Chick Hearn's passing marked the end of an era.

Chick Hearn’s passing marked the end of an era. And then there was silence…

Early in the 2000-2001 NBA season I found myself watching the Los Angeles Lakers vs. the Seattle SuperSonics on a cold November evening. While I was originally drawn to seeing some hard-nose basketball I soon settled in moreso to hear the ever-familiar sound of Lakers broadcaster Chick Hearn, whom I had always heard of but never actually heard until the creation of the NBA League Pass (thank you, whomever!). His verbal dance of words soon had me laughing and watching the game even closer than I normally do. I grabbed my laptop and typed an e-mail to my best friend, Scoot, who was just beginning to get into basketball. In it I attempted to describe Chick using only the written word. In one section I wrote:

“He’s one of the most respected men in the league and although he doesn’t have a typical radio-like voice, he sounds like an old friend that you’d love to sit down with and reminesce about the good old days.”

I’d give anything to be able to do that now.

Chick Hearn passed away on Monday (08/05/02) at the age of eighty-five.

For those of you that know of or heard a game called by Chick Hearn, you already know how much of a truly talented and brilliant man he was throughout his 42 year career as the official voice of the Lakers. For those of you who do not, let me again try to describe Chick with only mere words.

First, the background. When the Lakers moved from Minneapolis to Los Angeles for the 1960-1961 season they had several rookies join the organization: one was a shooting guard from the University of West Virginia by the name of Jerry West and the other, an announcer by the name of Chick Hearn. Both men would become synonymous with the Lakers organization for the next forty years.

Throughout his forty-two year career with the organization Chick called out almost every point made by the team since March, 1961. Early in his career he missed just two days on the job before mounting a streak that will almost certainly never be broken — he called 3,338 games (regular season and playoffs) consecutively from November 21, 1965 through December 16, 2001. Someone added it all up and it was 362,032 L.A. points, 232 players, 2,074 wins and eight championships in that span… all called by the same announcer. This means that Chick was there for Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain, for Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Magic Johnson’s “Showtime”, and most recently for Shaq and Kobe. We should all have this kind of dedication to our own careers. Could you imagine being that much of a staple?

And now, the legend. Chick was a true master in the realm of proving a “word’s eye view” of the game before him. Listeners to the man’s voice claim that they could almost see the Lakers playing while Chick gave the play-by-play. His non-stop, sincere and often witty banter brought generations of Laker fans closer to the game. It was a tradition in Los Angeles to watch the game on television with the volume turned all the way down and the radio turned up, as that was where Chick was heard.

Chick is credited with creating such basketball terms as “slam dunk”, the dreaded “air ball”, the “triple double”, the “ticky tack” foul, and for naming George Gervin’s infamous “finger roll.” He also bestowed lifelong nicknames upon Jerry “Mr. Clutch” West (as well as “Zeke from Cabin Creek”), “Big Game James” Worthy, and “Nick The Quick” Van Exel among others.

Hearn’s seat will definitely be one that will never be filled by anyone else, ever.

Known as “Chick-isms”, Hearn’s colorful commentary informed as well as entertained. These descriptive and comical comments became catch phrases with the Los Angeles fans. For example, a player being faked out badly has been “put in the popcorn machine.” Another player trying to make a flashy move which is unsuccessful is nailed with “well, folks, the mustard’s off the hot dog.” Chick had an expression for every single occurence on the court… or the “94×50 hunk of wood” as he called it.

Another aspect of Chick’s career that was unprecedented involved his brutal honesty. Listen to any other sports broadcaster calling the play-by-play for his or her team these days and I doubt you’ll hear any disparaging words about the players’ efforts or management. Chick, however, was never shy about this. If the Lakers were playing horribly he’d let the fans know. The night that I penned my e-mail to Scoot I quoted a line from Chick’s commentary that had me rolling:

“And here they come, the world-champion Lakers and they’re really off tonight. Ten on the shot clock. Come on, Shaq, you gotta do something with it. There’s a bad pass to Kobe. Yes, folks, the Lakers are discombobulated… and I don’t even know what that word means.”

Chick was well-loved and respected by all who came into contact with him. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He appeared in the movie “Fletch” and delivered the play-by-play when Chevy Chase is dreaming he’s on the Lakers. “This man is actually 6′5″, with the afro, 6′9″, pretty good dribbler…” Yep, that was Chick. He’s seemingly done it all.

One other aspect of Chick’s overall coolness was the fact that he truly loved Marge, his wife of almost 64 years. They would have been celebrating their anniversary together on August 13th. During each and every game he’d mention her in there somewhere… and credited her with being the driving force behing him and his career. There isn’t a player on the Lakers that couldn’t tell you about how much Chick adored his bride, as they mentioned during his memorial service.

Francis Dayle “Chick” Hearn was laid to rest on Friday (08/09/02). Laker legend Jerry West said “The city of Los Angeles has lost an incredible icon.” Magic Johnson noted “He’s a man that will be remembered long after. Some people grow bigger than their sport, bigger than their job.” Ask anyone who heard him over the years and they’ll tell you that you haven’t heard a basketball game until you’ve heard Chick Hearn.

Hearn’s seat will definitely be one that will never be filled by anyone else, ever. While the longevity in his position is enough to make him legendary it was his compassion, charm, and charisma that brought Chick into all of our hearts throughout the years. He will definitely be missed. I, for one, wept while watching his eulogy live on NBA.com TV. Anyone that knew Chick or knew of him surely felt a sense of loss at his passing.

As his fans knew, upon the clenching of a game by the Lakers we’d be treated to an oft-repeated verse he’d created in his own classic style — “You can put this one in the refrigerator. The door’s closed, the light’s out, the eggs are cooling, the butter’s getting hard and the Jell-O is jiggling.” While the light’s may be out on the official “Voice of the Lakers”, he’ll forever have a place in our hearts as the official voice of basketball.

Goodbye, dear man… as Magic Johnson said on Friday “there will never be another Chick Hearn.”