Manolo Rivera Morales

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Manuel Rivera Morales (aka Manolo) (1934-1996) was a Puerto Rican sportscaster, radio announcer and marketing sales executive, who was born in Naranjito and raised in Trujillo Alto. Rivera Morales is considered by many to be one of the best sportscasters in Puerto Rican sports history.

Manolo Rivera Morales gained nationwide fame in Puerto Rico during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, when he covered BSN basketball games live, first on radio, and later on television, for various broadcasters (most famously WAPA-TV), along other famous Puerto Rican sportscasters such as Johnny Flores Monge, Rafael Bracero and Fufi Santori. Rivera Morales became sort of a cultural icon in Puerto Rico: His phrases, many of which he invented, were commonly repeated by many Puerto Ricans and they became part of the regular Puerto Rican dialogue. When he accompanied the Puerto Rican team that played the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo to broadcast the games through radio, his style was so colorful and attracted so much attention that a local Japanese newspaper covered him.

Morales was also famous for the nicknames he gave some of Puerto Rico's basketball players. Jose Ortiz, for example, was given the nickname of El Concorde by Rivera Morales. Mario Morales became "El Quijote" (and became better known by his nickname than by his real name), José Sosa became "El Galgo" ("The Greyhound"), and Martín Ansa got the nickname El Señor from Morales.

During the 1970s and 1980s, local laws established that boxing fights held in Puerto Rico could not be transmitted live on television; this to encourage fans to pay tickets to see the fights live. They were, however, transmitted live by radio, and Rivera Morales also became a well-known boxing commentator on the Puerto Rican radio stations.

Some phrases popularized by Manolo Rivera Morales:

• Apuntenlo!! (score it!!) - His trademark phrase, and a reminder to the radio crew's scorer to write down the latest successful basket
• Ayúdanos, divina Pastora, a salir de aqui con vida! (Help us, divine lady Pastor, to come out of here alive!!, used by him very often when a basketball game was close enough for the visiting team to steal a win during the closing minutes)
• Manos Arriba!!Manos Arriba! ((put your) Hands up! Hands up!, after a three point shot had been made, indicating the gesture that basketball referees do after a three point basket)
• Wonderful!! (usually, he'd say that after a dunk)
• Mi abuela decía: "¡Son de goma, Manolo, son de goma!" ("My gradma used to say: they're made out of rubber, Manolo, they're made out of rubber!") - Said after a player's fall to the floor (particularly catastrophic ones)
• "Wes... Wes... Wes... WES!!"-whenever local (and later international) player Wesley Correa charged to the basket
• ¡Este juego es no apto para cardiacos! ("This game is not suitable for cardiac patients!") - Said of close games, particularly those that ended up in overtime (at a particular one that had five OT's he almost had a cardiac incident himself).