Your Favorite RJ Line

[Kruppstahl]

We all know "May Day!", "La la la La Fontaine" or "Top shelf where momma hides the cookies" and lots of other standard (and great) RJ fare.  

 

But who can come up with some really good ones the rest of us may not know or have forgotten about?

 

I mention this because I recently was reminded of one of RJ's greatest lines ever, which many Sabres fans may not recall.

 

Rob Ray was fighting Steve Webb of the NY Islanders.

 

RJ: (Speaking of Webb) "He got a few in at the start, but boy oh boy did he pay for them at the end."

 

For me, this remains one of RJ's all time great lines.

 

 

[Randall Flagg]

"And Pominville just BURIES Scuderi!"

[WildCard]

"Now do you believe? NOW DO YOU BELIEVE? These guys are good! Scary good!"

[Kruppstahl]

"Now here's Galley mixing it up with one of the Flyers.  They're all the way over at the penalty box! I can't even tell who that is.  It's either Lacroix, Daniels, or Kordic.  Whoever it is has his shirt right up around his neck."

 

"Woah what a hit by Campbell!  Holy Mackerel! Campbell stepped into his check at the blue line, now they're all chasing after Campbell!"

"Now do you believe? NOW DO YOU BELIEVE? These guys are good! Scary good!"

I remember the moment that was uttered live.  Great Sabres moment.

[ubkev]

"Call a cop! Hasek just robbed em blind!"

 

 

Edit: That's what my bottle opener says, every time.

Edited May 1, 2015 by ubkev

[Stoner]

"Perreault went around Craig Laffy, who's still looking for his jock strap." Pretty racy for circa 1982! (Googled Craig Laffy and got nothing.)

 

And anytime he says, "The game is over!" Note the exclamation point.

[Eleven]

And Robert Esche has lost it. He has lost it. He's down four-nothing and he's blown his cool. He's flipped his lid!

[Weave]

All of them.

 

Loved the way he called OH-MO-GILNY!  when he scored.  The fight calls from the May Ray Barnaby era were fantastic.  Do they still run the call of Ray and Laus on game days at 4pm on WGR before Ray comes on?  That one was a beaut.

[Stoner]

This is subtle, but I always like when Rick says the Canadian a-GAIN. Zhitnik to Smehlik, back to Zhitnik a-GAIN. I think he lets it slip.

 

Ohhhh... Zhitnik and Smehlik have their own game going!

[Eleven]

This is subtle, but I always like when Rick says the Canadian a-GAIN. Zhitnik to Smehlik, back to Zhitnik a-GAIN. I think he lets it slip.

 

Ohhhh... Zhitnik and Smehlik have their own game going!

 

He is singlehandedly responsible for me pronouncing that word incorrectly for my entire life.

[Stoner]

He is singlehandedly responsible for me pronouncing that word incorrectly for my entire life.

See also: he's bean hotter than a firecracker.

There are also the odd rarities "betwixt and between" and "from whence it came."

 

I honestly believe a lot of Rick comes from Danny Gallivan.

[Kristian]

"BOMBS AWAY!!! BOMBS AWAY!!! Sundin is leveled by McKee, and now everybody mixes it up!!"

[LGR4GM]

"And everyone pairing up at center and HERE GOES MAIR AFTER SPEZZA! They all pile in there now and BIRON IS LOOKING FOR EMORY!!!"

Edited May 1, 2015 by LGR4GM

[That Aud Smell]

I honestly believe a lot of Rick comes from Danny Gallivan.

 

Is that where "cleared, but not out . . ." comes from? I seem to recall someone posting a clip of Gallivan calling a game, and that phrase was used.

 

Top among my favourites.

[Kruppstahl]

Here's one we've heard RJ say about 10 trillion times, and it doesn't get old:

 

"The SHAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWT...................RIGHT AWWWN."

All of them.

 

Loved the way he called OH-MO-GILNY!  when he scored.  The fight calls from the May Ray Barnaby era were fantastic.  Do they still run the call of Ray and Laus on game days at 4pm on WGR before Ray comes on?  That one was a beaut.

"And Ray delivers the coups de grace!"

 

:w00t:

 

Unfortunately they replaced that not too long ago with Ray telling RJ during a recent game "It's my partners Schopp and the Bulldog.  Their geniuses."

To which RJ incredulously responds: "REALLY?" 

Edited May 1, 2015 by Kruppstahl

[Doohicksie]

This is subtle, but I always like when Rick says the Canadian a-GAIN. Zhitnik to Smehlik, back to Zhitnik a-GAIN. I think he lets it slip.

 

Ohhhh... Zhitnik and Smehlik have their own game going!

 

Totally unrelated, but when they were all the team, this little passage popped into my head:  "Is that a Zhitnik?  I dunno, Smehlik.  Ew!  That's Grosek!

[Sabres Fan in NS]

OOOHHHH!!  What a hit by Campbell!!

[Drunkard]

Always loved his fight calls, especially with Rob Ray throwing the punches. Can't remember which fight (or maybe he's said it multiple times) but I really like the one where he said Ray got 5 for throwing them and the other guy got 5 for catching them because the other guy got destroyed by Rob Ray.

 

Always loved the Someone call a cop line on great saves as well.

 

I think my favorite was when Pominville line when he was on a particular hot streak. He always did the population part, but I remember him saying something along the lines of "They are gonna have to open up a new Planned Parenthood Center in Buffalo because the population in exploding in Pominville" or something like that.

[dudacek]

"Perreault went around Craig Laffy, who's still looking for his jock strap." Pretty racy for circa 1982! (Googled Craig Laffy and got nothing.)

 

And anytime he says, "The game is over!" Note the exclamation point.

 

Craig Laughlin? Craig Ludwig?

[Stoner]

Craig Laughlin? Craig Ludwig?

Could be Laughlin. I have it on a cassette tape and will try to listen to it later. Or was it on one of the RJ compilations they put out?

[That Aud Smell]

"Perreault went around Craig Laffy, who's still looking for his jock strap." 

 

I remember hearing a story about a call like that -- from RJ himself (in an interview). As memory serves, he got a memo from one of the Knox brothers asking him to keep things more family-friendly. I recall him dating it to his very early years, though.

[WildCard]

OOOHHHH!!  What a hit by Campbell!!

Changing my vote to this

[Sabres Fan in NS]

JASON WARD!!

 

JADIXON WARD!!

[Stoner]

I remember hearing a story about a call like that -- from RJ himself (in an interview). As memory serves, he got a memo from one of the Knox brothers asking him to keep things more family-friendly. I recall him dating it to his very early years, though.

Maybe he had used the line before and let it slip out later on. This was definitely 82 or 83. ... aha! I knew it was out west, so I looked at the Winnipeg Jets' 82-83 roster. Craig Levie! Whew.

[Kruppstahl]

Changing my vote to this

The excitement in RJ's voice during the Campbell/RJ Umberger incident is what defines RJ as great in my mind.

 

If you were only listening to that call on the radio, you would have thought all hell was breaking loose and there was a riot going on.  The anticipation, the sense of urgency, the excitement he painted in your mind....

 

RJ actually made the incident better than it really was.  If you recall, after the hit, the crowd ended up in the corner at the opposite end of the ice, but nothing much really developed.

 

RJ made it sound like a war was breaking out!  Just fantastic!

 

Also of note: for such a great call, RJ kind of blew it.  You can tell he didn't catch who got drilled (Umberger) so RJ just kept referring to him as "his check"...which shows what a pro he is.  He pulled it off seamlessly and he never stammered around to find the player's name.

 

Good lesson for budding play by play guys there.  It doesn't necessarily matter if you can't identify a name quickly, if you handle it the right way.  Identifying the player as a "check" rather than a name worked fine.  We all knew what he was talking about, and exactly who got knocked into next week wasn't the critical aspect of the play in any event. 

John Murphy doing Bills games could learn quite a few lessons from RJ.