Chick Hearn
| Chick Hearn | |
|---|---|
Hearn in 1963
|
|
| Born |
Francis Dayle Hearn November 27, 1916 Aurora, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | August 5, 2002 (aged 85) Northridge, California, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Injuries suffered in a fall |
| Occupation | Sportscaster |
| Years active | 1957–2002 |
| Spouse(s) | Marge Jeffers (m. 1937–2002; his death) |
| Children | Gary Samantha |
Francis Dayle "Chick" Hearn (November 27, 1916 – August 5, 2002) was an American sportscaster. Known primarily as the long-time play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association, Hearn was remembered for his rapid fire, staccato broadcasting style, associated with colorful phrases such as slam dunk, air ball, and no harm, no foul that have become common basketball vernacular, and for broadcasting 3,338 consecutive Lakers games starting on November 21, 1965. Additionally, Hearn started the now common tradition of estimating the distance of shots taken Of note is that most of Hearn's games in the television era were simulcast on both radio and television, even after most teams chose to use different announcers for the different media.
Hearn was born and raised in Aurora, Illinois, in west suburban Chicago, and attended high school at Marmion Academy and college at Bradley University. He earned the nickname "Chick" while an Amateur Athletic Union basketball player at Bradley, when teammates played a prank on him: giving him a shoebox to see his surprised reaction when he opened it and found not sneakers inside, but instead a dead chicken.
He and his wife Marge were married August 13, 1938. They had two children, a son, Gary and a daughter, Samantha, both of whom predeceased Hearn. Marge Hearn died January 30, 2016 at the age of 98.
Hearn's broadcasting streak began on November 21, 1965. Hearn missed the Lakers' game the previous night after having been stranded in Fayetteville, Arkansas by inclement weather after having announced a game between Arkansas and Texas Tech. Even that was only Hearn's second missed assignment for the Lakers since he had become the team's broadcaster in March 1961. He would not miss another until December 16, 2001. Over the course of the streak, Hearn was paired with several different color commentators, including "Hot" Rod Hundley, Pat Riley, Keith Erickson, Dick Schad, Lynn Shackelford and Stu Lantz.
...
Wikipedia