We remember him on the radio & on TV for the NY Knicks and we also remember him on WWOR TV back in the NASL days when he announced the NY Cosmos games. Jim Karvellas past away on New Year's Day. He also made a comeback to Giants Stadium in 2000 when the Metros remembered the NASL and invited many of the old time players from the different teams and the Cosmos to be remembered. That's when Pele couldn't make it & sent a video message on the diamondvision. He will be missed in NY.
Always came across as a nice down to earth guy with great passion for the games he did. I loved the way he pronounced Rory Sparrow's name during Knick telecasts and for him getting on Clyde Frazier at times when he thought Clyde was sugar coating things too much. Will miss you also. Need more like you Karvo.
Here are a couple of stories about Jim: http://www.bigapplesoccer.com/article.php?article_id=8387 http://www.bigapplesoccer.com/article.php?article_id=8388
Anyone wanting to reminice (sp?), you may be able to find a record the Cosmos put out in 77 I think. It has the Jim Karvellas doing the play by play. Side A is regular season- Side B is the playoffs. The album name is This Is Cosmos Soccer. I found one on E-bay a few years back.
For a former Cosmo guy like me, it is certainly sad news. Who can forget his trademark "This is Cosmos Soccer" before they would cut to a commercial? He was always interested in the game and was a great play-by-play guy. I had wondered why a guy like Karvellas wasn't interviewed for the Cosmos documentary, but I suppose this answers it. He will be missed.
RIP Jim - you were a class act! Not so fond Cosmos memories:. watching Cosmos games on WWOR and they would cut away to commercials in the middle of play. I kid you not. They would come back and you'd realize you just missed a goal.
I think he was also mentioned in the documentary movie and/or the book on the Cosmos - Once In A Lifetime... R.I.P. Jim you were a class act...
Jim and Seamus Malin were the best soccer announcing team of their time. Not to be matched until MSG put together J.P. Dellacamera, Shep Messing, and Steve Cangialosi -- an equally good team. (Although my dream team would be Max Bretos on play-by-play and Ray Hudson on color. Too bad they work for different networks.) Rest in Peace, Jim. You took the whole thing seriously, and at that time, that was a brave thing to do for an American sports broadcaster. You ran the risk of being branded a "Commie" or a "fairy" by Dick Young and troglodytes like him, but you treated soccer well and helped make it successful here. Just one more time, I would have loved to hear you say, "This is Cosmos Soccer!"
Here's another Karvellas story, his former broadcast partner Seamus Malin remembering the glory days of the Cosmos: http://www.bigapplesoccer.com/article.php?article_id=8394
I've got mine, and am so glad I do. [He Pepe, re-release it on CD, why don't you?] Karvellas was pure class. I miss the Jim and Seamus team so very much. He is missed.
The youthful memories of Jim Karvellas, Seamus Malin, and Paul Gardner on COSMOS SOCCERRRRRR!!!!!! are burned in my brain along with Toby Charles. What a great voice and great passion! "Eski to Bogie to Jeff Durgan ...."
After every Cosmos home game in '78. Wonderful memories. I associate that song more with the team than with the James Bond movie it is from. "you are watching COSMOS SOCCER!"