HONOLULU (KHON2) – Jim Leahy, the legendary broadcaster for University of Hawaii athletics, died Monday, Jan. 30 at the age of 80.
The 2016 UH Circle of Honor inductee was noted for his strong vocabulary and knowledge of local culture. His “iconic and colorful calls are etched in our collective memories,” the University of Hawaii said Monday.
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The calls always matched the moment.
“The first thing that comes to my mind is like ‘could this be the year you better believe’,” former UH football quarterback Garrett Gabriel recalled Leahy’s famous call ‘Boz 1989 56-14 drubbing of rival BYU Cougars’ said about. , “They, the things they call back, bring you back to a place,”
For many Rainbow Warriors and Wahin, hearing Leah say your name means you’ve made it to the big time.
“Growing up, I used to listen to Jim Leahy on television and radio. And, so, that’s when I decided to play Wahine basketball and called him [my name] At all of our games, it was magic,” said former Rainbow Wahine Basketball All-American Nannie Cott.
The vocabulary level, to use the term ‘Uncle Jim’, was Ruthenian.
Former Rainbow Wahine head coach Dave Shoji said, “When we weren’t playing, I used to listen to basketball, mainly baseball, just to listen to him and I enjoyed it and I compared him to Vin Scully ” “I used to watch or listen to Vin Scully on the radio. And, so, it’s very amusing to me. He was just so local and you know, he had that style. And, his vocabulary was very clean.
“There was never a dull moment. He always had some quips, and it was such a pleasure listening to him and a true honor for him to call my game,” said former Rainbow Wahine All-American volleyball player Nikki Taylor. Was.”
Even for the home team, Leahy tells it like it is.
Former Rainbow Wahine Softball All-American Kelly Elms said, “I was looking forward to my home run to break the UH career homerun record, but I was in a really bad slump, so it wasn’t coming.” [Majam] Told. “And, he says during that game that he’s on the cusp of history, but his batting average is totally free,”
Jim retired in 2018, paving the way for his son Kanoa to take over as the voice of ‘Dhanush’. The third in line of the royal Lehigh dynasty began with Jim’s father, Chuck.
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Shoji said, “Three generations that’s amazing.” “And, they’re all different. They’re all different. Canoa is different from Jim, but they get everything right. It’s great to hear from all of them.”
