Steve Buckhantz
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Steve Buckhantz | |
|---|---|
Sportscaster | |
| Children | 2 stepchildren |
Steve Buckhantz (born June 19, 1955) is an American television
Biography
Buckhantz began his television announcing career in 1977 at ABC Affiliate WHSV in Harrisonburg, VA anchoring the 11 o'clock sports and weather. From there he moved to NBC Affiliate WRCB in Chattanooga, TN where he was the weekday 6 and 11pm sports anchor. He then moved to CBS station WTVF-TV in Nashville, TN where he anchored the weekend sports before heading to ABC Affiliate WSB-TV in Atlanta, GA where he again anchored the weekend sports. In 1984 Buckhantz moved to WTTG-TV in Washington, DC which eventually became one of the original Fox owned television stations. He anchored the weekday sports for nearly 14 years. Buckhantz was part of the original play-by-play announcers for the NFL on Fox in 1994 and also broadcast Big East Basketball as well as calling play-by-play for the U.S. Naval Academy Football Team from 1991-'97. In 1997 he became the television play-by-play voice for the NBA's Washington Wizards.
A District native, he grew up in
Buckhantz currently resides in Northern Virginia. He married Shelley Lawrence on May 8, 2011. Shelley has two children from a previous marriage, Jake and Olivia Lawrence. Buckhantz spent 22 years as the Wizards' play-by-play announcer, alongside
Style
Buckhantz has garnered a reputation for his emphatic expressions, such as "Dagger", "Blocked by [player]!", "Backbreaker", "How good is he, Phil?", "How do you like that?", "Tough shot!", "It's good if it goes!....And it nearly did!", "Score the field goal, he'll go to the line!", "For the win!", "The refs have swallowed/put away their whistles!", "That's gotta be five seconds!", "That's hard to believe", "And [player/coach] is Livid!/Incensed", "Oh My!", "Follows it up twice!", "Foul, no call", and "NO, it's not possible!"
His catchphrases have seeped into the lexicon of Washington, D.C. area sports fans, who revel in using them to describe a myriad of non-sports related events (ex. males observing a friend attempting to ask a woman for her phone number exclaim[citation needed] "Dagger!" or "Backbreaker!" when she can be seen rejecting the friend's advances) as well as debating the subtle and compelling distinction between a "Backbreaker" (a made basket at a critical juncture in a game that breaks any chance that the opposing team will win) and a "Dagger" (a made basket at a critical juncture in a game that stabs like a dagger at the opposing team's chance of victory).[2]
30 for 30
In 2009, Buckhantz was featured in the ESPN
References
- ^ "Wizards News: Wizards Broadcasters". Washington Wizards. Retrieved August 21, 2010.
- ^ Steinberg, Dan (July 6, 2009). "Signature Calls: Buckhantz Talks "Dagger!"". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 21, 2010.
External links
- Wizards Broadcasters:Steve Buckhantz www.nba.com
- Steve Buckhantz:Commentaries on NBC Washington[permanent dead link] www.nbcwashington.com