Dan Hicks (sportscaster)
Dan Hicks has been a sportscaster for NBC since 1992. His best well-known assignments are covering golf and the Olympic Games. Here are a few of Hicks' best calls and quotes.
"A remarkable week by a remarkable player on a remarkable golf course."-Hicks' thoughts on Tiger Woods' amazing victory at the 2000 U.S. Open in Pebble Beach, California. Woods defeated second place finisher Ernie Els by 15 strokes.
"And Scott survives! The youngest champion in the history of The Players Championship."-On March 28, 2004, Parry's fellow Australian, Adam Scott, won The Players Championship at age 23, making him the event's youngest-ever winner. Hicks said "Scott survives" because Scott had put his second shot on the 18th into the water. He then chipped his fourth shot onto the green that left him with a 10-foot bogey putt, which he drained to beat Irishman Padraig Harrington by one stroke.
"Ian Thorpe has a new world record, and this time it's for Olympic gold!"-Hicks' call after Ian Thorpe won the first of three gold medals in front of his home crowd at Sydney, this coming in swimming's 400-meter freestyle event.
"And the streak is over! Australia wins gold! In world record time!"-Later that night, Thorpe anchored an upset gold medal win in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay over the United States, the first time the U.S. had ever been beaten in this event.
Hicks' color commentator for swimming is Rowdy Gaines, who won three gold medals in swimming at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. On September 20, 2000, the fifth of day of Olympic competition, the women's 200-meter butterfly event took place. Favored for gold and silver were Aussie women Susie O'Neill, who was the defending champion in this race from Atlanta in 1996, and Petria Thomas, who long sought to get out from underneath O'Neill's shadow. One of the contenders for the silver was American Misty Hyman. Hyman suffered from asthma, and it would hurt her towards the end of a race. On this night, though, Hyman took an early lead, and with ten meters left, Hicks and Gaines were looking at an upset for the ages, much to the fears of the home crowd:
Gaines: "This would be an upset of magnificent proportions for Misty Hyman."
Hicks: "Ten meters left. Misty Hyman of the United States, just about to pull off one of the biggest upsets of these Olympic Games IN FRONT OF ALL OF AUSTRALIA!"
Gaines: "Oh, my God, she did it!"
Hicks and Gaines: "Misty Hyman..."
Hicks: "...wins the gold! Unbelievable!"
Hicks' voice actually cracked when he said, "pull off." Hyman was in major shock at her victory, as she was quickly embraced by teammate Kaitlin Sandeno. Reporters say that the upset had so silenced the crowd, that they could hear Hyman yell, "OH, MY GOD!" at least 11 times.
"LeMay Doan is gonna win this pair, and is going to win the gold medal!"-Hicks' call as Canadian speed skater Catriona LeMay Doan won her second straight gold medal in speed skating's 500-meter event.
"Witty will finish on the inner. Has altered her training drastically leading into these Olympic Games, had no idea what kinda time she could turn in, trying to shake off the effects of mono. 1:14.45 is the time to beat, and she's well under it, in a world record for Chris Witty!"-After American Chris Witty won gold in the 1000-meter event with a new world record.
"It was Uytdehaage who set the world record and stole the gold from Parra in the 5000, and the time for Parra here is...a world record! So he returns the favor!"-On the first day of competition at Salt Lake, American Derek Parra, in his first Olympics at age 31, was leading in the 5000-meter event, until Holland's Jochem Uytdehaage stole the gold medal and the world record from Parra. Parra ended up with the silver medal in that event, so not only did he win gold in the 1500-meter event days later, he exacted revenge against Uytdehaage by setting a new world record himself.
"Michael Phelps about ready to get his first Olympic medal. It's gonna be gold, and it's gonna be a new world record!"-19-year-old Baltimore-born swimming phenom Michael Phelps won his first of eight overall medals and six gold in Athens by winning one of his specialties-the 400-meter individual medley. In the process, Phelps broke his own world record in the event for the fourth time.
"The Thorpedo, who had van den Hoogenband beat him four years ago, gets the gold! Van den Hoogeband gets the silver, and Phelps gets the bronze."-The men's 200-meter freestyle was perhaps the most hyped up event of the swimming portion of the 2004 Games. The main prerace matchup was between Phelps and Thorpe, but defending race champion Pieter van den Hoogenband of The Netherlands, Thorpe's Australian teammate Grant Hackett, and Phelps' American teammate Klete Keller were also swimmers to watch. It came down to van den Hoogenband and Thorpe, where the Aussie successfully knocked van den Hoogenband off his throne.
"Eight meters left. Keller, of the United States, looks like he's gonna hold on for the gold, and he does!"-One night after the individual 200-meter free, the 4 x 200-meter freestyle relay took place. Phelps led off for the U.S., with Ryan Lochte and Peter Vanderkaay following. After Vanderkaay finished, Klete Keller jumped into the water, the U.S.'s last swimmer for the race. Australia's last swimmer was Thorpe. The U.S. had a large lead, which Thorpe quickly ate up. Keller somehow held on through the fight, and the U.S. stopped Australia from defending their title. The U.S.'s winning time was nowhere near world or Olympic record-setting pace. It was Phelps' third gold of the Games, but the first-ever for Lochte, Vanderkaay, and Keller.
"And it's Schoeman and van den Hoogenband reaching for the gold, and it's gonna be van den Hoogenband again!"-The 100-meter freestyle turned into a showdown between defending Olympic champion Pieter van den Hoogenband, and South African Roland Mark Schoeman, whom, three nights earlier, led off South Africa's gold-medal winning, world record-setting 4 x 100-meter freestyle relay effort. Van den Hoogenband eeked out his second straight gold in the 100-meter individual event by 6-hundredths of a second.
"...Crocker has the lead. Can Phelps make the final surge to the wall here? I don't believe he will. YES, HE DOES!! Unbelievable how he snuck in! It looked like Crocker had it at the wall, and Phelps, with some sort of magical touch, to win another gold!"-Three nights after the thrilling 4 x 200-free relay, Phelps had another big race, this one against a fellow countryman. Just over a year earlier at the World Championships in Barcelona, Ian Crocker provided Phelps with one of his few silver medals from that summer's event in the 100-meter butterfly. Crocker also broke the world record in the event in addition to winning gold. In Athens, it looked as if the same result would take place. But this time, Crocker tired out, and Phelps nabbed gold from him in the last second, Michael's fifth of the Games. In the process, Phelps set an Olympic record. It was his 17th--and, surprisingly, final--swim of the Games. Phelps was slated to swim the butterfly leg in the 4 x 100-meter medley relay the following night, but he gave up his spot to Crocker, as Ian had been ill earlier in the week, failing to get into the 100-meter free final. Phelps did swim the event's preliminary round the morning of the 100 fly final, but the next night, Crocker, along with Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen, and Jason Lezak took gold and broke the world record as a cheering Phelps watched from the stands. Phelps was given a gold for being part of the team in some way; it was his sixth of the Games, and, along with two bronzes, his eighth overall. Needless to say, Phelps garnered more praise for giving up his spot than he did his accomplishments throughout the week.
Gaines: "Well, there's no doubt that he's tightening up."
Hicks: "Bernard is losin' some ground. Here comes Lezak! UNBELIEVABLE AT THE END! HE'S DONE IT! THE U.S. HAS DONE IT! A new world record! Phelps's hope's alive! 46.06 split for Lezak. What a clutch, fast swim when they needed it!" - Hicks and Gaines calling the thrilling 4 X 100-meter freestyle relay, in which the favored French, anchored by former 100-meter freestyle world record holder Alain Bernard, who predicted that the French would "smash" the Americans prior to the event, were beaten in the final 10 meters by American anchor, veteran Jason Lezak. With Phelps, Lezak, and newcomers Garrett Weber-Gale and Cullen Jones, the U.S. broke the world record they had earlier set in the event's prelims.
Golf
"What a shot by Craig Parry! Unbelievable! Championship over!"-Hicks made this call on March 7, 2004, after Australian Craig Parry holed out of a playoff at the Ford Championship at Doral in Florida by sinking a spectacular shot from the fairway, becoming the first player since 1990 to win a PGA TOUR event by holing out during a playoff."A remarkable week by a remarkable player on a remarkable golf course."-Hicks' thoughts on Tiger Woods' amazing victory at the 2000 U.S. Open in Pebble Beach, California. Woods defeated second place finisher Ernie Els by 15 strokes.
"And Scott survives! The youngest champion in the history of The Players Championship."-On March 28, 2004, Parry's fellow Australian, Adam Scott, won The Players Championship at age 23, making him the event's youngest-ever winner. Hicks said "Scott survives" because Scott had put his second shot on the 18th into the water. He then chipped his fourth shot onto the green that left him with a 10-foot bogey putt, which he drained to beat Irishman Padraig Harrington by one stroke.
2000 Summer Olympics
Hicks is NBC's stroke-by-stroke commentator at the Summer Games. Here's some of his calls from Sydney:"Ian Thorpe has a new world record, and this time it's for Olympic gold!"-Hicks' call after Ian Thorpe won the first of three gold medals in front of his home crowd at Sydney, this coming in swimming's 400-meter freestyle event.
"And the streak is over! Australia wins gold! In world record time!"-Later that night, Thorpe anchored an upset gold medal win in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay over the United States, the first time the U.S. had ever been beaten in this event.
Hicks' color commentator for swimming is Rowdy Gaines, who won three gold medals in swimming at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. On September 20, 2000, the fifth of day of Olympic competition, the women's 200-meter butterfly event took place. Favored for gold and silver were Aussie women Susie O'Neill, who was the defending champion in this race from Atlanta in 1996, and Petria Thomas, who long sought to get out from underneath O'Neill's shadow. One of the contenders for the silver was American Misty Hyman. Hyman suffered from asthma, and it would hurt her towards the end of a race. On this night, though, Hyman took an early lead, and with ten meters left, Hicks and Gaines were looking at an upset for the ages, much to the fears of the home crowd:
Gaines: "This would be an upset of magnificent proportions for Misty Hyman."
Hicks: "Ten meters left. Misty Hyman of the United States, just about to pull off one of the biggest upsets of these Olympic Games IN FRONT OF ALL OF AUSTRALIA!"
Gaines: "Oh, my God, she did it!"
Hicks and Gaines: "Misty Hyman..."
Hicks: "...wins the gold! Unbelievable!"
Hicks' voice actually cracked when he said, "pull off." Hyman was in major shock at her victory, as she was quickly embraced by teammate Kaitlin Sandeno. Reporters say that the upset had so silenced the crowd, that they could hear Hyman yell, "OH, MY GOD!" at least 11 times.
2002 Winter Olympics
Hicks is NBC's speed skating commentator at the Winter Games. Here's a few of his calls from Salt Lake City:"LeMay Doan is gonna win this pair, and is going to win the gold medal!"-Hicks' call as Canadian speed skater Catriona LeMay Doan won her second straight gold medal in speed skating's 500-meter event.
"Witty will finish on the inner. Has altered her training drastically leading into these Olympic Games, had no idea what kinda time she could turn in, trying to shake off the effects of mono. 1:14.45 is the time to beat, and she's well under it, in a world record for Chris Witty!"-After American Chris Witty won gold in the 1000-meter event with a new world record.
"It was Uytdehaage who set the world record and stole the gold from Parra in the 5000, and the time for Parra here is...a world record! So he returns the favor!"-On the first day of competition at Salt Lake, American Derek Parra, in his first Olympics at age 31, was leading in the 5000-meter event, until Holland's Jochem Uytdehaage stole the gold medal and the world record from Parra. Parra ended up with the silver medal in that event, so not only did he win gold in the 1500-meter event days later, he exacted revenge against Uytdehaage by setting a new world record himself.
2004 Summer Olympics
Some of Hicks' calls from Athens:"Michael Phelps about ready to get his first Olympic medal. It's gonna be gold, and it's gonna be a new world record!"-19-year-old Baltimore-born swimming phenom Michael Phelps won his first of eight overall medals and six gold in Athens by winning one of his specialties-the 400-meter individual medley. In the process, Phelps broke his own world record in the event for the fourth time.
"The Thorpedo, who had van den Hoogenband beat him four years ago, gets the gold! Van den Hoogeband gets the silver, and Phelps gets the bronze."-The men's 200-meter freestyle was perhaps the most hyped up event of the swimming portion of the 2004 Games. The main prerace matchup was between Phelps and Thorpe, but defending race champion Pieter van den Hoogenband of The Netherlands, Thorpe's Australian teammate Grant Hackett, and Phelps' American teammate Klete Keller were also swimmers to watch. It came down to van den Hoogenband and Thorpe, where the Aussie successfully knocked van den Hoogenband off his throne.
"Eight meters left. Keller, of the United States, looks like he's gonna hold on for the gold, and he does!"-One night after the individual 200-meter free, the 4 x 200-meter freestyle relay took place. Phelps led off for the U.S., with Ryan Lochte and Peter Vanderkaay following. After Vanderkaay finished, Klete Keller jumped into the water, the U.S.'s last swimmer for the race. Australia's last swimmer was Thorpe. The U.S. had a large lead, which Thorpe quickly ate up. Keller somehow held on through the fight, and the U.S. stopped Australia from defending their title. The U.S.'s winning time was nowhere near world or Olympic record-setting pace. It was Phelps' third gold of the Games, but the first-ever for Lochte, Vanderkaay, and Keller.
"And it's Schoeman and van den Hoogenband reaching for the gold, and it's gonna be van den Hoogenband again!"-The 100-meter freestyle turned into a showdown between defending Olympic champion Pieter van den Hoogenband, and South African Roland Mark Schoeman, whom, three nights earlier, led off South Africa's gold-medal winning, world record-setting 4 x 100-meter freestyle relay effort. Van den Hoogenband eeked out his second straight gold in the 100-meter individual event by 6-hundredths of a second.
"...Crocker has the lead. Can Phelps make the final surge to the wall here? I don't believe he will. YES, HE DOES!! Unbelievable how he snuck in! It looked like Crocker had it at the wall, and Phelps, with some sort of magical touch, to win another gold!"-Three nights after the thrilling 4 x 200-free relay, Phelps had another big race, this one against a fellow countryman. Just over a year earlier at the World Championships in Barcelona, Ian Crocker provided Phelps with one of his few silver medals from that summer's event in the 100-meter butterfly. Crocker also broke the world record in the event in addition to winning gold. In Athens, it looked as if the same result would take place. But this time, Crocker tired out, and Phelps nabbed gold from him in the last second, Michael's fifth of the Games. In the process, Phelps set an Olympic record. It was his 17th--and, surprisingly, final--swim of the Games. Phelps was slated to swim the butterfly leg in the 4 x 100-meter medley relay the following night, but he gave up his spot to Crocker, as Ian had been ill earlier in the week, failing to get into the 100-meter free final. Phelps did swim the event's preliminary round the morning of the 100 fly final, but the next night, Crocker, along with Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen, and Jason Lezak took gold and broke the world record as a cheering Phelps watched from the stands. Phelps was given a gold for being part of the team in some way; it was his sixth of the Games, and, along with two bronzes, his eighth overall. Needless to say, Phelps garnered more praise for giving up his spot than he did his accomplishments throughout the week.
2008 Summer Olympics (Beijing, China)
Hicks: "...Lezak is closin' a little bit on Bernard. Can the veteran chase him down, and pull off a shocker here?"Gaines: "Well, there's no doubt that he's tightening up."
Hicks: "Bernard is losin' some ground. Here comes Lezak! UNBELIEVABLE AT THE END! HE'S DONE IT! THE U.S. HAS DONE IT! A new world record! Phelps's hope's alive! 46.06 split for Lezak. What a clutch, fast swim when they needed it!" - Hicks and Gaines calling the thrilling 4 X 100-meter freestyle relay, in which the favored French, anchored by former 100-meter freestyle world record holder Alain Bernard, who predicted that the French would "smash" the Americans prior to the event, were beaten in the final 10 meters by American anchor, veteran Jason Lezak. With Phelps, Lezak, and newcomers Garrett Weber-Gale and Cullen Jones, the U.S. broke the world record they had earlier set in the event's prelims.