College football? How about nine Rose Bowls and six Orange Bowls, including Colorado's national championship win over Notre Dame that gave the Buffs the 1990 national title. Golf? Seven Masters and five U.S. Opens. And don't forget three heavyweight title fights, the NBA playoffs, and a World Series.

This year, at age 75, Enberg returned to his first love — calling baseball games. This week, he took a few moments away from his duties as San Diego Padres play-by-play man to answer questions from Denver Post readers in the latest edition of "Fan Mail."

Dick, where did your catchphrase "Oh My!" come from? What was the first time you used it?
— Peter, Littleton

Dick Enberg: It's a common Midwestern phrase. I grew up on a farm in Michigan. My mother used it constantly, often in reference to any misbehavior, like "Oh My, Richard, now, what have you done?"

"Oh My!" has been a friend for over 50 years and serves a wonderful variety of uses.

(Editor's note: Enberg's "Oh My!" expression on the air began in the late 1950s when he was a graduate student at Indiana calling basketball games for the campus radio station. He often used the phrase after Hoosiers' fast breaks).

Mr. Enberg, OH MY!!! You are my all-time favorite play-by-play announcer. Since you have broadcast hundreds of games over the years I would like to know what your top three memories are behind the microphone?
— Ben, Littleton

DE: Ben, thank you. Nolan Ryan's no-hitters (there's no better drama for an announcer), the 1968 UCLA vs. Houston basketball game in the Astrodome (largest crowd, 52,000, and first time ever a regular-season game was televised in primetime). And the Broncos vs. Cleveland ... Elway first-and-98, the Ernest Byner fumble game and the Broncos' defeating Green Bay and Brett Favre to win the Super Bowl for Elway.

As a fellow alumnus of Central Michigan University (1975), I would like to know if you broadcast CMU football and basketball games while a student there in the 1950s? Also, congratulations on having the Academic Center at CMU named in your honor.
— Andy Mead, Westminster

DE: Andy, go Chippewas! Yes, after applying for a custodial job at WCEN in Mt. Pleasant, home of CMU, I eventually became their announcer of football and basketball. I was a college junior. The custodial job paid $1 per hour. When the sports director left three weeks later, they asked me if I wanted to be their play-by-play announcer. I did handsprings and said yes. It also paid $1 an hour.

Dear Mr. Enberg, Colorado sports fans have had the pleasure of you calling some of the greatest moments in our sports history, from "The Drive," to Colorado's 1990 National Championship, to the Broncos' Super Bowl victory over the Packers, to the Nuggets' upset over Seattle in 1994 (and many more). In retrospect, which Colorado sports event did you enjoy broadcasting the most?
— Brad, Denver

DE: Brad, all of those moments are indelible, but there is no greater visual memory than the Super Bowl moment when Elway sold out, was cart-wheeled, and the Broncos broke the AFC's string of 13 straight Super Bowl losses and John Elway finally had his Super Bowl ring.

Incidentally, NBC heard just days before that we had lost the TV rights to the NFL and that game would be our last. Our prep meetings for that game featured more than one grown man, technician, producer and announcer acknowledging the news in tears.

First off, I have enjoyed listening to you my whole life and thank you for your many contributions to broadcasting and keeping us fans entertained through all these years. My first baseball game in person was in Pittsburgh in 1972, when Roberto Clemente hit one out off the Cubs' Fergie Jenkins in the bottom of the ninth to win a game. What are your thoughts on Clemente and who was your baseball hero growing up?
— Clyde, Severance

DE: Clemente was an all-around superstar. Not Willie Mays, but close. My favorite was Ted Williams, the greatest hitter ever. I wanted to be him. I taught myself to hit left-handed.

If NBC asked you to come back and call Notre Dame football again, would you do it? I truly enjoyed the games you called through the 1990s and wish you would do it again, even if for one season.
— Michael, St. Louis

DE: Michael, whether a fan or an enemy, Notre Dame, historically, is football at its elite, emotional level. I grew up in Michigan rooting against the omnipotent Irish teams, but when assigned their football and basketball games, I grew to respect and embrace how they represent what the collegiate experience is all about. Believe me, they do it right. Where else does the college president teach an academic class and live in a college dorm? No, I can't return, but I'll move on with complete admiration for the fact that Notre Dame does it right.

It looked like you picked a good year to announce the Padres' games! What's the secret to their success, and are you surprised?
--Sharon, Wichita

DE: It's been magical. I'm totally surprised. I was braced for the team that the whole world picked to finish last in the NL. They don't have stars, with the exception of Adrian Gonzalez. But they have a team, 25 guys pulling for each other and the common cause. It's been remarkable. If you love underdogs, the Padres are reason to cheer.

I'm a huge tennis fan and I've loved your calls through the years. I have a couple of questions for you, if I might. First, what's wrong with American men's tennis today? Second, did you like covering, or working with John McEnroe?
--Lori, Fort Collins

DE: Lori, Johnny Mac has grown to be a wonderful father and thoughtful partner. He's extraordinarily bright. Men's tennis? I wish I had the answer. Patrick McEnroe, who is the lead man in our USTA development, feels the young corps of new boys and men is lagging, but there are some potentially super girls that are about to emerge. Let's hope.

Thanks for doing this! I'm a big fan from way back. I've watched your old panel show, Sports Challenge, on ESPN Classic. I can't believe some of the athletes you got to do that show. Can you share a favorite moment from that show?
— Jeff, Costa Mesa, Calif.

DE: Jeff, there were many. Back in the 1970s, we had all the legends of past and modern sport. The thrill was that after taping the shows, all the athletes would stay and enjoy a libation or two in the Green Room. To sit in on the interchange between athletes from different sports and the respect they had for each other was remarkable.

I can remember Raymond Berry chasing after Joe DiMaggio to get his autograph as Joe was leaving for the hotel.

Hard to believe, but as a young sportscaster, I was in the midst of the greatest athletes of all-time and never had the nerve to ask for a single autograph, myself. Oh My!