SPORTS ON NY RADIO by David Halberstam; Encarta Dictionary

Wed Sep 22 00:22:16 UTC 1999

Yeah. But what did he hear (if anything) which made him say "hard _G_"? An
earlier response suggested that the affricate might qualify as "hard" in
English. Think so?

dInIs

>If it was Spanish, he heard an "H" sound--not hard "G."
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Dennis R. Preston <preston at PILOT.MSU.EDU>
>To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 1999 7:05 AM
>Subject: Re: SPORTS ON NY RADIO by David Halberstam; Encarta Dictionary
>
>
>> Hmmmm! Whose Spanish was Halberstam listening to when he heard "hard _G_"
>> in "Los Angeles"?
>>
>> dInIs
>>
>> >SPORTS ON NEW YORK RADIO:
>> >A PLAY-BY-PLAY HISTORY
>> >By David J. Halberstam
>> >(Halberstam was the radio announcer of the Miami Heat and has long worked
>St.
>> >John's college basketball in the New York area--ed)
>> >Masters Press, NTC/Contemporary Publishing group, 1999
>> >424 pages hardcover, $24.95
>> >
>> >Pg. VI  Red was Red (Barber--ed.).  He insisted upon pronouncing _Los
>> >Angeles_ with a hard _G_, the Hispanic way.  ("Los Angeles" is not in
>> >DARE--ed.)
>> >
>> >Pg. 21  (Sam--ed.) Taub was the first to incorporate the lingo of the
>fight
>> >scribes and the pugilists themselves.  "The third man in the ring."  "He
>> >crowned him into the ropes."  "He lunges out with a long right high to
>his
>> >head."  Some also credit Taub with the phrase "an overhand right
>uppercut."
>> >Others attribute it to McNamee.
>> >
>> >Pg. 39  He (Bill Munday) used descriptions never heard before, referring
>to
>> >the end zone as the "land of milk and honey" or "the promised land,"
>phrases
>> >still popular today.
>> >
>> >Pg. 65  Yet it was that very first night that he (Foster Hewitt on March
>23,
>> >1923--ed.) blurted out in his falsetto, "he shoots, he scores."  It would
>> >turn out to be the legend's trademark call forever. (...)  New York's
>first
>> >true basketball broadcaster, Marty Glickman, has said that the geography
>> >Hewitt gave hockey on radio offered great illumination on his approach to
>the
>> >game on the hardwood.  Terms such as "along the boards," "crosses the
>blue
>> >line," or "moves it into the Leafs' zone," all had basketball equivalents
>> >that helped steer Glickman in developing the nomenclature for his
>> >groundbreaking basketball work.
>> >
>> >Pg. 79 (Marv--ed.) Albert's patented line in hockey usually followed a
>flurry
>> >and a great save by the goalie.  With typical Albert flair, it was "stick
>> >save and a beauty!"
>> >
>> >Pg. 107 (Les--ed.) Keiter's stock line for most touchdown runs was "5,"
>> >pause, "4," pause, "3," pause, "2," pause, "1," pause, "touchdown!"
>THose
>> >last five yards took forever to let Keiter squeeze every last second of
>drama
>> >from it.  Another Keiterism was, "He zigged when he should have zagged.
>And
>> >he zagged when he should have zigged."
>> >
>> >Pg. 110  If Mel Allen's classic home-run description was "going, going,
>> >gone," Marty's (Glickman--ed.) field-goal call was his stamp on the
>> >broadcast.  "It's high enough, it's deep enough, it's through there, it's
>> >through there!"
>> >
>> >Pg. 202  Keiter created a whole vocabulary for basketball.  Briefly, they
>are:
>> >_Tickling the twine_.....Marty Glickman's version of "swish," no iron
>> >_Ring-tailed howitzer_..an off-balance last-second shot
>> >_The arithmetic reads_..the score of the game
>> >_In the air...in the bucket_..a shot launched that was good
>> >_In-again-out-again-Finnegan_..a shot that agonizingly falls out after
>it's
>> >halfway in
>> >
>> >Pg. 220  The one basketball line he (John Sterling--ed.) used was "bull's
>> >eye."  Jim karvellas must have bristled when he heard it.  Sterling
>traced
>> >his roots through Baltimore, where he did some color for Jim on Bullets
>> >broadcasts.  Karvo was the first to popularize "bull's eye."
>> >
>> >Pg. 230  The profile also raved about his (Arch McDonald's--ed.) colorful
>> >descriptions: "two dead birds" for a double play or "ducks on the pond"
>for
>> >base runners.
>> >
>> >Pg. 232  Red (Barber--ed.) introduced his New York constituency to
>homespun
>> >Southern idioms never heard before in the big metropolis.  _Newsweek_
>printed
>> >just a few of them in 1945:
>> >_Sitting in the catbird seat_.......everything is going your way
>> >_I'll be a suck-egg mule_...........Red is pretty concerned
>> >_A can 'a corn_........................an easy-to-catch fly ball
>> >_F.O.B_...................................the bases are full of Brooklyns
>> >_The bottom of the pickle vat_....the Bums are in bad trouble
>> >
>> >Pg. 243  Vin's (Sully--ed.) occasional home run call "forget it" was born
>in
>> >Brooklyn.  "I picked up 'forget it' from the players themselves around
>the
>> >batting cage.  If a guy gets what they judge to be a base hit, he gets
>> >another chance.  Naturally, there's a lot of arguing as to whether it
>would
>> >have been a hit since there are no infielders during batting practice.
>But
>> >when it's a home run, they just say, 'forget it.'"  The signature caught
>on.
>> >Bert Lee would imitate his "forget it" call on pre- and postgame shows
>over
>> >WMGM.  (Could this be the birth of FORGEDDABOUTIT?--ed.)
>> >
>> >Pg. 246  It was (Arch--ed.) McDonald, the true original "voice of the
>> >Yankees," who dubbed Joe DiMaggio the "Yankee Clipper," not Mel Allen.
>He
>> >also came up with other catchy phrases such as "right down Broadway" (a
>pitch
>> >right over the plate) and "the ducks are on the pond" (men on base).
>> >
>> >Pg. 251  "'How about that!' originated in 1949 just after Joe DiMaggio
>missed
>> >65 games.  When he came back he hit four home runs in three days.  Fans
>were
>> >(Pg. 252) hysterical and I couldn't help showing enthusiasm as they began
>to
>> >climb.  It was during those excitingh afternoons that I would cry, 'How
>about
>> >that!'"  He elaborated, "I did this without the slightest premeditiation.
>It
>> >was just a natural impulse."
>> >     The other (Mel--ed.) Allen expression, "going, going, gone," also
>> >emerged naturally.  In 1946, when a ball kept carrying at Yankee Stadium,
>"I
>> >just kept saying, it's going, going, as the ball sailed out of sight."
>> >
>> >Pg. 261  ...(Jerry--ed.) Coleman's exclamation "Oh, Doctor" didn't seem
>to
>> >ruffle partner Barber, who made it famous long before Jerry ever put on
>> >big-league cleats.
>> >
>> >Pg. 272  The games were on WABC and there were those who felt his (Frank
>> >Messer-ed.) home-run call was a reach, "A. B. C. you later!"
>> >
>> >Pg. 287 It was the year (1954--ed.) that (Ross--ed.) Hodges authored his
>> >home-run call, "bye-bye baby."  The signature call later became quite
>popular
>> >in San Francisci.  "It's a battle cry which any western follower of the
>> >Giants instantly recognizes and now we even have a song based on it,"
>Hodges
>> >said in his 1963 book, _My Giants_.  "But New Yorkers never adopted it.
>To
>> >them, it was just another pet expression by a sports announcer."
>> >
>> >(Halberstam doesn't mention the New Jersey Nets' Bill Raftery, who uses
>"kiss
>> >off the glass" and "send it in!"  In the last chapter, Halberstam
>mentions
>> >his own fate.  The player John Crotty attended the University of
>Virginia,
>> >which was founded by Thomas Jefferson.  Halberstam said that "Jefferson
>would
>> >have been proud of that pass by Crotty.  Basketball wasn't invented at
>the
>> >time of President Jefferson but those slaves on his farm, I'm sure they
>would
>> >have made good basketball players."  Halberstam apologized for the
>comment,
>> >but was fined $2,500 and later fired.  On Pg. 337:  "Unfortunately,
>there's a
>> >double standard set for radio broadcasters.  Talk-show hosts get away
>with
>> >virtually any flagrant remark and it's just brushed off as shock radio.
>Yet
>> >should a play-by-play person digress in an untraditional manner it's
>decried
>> >as having gone above the line.")
>> >
>> >Pg. 353 _TEN MOST POPULAR PHRASES_
>> >_Author_                                                   _Phrase_
>> >Mel Allen............."It's going, going, gone!" signature home-run call
>> >Marv Albert.........."Yesss!" for a made Knicks basket
>> >Mel Allen............."How about that!" anything astonishing
>> >Phil Rizzuto........."Holy Cow!" anything from Roger Maris's 61st home
>run to
>> >traffic on the George Washington Bridge
>> >Marty Glickman...."Swish!" a shot that went right through the cords
>without
>> >hitting iron
>> >Bob Murphy........."We'll be back with the happy recap" going into a
>> >commercial break after a Mets win
>> >Marty Glickman...."It's good...like Nedicks!" a basket by the home team
>> >(Nedick's sponsored broadcasts)
>> >Marty Glickman...."It's high enough, it's deep enough, it's through
>there!" a
>> >made field goal on the gridiron
>> >Les Keiter............"In again, out again, finningan (sic)" a shot on
>the
>> >hardwood that pin-balled in and out
>> >Marv Albert.........."Kick save and a beauty!" great save by the goalie
>in
>> >hockey
>> >
>> >
>> >
>>
>>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>---
>> >---------------------------------------------
>> >110%
>> >
>> >    As expected, I found it in an article about Pete Rose, "Will Pete
>Rose
>> >Ever Grow Up?", ESQUIRE, October 1974, pg. 211, col. 1:
>> >
>> >     Pete Rose rarely does anything half-ass.  As he puts it, he always
>gives
>> >"one hundred ten percent."
>> >
>>
>>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>---
>> >---------------------------------------------
>> >ENCARTA DICTIONARY
>> >
>> >     Two books by Allan Metcalf are on the shelves of the local Border's
>> >bookstore: AMERICA IN SO MANY WORDS (paperback edition) and, if I
>remember
>> >the title correctly, THE WORLD IN SO MANY WORDS.
>> >     NEW YORK: AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY should be out in a week or two.
>Ric
>> >Burns got a grant from the National Endowment of the Humanities for his
>> >documentary, but the grant luckily doesn't require him to respond to
>humans.
>> >     The ENCARTA WORLD ENGLISH DICTIONARY is out.  Anne Soukhanov and
>John
>> >Ayto and Sol Steinmetz (and Lynne Murphy?) are associated with the
>project,
>> >but it's astonishingly weak on Americanisms and etymology.  Bill Gates is
>> >almost a trillionaire, I've never made a single penny, yet I have to
>endure
>> >this:
>> >
>> >BIG APPLE _n._  informal name for New York City (From APPLE, used by jazz
>> >musicians to mean "job," and the fact that New York was the most
>sought-after
>> >place to have a job or engagement)
>>
>> Dennis R. Preston
>> Professor of Linguistics
>> Department of Linguistics and Languages
>> Michigan State University
>> East Lansing MI 48824-1027 USA
>> preston at pilot.msu.edu
>> Office: (517)353-0740
>> Fax: (517)432-2736

Dennis R. Preston
Professor of Linguistics
Department of Linguistics and Languages
Michigan State University
East Lansing MI 48824-1027 USA
preston at pilot.msu.edu
Office: (517)353-0740
Fax: (517)432-2736