Bill Hillgrove retired. Kind of. He will cease doing Pittsburgh Steelers radio broadcasts after 30 years. But Hillgrove will continue to do Pitt football and basketball.

It says a lot about Hillgrove’s limitless energy when, at 83, he wants to slow down gradually. And continue to serve as the midnight mayor of Conneaut Lake, Pa. (I am frequently one of his constituents.)

Quitting the Steelers eliminates occasionally navigating difficult travel between Pitt football Saturday and the Steelers on Sunday. Trekking coast to coast and working games on either side of the journey can be tough even if you’re not 83.

But not as tough as watching small-hands Kenny Pickett apply his sub-mediocrity for 17 games next fall. That’s another bullet Hillgrove is dodging.

Hillgrove is a pro’s pro. Charismatic. Booming, recognizable voice. He knows everything but prepares like he doesn’t. A homer, but not to a nauseating degree. That’s where the line should be drawn for an announcer employed by a team. Hillgrove rallies the fans. Hillgrove isn’t vanilla, like so many latter-day cookie-cutter announcers.

But Hillgrove’s biggest accomplishment might be becoming identified with his team. Three teams, really: Steelers, Pitt football and Pitt basketball. When you think of those teams, you think of Hillgrove, and vice versa.

How many have done that locally?

Mike Lange with the Penguins. Bob Prince with the Pirates. Myron Cope with the Steelers. Hillgrove. After that, the waters get murky.

Maybe Jack Fleming, who preceded Hillgrove as the voice of the Steelers and did play-by-play for West Virginia, too. Fleming and Hillgrove were in opposing booths during Pitt-West Virginia football games, aka “The Backyard Brawl.”

Don’t dismiss Paul Steigerwald, whose on-air tenure with the Penguins began in 1984 and continues now. His importance gleamed brightly when he was MC for the retiring of Jaromir Jagr’s number. When it comes to the Penguins, Steigerwald is always there.

Maybe Greg Brown or Lanny Frattare with the Pirates. But it stunts your legend when you don’t have many good teams or memorable moments with which to work.

Memorable moments boost a broadcaster’s rep immensely, like Fleming’s call of “The Immaculate Reception.”

“It’s caught out of the air! The ball is pulled in by Franco Harris! Harris is going for a touchdown for Pittsburgh!”

Catchphrases help, too. Lange, Prince and Cope had a locker full of those. (By the way, Prince doing Penguins hockey in 1977-78 was a treat. “The Gunner” knew zilch about hockey, but we got to take “The noon balloon to Saskatoon.” “They got it. Now we got it.”)

Cope’s legend was burnished greatly by his creation of The Terrible Towel. It will keep his name alive forever.

Pittsburgh has been lucky with announcers. We’ve had lots of all-time greats.

It’s different for the young announcers coming along. They’re mostly encouraged to be safe and dull. Lovable eccentricity is what made Lange, Prince and Cope great. We get androids now, not legends.

Ex-jocks are different. Pittsburgh has had some great ones on mic, like Phil Bourque, Bob Walk, Craig Wolfley, Pat Bostick and Curtis Aiken right now.

But they were players. Hillgrove and his ilk are of, by and for the people.

Rob King is the favorite to replace Hillgrove on Steelers radio. He’d be a fine choice, but he’d face a stiff test: Will Steelers fans continue to turn down the TV and listen to the radio broadcast while they watch the game?

I suspect they will. It’s that kind of town.

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