Chick Hearn
Francis Dayle Hearn (27 November 1916 - 5 August 2002), pro basketball announcer for the Los Angeles Lakers, better known by the moniker Chick Hearn, is famous for coining the terms
"Slam dunk," "air ball," "no harm, no foul," and for broadcasting 3,338 consecutive Lakers games starting in 1965.
Hearn grew up in Aurora, Illinois near Chicago and attended Bradley University where he earned the nickname "Chick" while an AAU basketball player. One day he was given what appeared to be a shoe box but instead contained a dead chicken.
On May 9, 1991 Hearn became the third broadcaster to be inducted into Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. In 1995 he was voted to be the twentieth member of the American Sportscaster Hall of Fame by his fellow sportscasters.
Hearn's streak of 3,338 consecutive Lakers games came to an end midway through the 2001-02 season when he underwent cardiac bypass surgery. Hearn recovered from his illness and resumed broadcasting that season, and in June 2002 he was master of ceremonies before a crowd of over 100,000 as the Lakers celebrated their third consecutive NBA championship. But, during the summer, Hearn suffered a stroke at his Encino, California home; he fell and was injured.
Chick Hearn died on August 5, 2002 at the age of 86 and was interred in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. He was survived by Marge Hearn, his wife of 60 years.
Chick-isms
- "Air-ball": A shot that draws nothing but air.
- "Bloooows the layup! ": Missed a very easy layup.
- "Boo-birds": Fans who boo their own team when they play badly.
- (You could) "Call it with Braille": An easy call for an official, e.g. a blatant foul.
- (He did the) "Bunny hop in the pea patch": He was called for traveling.
- (He got) "Caught with his hand in the cookie jar": Reaching foul.
- (The) "Charity Stripe": The free-throw line.
- (He's got 'em) "Covered like the rug on your floor": Really good one-on-one defense, e.g. football game (e.g., 21 to 14).
- "He has
- (He threw up a) "Frozen rope": A shot with a very flat trajectory.
- (It's) "Garbage time": The remainder of the game (after it's "in the refrigerator").
- (In & out,) "Heart-brrrreak!": A shot that appears to go in, but rattles off the rim and misses. Sometimes 'it went in so far you could read the Commissioner's name from below.'
- "He has two chances, slim and none, and slim just left the building": The player has no chance of success with this play.
- (There are) "Lots of referees in the building, only three getting paid": The entire crowd acts as though they are the officials by disagreeing with a call.
- "The mustard's off the hot dog": A player attempts an unnecessarily showy, flashy play which ends up in a turnover or is otherwise unsuccessful.
- "Nervous time": When the final moments of a game are pressure-packed
- "94-by-50 hunk of wood": Simply put, a basketball court's dimensions
- "Attacking 47 feet": The front court
- "No harm, no foul(, no blood, no ambulance, no stitches)": A non-call by an official when insignificant contact has occurred.
- "Not Phi Beta Kappa": Simply put, not a smart play.
- "This game's in the refrigerator, the door's closed, the lights are out, the eggs are cooling, the butter's getting hard, and the Jello's jiggling!": When the Lakers were beating their opponent so badly that the game was basically over.
- ...Since Hector was a pup" A very long time
- "Slaaam dunk!"
- "Throws up a brick": When a player tosses up a particularly errant shot.
- "Throws up a prayer": A wild shot that will need a miracle to score.
- "Ticky-tack": A foul called when very little contact has been made.
- "Triple-double": A player gets more than 9 of three statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals or blocked shots
- (On his) "Wallet": A player fell on his rear end
- "Words-eye view": What listeners received while listening to Chick call the game on the radio.
Nicknames for Laker players
