer in terms of guy I want to have a drink with, guy I want to have dinner with, guy I want to talk basketball with. He's my white whale through and through even after getting the chance to meet twice recently at games.
I don't know if there's a person who dislikes Raft. He's universally loved, he is college basketball. He's been around forever. He has legendary calls. We all know arguably the most famous one:
Simple. Iconic. It still blows my mind that Sean Miller is the guy who made the pass to Jerome Lane. But we're not here to talk about Jerome. We're here to talk about onions. There was a heated debate about onions recently:
The rules are simple. It has to be under 2 minutes left in the game. It has to be an outside shot. It has to feel like a dagger call. Onions isn't just thrown around all willy nilly. It's impossible to say nobody is allowed to say it besides Raft, but it feels that way. That said, I'll let it slide if you're talking about your team or the moment. But any other announcer says it? Well, you can catch me at Rough n Rowdy.
Now we know the answer to the ageless question though. What is the greatest onions call? It's a little school called Siena, home of everyone's beloved Snack God, Clem. Let's go back in the time machine. Siena had Fran on the sidelines. They were also a damn good mid-major. A year prior (2008) they beat the shit out of Vandy as a 13 seed. In 2009 they were a 9 seed who drew OSU.
That's where Ronald Moore and Raft introduced us to onions, double order.
What a call. You can hear the giddiness in Raft's voice. That's what makes him the best. He loves this shit as much as we do. But now we have the answer to the ageless question. This is the most memorable onions call. It's a little shocking, considering, you know, this happened:
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HOW ABOUT THOSE ONIONS? DOUBLE ORDER, SAUTEED. Maybe it was overshadowed by 'Jenkins for the win'? I don't know. But here's a bunch of onions calls:
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This man is never allowed to retire.