Ask any school basketball fan what makes the NCAA Match such a particular occasion, and chances are high you’d get quite a lot of solutions. There are the upsets that happen and Cinderella groups that make deep runs. There are the game-winning pictures that propel groups into the subsequent spherical and sprint the hopes of others, and, after all, there’s the concept in any recreation, and any time, one thing exceptional can occur, which is why the match is known as “March Insanity.”
However what else makes the NCAA Match so particular is the people who name the video games, those that use their phrases, their feelings and their artful catchphrases to completely describe a given second in time.
FOX Sports activities school basketball analyst Bill Raftery has been calling school basketball video games for greater than 40 years, and all through his time as an analyst, he has developed a number of the most unusual and memorable sayings within the historical past of the game.
With the Large Dance set to tip off Thursday, we caught up with Raftery and requested him in regards to the story behind a few of these iconic calls.
Right here is Invoice Raftery’s official information to March Insanity lingo:
[MORE: 2025 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament bracket here]
Onions!
What it means: This phrase is used to explain a clutch, game-winning shot that seals the deal. It has to suit the second.
The origin story: Ian Eagle and I had been doing a New Jersey Nets-Orlando Magic recreation. Kevin Edwards, who performed at DePaul, made a jumper to win the sport on the buzzer for New Jersey. The Nets weren’t having an important 12 months, so we weren’t used to profitable. That simply popped out. It simply aptly described the second.
With a bit of kiss!
What it means: That is used to explain a shot that goes in off the backboard.
The origin story: I began utilizing that phrase as a result of, to me, a financial institution shot isn’t actually descriptive sufficient. The shot has lots of contact to it, and a kiss suits. It is a delicate, straightforward, contact shot. I had by no means heard it earlier than. It simply sort of got here in my head.
Ship it in, huge fella!
What it means: This phrase is used when a huge man powers residence a dunk.
The origin story: This was used to explain Jerome Lane’s dunk throughout a recreation in 1988 that’s nonetheless replayed right this moment as a result of he tore the backboard down. It is a manner of describing somebody who simply brings the kitchen sink.
A little bit nickle-and-dimer
What it means: This phrase is used to explain a delicate foul that does not warrant the decision. No hurt, no foul.
The origin story: The five-and-dime retailer was one thing that was round after I was a child, in order that saying got here from there. When there is a contact foul, I knew the rule was you are not alleged to have your arms on a participant, however I all the time really feel prefer it kind of takes away from the movement of the sport. It is my manner of claiming one thing with distain with out being excessive.
A little bit lingerie on the deck
What it means: This phrase is used when an offensive participant makes a transfer that sends his defender to the bottom.
The origin story: I knew that if I ever stated “jock” on the air, my mother, God bless her, would have killed me. This was my manner of claiming you had been faked out of your underwear. I used that one early on as a result of I keep in mind listening to the time period “you place him on skates,” the place the defender loses his steadiness. This was my model.
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