George Blaha

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George Blaha (born March 29, 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 and Grayling, Michigan, 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 Dave Bing, Vinnie Johnson, Kelly Tripucka, Bill Laimbeer, Rick Mahorn, and current color man Greg Kelser. He has almost always used the Pistons' first names when describing the action on the court. In 2002, Blaha was the recipient of the prestigious Ty Tyson Award for Excellence in Sports Broadcasting, awarded by the Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association.

In addition to Pistons games, Blaha is currently the radio voice of the Michigan State Spartans football team. When he does MSU football games, Matt Dery is his replacement on FSN Detroit. He was the voice of MSU basketball during the 2000-2001 season. Blaha himself enjoys basketball very much, and says he loves his job.

[edit] "Blaha-isms"

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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!"
• "Rip-down rebound!!"

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

• "With the bunny!"
• "Off the heel!"
• "Off the iron!"
• "At the charity stripe!" (referring to the free throw line)
• "With the long deuce!"
• "With the show and go!"
• "He throws up a rainbow gun!"
• "He throws up a long gun!"
• "The glasser goes!"
• "Sticks it!"
• "He triples from way downtown!"
• "Off the high glass!"
• "Count that baby and a foul!"
• "He splits the pair!"
• "Don't look now, but..." (indicating a comeback or a significant run)
• "With the slam-tap supreme!"
• "Three point gunning... it goes!"
• "In and out... and back in again!"
• "Nothing but sweet, sweet, string music!" (referring to the "swish" of the net)
• "Two and forty-three to go." (2:43 on the clock)
• "Six and a half to play in the half!" (6:30 left in second quarter)
• "He hits it!" (or an exaggerated "Heeee hits it!")
• "He steps to the stripe."
• "Tough luck miss!" (indicating a shot that has gone halfway down and popped out)

[edit] External links

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