Mr. Chick Hearns died yesterday at 85. Any thoughts?
Im sad. ill miss hearing his voice.

He will be missed

It is truly truly sad.
Laker games will never be the same hearing his voice.
The guy who replaced him last season for when he was gone...just sucked..my grandmother coulda done a better job.

At least he saw a Laker team three-peat, somethign the franchise has never done.

Slam Dunk
Airball
calling distance...20 footer...18 footer...
the Coop A Loop

All phrases he made & made popular.

..."This game is in the Refrigerator, the door is closed, the eggs r gettin cold, the butter's getting hard & the jello's jiggling!"


Much Love Chick, to the greatest Laker of all time.
[This message was edited Tue Aug 6 14:05:50 PDT 2002 by jseven]
[This message was edited Tue Aug 6 14:06:05 PDT 2002 by jseven]

..you forgot "the door is closed"!!!

But, being a L.A. native, I grew up listening to this great man. And, his passing has affected us all, not to mention how it has affected the NBA as a whole!! He was someone who we all felt was a part of our family, and this is a sad time in Lakerland...

God bless Chick!! You will not be forgotten...

Strike

softNwet said:

Here's some thoughts:

Phrases like airball, slam dunk, allyoop, ticky tack foul, charity stripe (free-throw line), finger roll, garbage time (the remainder of the game, after it's in the refrigerator), throws up a brick, dribble drive, triple-double , etc. were invented by Chick. Every basketball fan and player (of every level) uses these phrases, most times without even knowing it was Chick Hearn who invented them. Even though he defined the Lakers, it's hard to imagine the whole NBA without Chick, because he was a pioneer in its entire vocabulary. They're Chickisms.

Since 1965 Chick had never missed a game until he had heart surgery in December of last year - that's 3,338 consecutive games...36 years. Cal Ripken? Pfffttt!

He pioneered the simulcast. Meaning he was the first to call a game simultaneously for radio and television. Not an easy thing to do, considering you have to convey to radio listeners what's going on in the game vividly, yet still be able to announce the games for tv viewers without going into too much obvious detail.

It's surreal to imagine Laker games without him. He's the only Laker play by play announcer that LA has ever had since they moved there from Minneapolis in 1960.

42 years with the Lakers, 36 consecutive years without missing a game, 3,338 consecutive games, 64 years married, and lived to be 85 until an unfortunate accident took him away. Seems that Chick did everything for a looong time.

Sometimes we would turn the televison down to hear the radio play by play by Chick when it was a nationally televised game and not local etc. Others I know did the same. That speaks volumes imho. R.I.P. Chick.

On those occasions when the Lakers failed to make the playoffs it was
odd not having Chick Hearn doing the play-by-play. Clearly 90% of everything
I have ever heard about professional basketball came thru Chick's broadcasts.
It's amazing how many of those playground phrases,"slam dunk", "air ball", "mustard slips
off the hot dog" all came from him. A truly great announcer has passed on.

Being in California, and so close 2 L.A., it was all over the news last night and in 2day's paper...Chick Hearn was a one of a kind, I only hope he knew how much everyone loved him...a class act 'til the end.

R.I.P. Chick Hearn

R.I.P He was the Voice of the Team IMHO.The Man was Something else&very much on the real.

SAD SAD DAY.HE WAS AS MUCH A PART OF THE LAKERS CHAMPIONSHIPS AS MAGIC AND KAREEM.I FEEL SORRY 4 THE PEOPLE WHO NEVER GOT 2 HEAR HIM CALL A GAME.IT CAME SO NATURAL 4 HIM 2 MAKE U FEEL LIKE U WERE RIGHT THERE COURTSIDE.