Clint Calaway

Chick Hearn, the legendary announcer of the Los Angeles Lakers, just died a couple of days ago. As a die-hard Laker fan from when I could remeber, I have always heard Chick call games from the Show-Time era, to the brat pack day, and now with the Shaq-Kobe days. I know that this board is read by people arround the U.S., as well as arround the world, so many of you probably have never heard Chick Hearn. But Chick was what gave the team such magic when ever he would announce a game. I rarely have heard an announcer take the action on the court and actually elevate it in excitement and enjoyment.

No other announcer was able to best relflect the energy and flow of a basketball game like Chick. The man was able to create such phrases in our vocabulary, from the every day words like "Slam Dunk" and "Air Ball", to his patened "Mustard of the Hot Dog" "Throws up a brick", or a player was "putting on a clinic". Chick was one of the funniest commentators I have ever heard, not only telling you the play by play, but also inserting the funniest humor in his comments I have ever heard from an announcer.

Laker Fans loved him because he whould call it as it is, with tremendous style and flair. If the Lakers were playing great, he would call it, and if they looked like crap, he would tell you, too. It didn't matter who the player was, Chick would tell you if he was playing like he was in the hall of fame, or making dumb plays.

Being from Los Angeles, I feel that the whole city has lost a little glow today. To me, he was more then a broad caster, but a man who could reflect the entire city in the way he would talk about the game, and comment about the fans and citizens of the City of Los Angeles.

It is sad to see him go, but I feel very lucky that I could hear Chick call games until he was 85 years old.

Well, to use his classic closing phrase "This one's in the Refrigerator;
the door's closed, the light's out, the eggs are cooling, the butter's getting hard, and the jello's jiggling!!!

Good Bye, Chick, and thanks for the memories.