Just My Type

The Interview

Marv Albert
BROADCASTER

TNT's lead NBA play-by-play man called his seventh Super Bowl for Westwood One last month.

Dan Patrick: What did you think of the NBA's G-E-I-C-O H-O-R-S-E competition?

Marv Albert: I am an avid H-O-R-S-E fan. Or G-E-I-C-O. Back in the days on the schoolyard in Brooklyn we played quite a bit, and I had a system that seemed to work if I was trailing, which was most of the time. I would say, "It's H-O-R-S-E-S." And if I was still trailing, I'd say, "There's an apostrophe."

DP: If you shoot a jumper and you make it, do you yell out, "Yesssss!"?

MA: If I were playing? No. I was very shy as a kid, actually. But a friend of mine, when we were playing two-on-two, would do play-by-play. He would mimic an NBA referee named Sid Borgia, who used to say, "Yes, and it counts," if a guy got fouled. It turns out he was a big influence on me when I started broadcasting.

DP: Could I hire you to do play-by-play at a pickup game, or for a bar mitzvah?

MA: Actually, my son Kenny would be available for that. He works some side jobs.

DP: Are you saying I couldn't afford you?