Francis D. "Chick" Hearn

Francis “Chick” Hearn turned the seemingly simple task of broadcasting a sporting event into an art form, and in the process became an icon and a celebrity. Hearn’s first broadcast words were uttered in Manila where he was stationed after World War II. At that time, he did play-by-play for a touring basketball team on the Armed Forces Network. In a career that spanned seven decades, Hearn began a streak of 3,338 consecutive broadcasting games for the Los Angeles Lakers on November 21, 1965, before ending on December 16, 2001. Known for creating a glossary of broadcasting buzzwords – known as “Chickisms” – Hearn coined the terms “on him like a postage stamp,” “the mustard's off the hot dog,” and “can't throw a pea in the ocean.” He introduced universal basketball phrases such as “slam dunk” and “no harm, no foul.”