8/4/02
Tuesday, 9:52am
Mood: Nostalgic
Listening: Still Norah Jones
Chick Hearn died today...He was 85.
While some people outside of LA or the game of basketball has never heard of his name, for the people who did, or even had the wonderful priviledge to hear one of his games, today is a sad day indeed. If you're not into basketball...I suggest you read another blog cuz this one's for all the basketball fellas...
He has been THE Lakers announcer ever since they moved to LA. All the chickisms which is so commonplace today...phrases like "Slam Dunk", or "Air Ball", never existed before Chick. I can't even imagine listening or watching a Laker game without Chick. It's not going to be the same.
It's weird. I don't quite understand how my heart is just so sad over someone I didn't even meet in person. I so prayed for him yesterday to have a miraculous recovery. But Chick, he was like a friend. Lakers and Chick go together. He was a part of me growing up. I remember one night when I was little, wearing my purple Lakers "back to back Champions" t-shirt and watching the Lakers play on tv, hearing Chick say stuff like "The mustard's off the hot dog", "magic yo-yoing up and down", "no harm no foul no blood no ambulance", "alley-op to coop", "He did a bunny hop in a pee-patch", "Woolridge got his hand caught in the cookie jar", and "Scott put him in the popcorn machine, he's got salt and butter all over him!" Heh, so for all of you who have no idea what all these terms mean...sorry, but he had a language of his own. He would call Sedale Threat "Threat the thief", Worthy was Big Game James, Michael Cooper was just "Coop". He said that Mychal Thompson is going to run for mayor in Jamaica. One time I heard him say, "Vlade jumped so low you can't even slip a piece of paper under him" THAT, my friend, is classic Chick. Sometimes he would be confused between eddie jones and kobe bryant on the court and Stu, his sidekick would have to correct him, but before Stu completes his sentence Chick would start going off again...yeah he was a bit senile in the late 90's but that just added to him charm. Every laker broadcast was "Chick and Stu"...kinda like Chicken Stew. He'd say stuff like, "DannyAingeThrowsUpAPrayerItWon'tGoDidn'tDrawIron
TheLakersComeBackTheOtherWayMagicOnTheBreak NoLookPassToWorthyAlleyOopToCoopSlamDunk!!!" Yes...he really did say it that fast. During Commercial breaks he would say "Let's pause 10 seconds for station identification...this is the Lakers broadcasting network..."and then you would hear him on the commercial, trying to the gets kids to join the Lakers' kids club, just like Vin Scully would sell Farmer John hot dogs during Dodgers broadcasts. So...that Laker commercial was the only time when you as the listener can pause and relax from his motormouthing for a bit...before he comes back and starts going off again...During bball season...the only 2 channels you would need was KCAL and Prime Ticket...ha...remember Prime Ticket? He made not only names like magic, kareem, worthy, scott, kobe, shaq famous, but he also made the other guys like Mychal Thompson, Orlando Woolridge, Jeff Lamp, Wes Matthews, Tyrone Lue, Sam Perkins, and Mike Shmerk famous...cuz I can still remember him saying those names in my mind. During the fourth quarter of a blowout, I would guess when he would make his famous line, "This game is in the refrigerator, the doors closed, lights out, eggs are cooling, the butter's getting hard and the jello's jiggling." Man, classic.
He will sorely be missed and Laker games will never be the same again. It's weird that we take Chick so much for granted and when he's not there anymore, all those memories start coming up. I feel sorry for the guy who would have to announce the Laker games after this Legend...and when last season Chick had to miss some games to have surgery, I think Paul Sunderland was the announcer...man...nothing against Paul, but it was just not the same.
Chick Hearn will always be a part of me growing up, right up there along with the Kirk Gibson homerun off Eckersley, Hershiser's 59 scoreless innings, Joe Carter's game 6 home run at the Skydome in the World Series. Those were the days when Magic was wearing converse, everyone had John Stockton shorts, Kareem and his goggles, and you wonder how Kevin McHale had so much hair under his armpit whenever he did a fadeaway shot in the garden against the Lakers.
I can still hear Chick say, "Tonight, it's the Chicago Bulls versus yourrrr...Losssss ANGELES Lakers...."
I just wished I can hear some more...
Tuesday, 9:52am
Mood: Nostalgic
Listening: Still Norah Jones
Chick Hearn died today...He was 85.
While some people outside of LA or the game of basketball has never heard of his name, for the people who did, or even had the wonderful priviledge to hear one of his games, today is a sad day indeed. If you're not into basketball...I suggest you read another blog cuz this one's for all the basketball fellas...
He has been THE Lakers announcer ever since they moved to LA. All the chickisms which is so commonplace today...phrases like "Slam Dunk", or "Air Ball", never existed before Chick. I can't even imagine listening or watching a Laker game without Chick. It's not going to be the same.
It's weird. I don't quite understand how my heart is just so sad over someone I didn't even meet in person. I so prayed for him yesterday to have a miraculous recovery. But Chick, he was like a friend. Lakers and Chick go together. He was a part of me growing up. I remember one night when I was little, wearing my purple Lakers "back to back Champions" t-shirt and watching the Lakers play on tv, hearing Chick say stuff like "The mustard's off the hot dog", "magic yo-yoing up and down", "no harm no foul no blood no ambulance", "alley-op to coop", "He did a bunny hop in a pee-patch", "Woolridge got his hand caught in the cookie jar", and "Scott put him in the popcorn machine, he's got salt and butter all over him!" Heh, so for all of you who have no idea what all these terms mean...sorry, but he had a language of his own. He would call Sedale Threat "Threat the thief", Worthy was Big Game James, Michael Cooper was just "Coop". He said that Mychal Thompson is going to run for mayor in Jamaica. One time I heard him say, "Vlade jumped so low you can't even slip a piece of paper under him" THAT, my friend, is classic Chick. Sometimes he would be confused between eddie jones and kobe bryant on the court and Stu, his sidekick would have to correct him, but before Stu completes his sentence Chick would start going off again...yeah he was a bit senile in the late 90's but that just added to him charm. Every laker broadcast was "Chick and Stu"...kinda like Chicken Stew. He'd say stuff like, "DannyAingeThrowsUpAPrayerItWon'tGoDidn'tDrawIron
TheLakersComeBackTheOtherWayMagicOnTheBreak NoLookPassToWorthyAlleyOopToCoopSlamDunk!!!" Yes...he really did say it that fast. During Commercial breaks he would say "Let's pause 10 seconds for station identification...this is the Lakers broadcasting network..."and then you would hear him on the commercial, trying to the gets kids to join the Lakers' kids club, just like Vin Scully would sell Farmer John hot dogs during Dodgers broadcasts. So...that Laker commercial was the only time when you as the listener can pause and relax from his motormouthing for a bit...before he comes back and starts going off again...During bball season...the only 2 channels you would need was KCAL and Prime Ticket...ha...remember Prime Ticket? He made not only names like magic, kareem, worthy, scott, kobe, shaq famous, but he also made the other guys like Mychal Thompson, Orlando Woolridge, Jeff Lamp, Wes Matthews, Tyrone Lue, Sam Perkins, and Mike Shmerk famous...cuz I can still remember him saying those names in my mind. During the fourth quarter of a blowout, I would guess when he would make his famous line, "This game is in the refrigerator, the doors closed, lights out, eggs are cooling, the butter's getting hard and the jello's jiggling." Man, classic.
He will sorely be missed and Laker games will never be the same again. It's weird that we take Chick so much for granted and when he's not there anymore, all those memories start coming up. I feel sorry for the guy who would have to announce the Laker games after this Legend...and when last season Chick had to miss some games to have surgery, I think Paul Sunderland was the announcer...man...nothing against Paul, but it was just not the same.
Chick Hearn will always be a part of me growing up, right up there along with the Kirk Gibson homerun off Eckersley, Hershiser's 59 scoreless innings, Joe Carter's game 6 home run at the Skydome in the World Series. Those were the days when Magic was wearing converse, everyone had John Stockton shorts, Kareem and his goggles, and you wonder how Kevin McHale had so much hair under his armpit whenever he did a fadeaway shot in the garden against the Lakers.
I can still hear Chick say, "Tonight, it's the Chicago Bulls versus yourrrr...Losssss ANGELES Lakers...."
I just wished I can hear some more...
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