Former Flyers Radio Duo to be Honored by PSWA for Excellence

Tim Saunders and Steve Coates, one of the most entertaining radio duos in Philly sports history, are the winners of the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association’s Bill Campbell Broadcast Award.

They will be among the honored guests at the PSWA’s 119^th banquet on Wednesday, Jan. 17 at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Cherry Hill. Cocktail hour starts at 5 p.m., followed by the dinner.

Coates worked for the organization’s broadcast teams for 43 years, including the last nine as a color commentator next to radio play-by-play man Saunders.  Saunders has been doing the Philadelphia Flyers’ radio broadcasts for the last 26 seasons.

In the booth, Saunders and Coates had an unparalleled chemistry, and their broadcasts were filled with humorous stories, many from Coates’ brief NHL career.

Carchidi Column: Saluting a Memorable Flyers (Broadcast) Team

The Campbell Award is presented for excellence in broadcasting. It is named after Campbell, whose remarkable career touched parts of nine decades. Campbell, who died in 2014 at 91, was a broadcaster for the Eagles, Phillies, Warriors/76ers. Later in his career, he was a talk-show host for WIP and a sports commentator for KYW.

Past Campbell honorees have been Eagles broadcaster Merrill Reese, Flyers broadcaster Jim Jackson, Sixers broadcaster Marc Zumoff, the Phillies’ radio team of Scott Franzke and Larry Andersen, WIP talk-show host Angelo Cataldi, and Sixers broadcaster Tom McGinnis.

This year’s banquet will feature a 50-year salute to the Philadelphia Flyers’ Stanley Cup champions of 1974. Several players from that team will be honored. Sports comic Joe Conklin will provide the evening’s lighter side, and many more honorees will be announced in the coming weeks.

The PSWA banquet is the longest-running event of its kind in the United States.

Tickets are available at https://phillysportswriters.com/buy-banquet-tickets/