The guy is classic
I am a small number of fans who love Bill Walton broadcasts. Walton is similar to Dick Vitale, everyone either hates him or loves him, and I’m in the love group. Last night during a portion of the Arizona-UCLA game he delivereda “Waltonism.” Shabazz Muhammad had led the way in scoring however at one point Coach Howland chose to sit him down. This is the line delivered by Walton; “why is he (Muhammad) sitting down, he can’t be tired he’s a teenager.”  Muhammad will not turn 20 until November 2013.  It certainly is great Walton's regained his health and is able to resume his broadcast career.  I find it difficult to realize Walton had a severe stuttering problem as a teen. By the way Muhammad led the Bruins scoring 23 points in a 84-73 victory.

“I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore! 
Movie trivia fans are familiar with the above line.  It originated with the 1976 movie Network, Peter Finch uttered the renowned statement. It should be of note Finch remains the only deceased actor to be awarded an Academy Award. Sorry I digress; my commentary yesterday on the NCAA continues to resonate. That’s become my line; I’ve become a little tired of the innate actions of the NCAA. The agency claims after an internal probe they will continue to pursue the case. Even more interesting the NCAA indicates they want to complete this in two weeks. They hardly seems possible at a point we are TWO YEARS into a yet to be completed investigation. The NCAA has a limited investigative staff and no subpoena power so this certainly handicaps any attempts to police collegiate athletics.

I don’t claim any type of legal background; I understand the desire for the truth. I’m unclear how you (NCAA) pay the attorney of a convicted felon for an acknowledgment of the alleged actions. Was there any other method for securing the information required to complete the investigation? A question will remain for Frank Haith and former assistants if the conclusion is “we think inappropriate activity occurred but we can’t prove it.” I didn’t fall off the turnip truck yesterday, improprieties probably occurred. Frank Haith might be indirectly guilty, later becoming aware of the events but not complacent in the act. He probably should be fired if that’s true but prove it by offering evidence. I'm sorry I don't believe Haith is stupid enough to hand over $10,000 in cash and inform his assistant, "this for my basketball camp.” As far as we can determine the only finger pointing to date has been done by the guy who stole $930 million dollars in a Ponzi scheme.

The name is okay by me
Yesterday the name change became official, Hornets is going away. Beginning next season the New Orleans Franchise has been re-named Pelicans. Everybody and their brother is weighing in on the story, they are attempting to convince all of us how terrible the name sounds. I’m okay for a couple of reasons, owner Tom Benson wanted a name more closely associated with New Orleans and Louisiana. The Pelican is the state bird of Louisiana in addition New Orleans once had a minor league baseball franchise nicknamed the Pelicans. Don‘t pick on them the NBA is ripe with bad names or names that don’t fit we just accept them. How about the Lakers, Los Angeles is not close to a lake unless we count the Pacific Ocean. Grizzly bears are native to the western United States and Canada not Tennessee. An agreement was made at the time of their departure the name Sonics would remain in Seattle. The Oklahoma City team would be re-named Thunder. Lighting strikes more fear in individuals than Thunder, thunders just loud. I almost forgot the Bobcats which were named for former owner Bob Johnson. Bobcats are native to North Carolina however Bob is not native; in addition he’s no longer on the scene. I’ve never traveled to Salt Lake City however I wonder how many locations there are venues for Jazz.

They set the standard
Johnny Most and Chick Hearn and are broadcast legends, Most with the Celtics and Hearn with the Lakers. Both men began their careers at a time when the NBA was attempting to become a viable major league. The career of Most ran from 1953 to October 1990 when health concerns forced him into retirement. Johnny Most was passionate about “his” Celtics and was known to provide the listener with uncomplimentary names for opposing players. “He nicknamed Magic Johnson "Crybaby Johnson" after Johnson successfully challenged a referee’s call.” Perhaps you might have heard his raspy voice during an ESPN Classic re-broadcast. “Greer is putting the ball in play. He gets it out deep and Havlicek steals it!! Over to Sam Jones…Havlicek stole the ball!! It's all over…It's all over!!” His game 7 call during the 1965 Eastern Division Finals is a classic. January 1993 Most suffered a fatal heart attack and later died.

Francis Dayle “Chick” Hearn began broadcasting Laker games on their arrival in 1960. Hearn would set a record broadcasting 3,338 consecutive games. The streak was interrupted in 2001-02 at a time Hearn underwent cardiac bypass surgery. Hearn invented many of the terms we hear over and over by other basketball broadcasters. Matador defense, triple-double and slam-dunk are just a few of the phrases that have become common place which Hearn coined. Hearn suffered a fall at his home during the summer and died three days later at age 85 August of 2002. He was still broadcasting Laker games up to the time of his death. Once I subscribed to NBA League Pass I was able to discover first-hand the legend of Chick Hearn. It’s worth mentioning unlike Johnny Most Hearn’s broadcast were simulcast on radio and television. My blog is a tribute to Hearn; he would refer to his radio broadcast as a “words eye view.”