George Blaha

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

George Blaha (born 1945 in Detroit, Michigan) has been the radio and television play-by-play voice of the Detroit Pistons since the 1976-77 NBA season.

Raised in Marshalltown, Iowa, Blaha attended Notre Dame and received an MBA from the University of Michigan. Before the 1976-1977 season, he replaced Frank Beckmann on WJR's radio broadcast of the Pistons, and announced his first NBA game from Cobo Arena on October 23, 1976. Blaha has missed only three games since 1976 due to illness. He has had a variety of color analysts including former Detroit Pistons players Vinnie Johnson, Kelly Tripucka, Bill Laimbeer and current color man Greg Kelser. He has almost always used the Pistons' first names when describing the action on the court.

In addition to Pistons games, Blaha is currently the radio voice of the Michigan State Spartans football team. He was the voice of MSU basketball during the 2000-2001 season.

[edit] "Blaha-isms"

One of Blaha's trademarks is the use of alliteration:

• "Lays it up, lays it in!"
• "Fires, fills it!"
• "Guns, got it!"
• "Scoops it, scores it!"
• "Gives it up, gets it back"
• "Measures, and makes!"
• "He hoists, and Hits!"

Other sayings commonly heard during play-by-play include:

• "What a play by (players first name)!"
• "Off the high glass!"
• "Count that baby and a foul!"
• "Count it and a foul!"
• "He triples from way downtown!"
• "School is out!"
• "Babar get out'o'here!"
• "Gotta love it Bill!"
• "Rainbows, and it goes!"
• "Don't look now, but..." (for what is going on at the particular moment)
• "He splits a pair!"
• "This place is going crazy!"
• "Touchdown... MSU!"
• "Two and forty-three to go." (if there is 2:43 on the clock)
• "Six and a half to play in the half!" (6:30 left in second quarter)
• "With the slam-tap supreme"
• "Three point gunning... it goes!"
• "The show and go!"
• "In and out...but back in again!"
• "He throws up a rainbow gun!"
• "He throws up a long gun!"
• "Nothing but sweet, sweet, string music!"
• (Amount of points) "______ Piston Points!"

[edit] External links

• Pistons.com bio
• George Blaha Detroit Free Press article