Hot Rod Hundley "From the Parking Lot"

"Hot Rod" Hundley will always have a special place in my heart having been the radio play by play announcer of the New Orleans Jazz from 1974 to 1979. He passed away today at the age of 80.

In those days the only way to keep up with New Orleans professional basketball was listening to his broadcast on the radio. Somehow, Hot Rod managed to make that experience alive and memorable. As the broadcaster of the New Orleans (sic) later Utah Jazz Hot Rod was an iconic announcer.

As the Jazz announcer from 1974 until the move in 1979 in the days before League Pass I always enjoyed listening to Hot Rod do the Jazz play by play for the New Orleans Jazz when I didn't splurge on those $2 general admission tickets in the terrace section of the Dome.

I will always cherish and never forget his commentary about Pistol Pete, Truck Robinson, Gail Goodrich, Rich Kelly, Aaron James, Henry Bibby, Butch van Breda Kolff, Slick Watts and Elgin Baylor.

He followed the Jazz to Utah and went on to announce their games for another 30 years after leaving New Orleans.

As a star player at West Virginia he was drafted first overall in the 1957 draft. He eventually played for the LA Lakers and played in the 1960 and 1961 All-Star games.

He was good friends with Jerry West and our own Joel Meyers. His broadcast were memorable and I will always have fond memories of them.

He was a contemporary of Joe Dean, the LSU broadcaster, who coined the term "String Music"

May he "Rest in Peace" "You Got to Love it Baby". "From the Parking Lot"

For those of you interested in the history of the New Orleans Jazz I highly recommend this link:


http://www.sbnation.com/longform/201...ornets-profile

One of my all time favorite announcers. Loved listening to him call the Jazz games.

I wasn't born when we were the jazz

I am not going to lie. I may have shed a tear or two when I learned of his passing. He was a big part of my youth and young adult hood.

Those were great times. Hot Rod made listening to the Jazz bearable, even in the bad times. Oops, they were all bad times. But great memories. He will be missed.

He was simply the best. I hated listening to him call Utah games as he was just a part of New Orleans.

I actually met him at a U of U football game when Alex Smith was the qb ( they were playing UNLV). We were both in the press box, he as a spectator, and me as somebody pondering the business. When he came to the snack table people approached him like he was a celestial being. I can't remember how it was brought up but he found out I was from New Orleans, and he talked of how he loved working here. Dude lived in the Rockies, but the man was a Southerner through and through.

I never heard him call a game here, but when I lived in Utah I produced the Jazz games, so I heard all his final games. Dude was amazing.

Hot Rod was amazing to listen to. Very few of the Jazz games were televised in the 70s, so I spent many nights glued to an AM radio in my bedroom listening to Hot Rod's voice. Man, he had a way with words. "They call San Francisco the City, New York the Big Apple. Swing with me now to the City of Jazz...New Orleans!" That's how he would open the broadcasts.

He had so many signature calls...PiiiisssTOL PETE! AJ from the parking lot!

He was one of a kind and will be missed.

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Originally Posted by Southpaw

Hot Rod was amazing to listen to. Very few of the Jazz games were televised in the 70s, so I spent many nights glued to an AM radio in my bedroom listening to Hot Rod's voice. Man, he had a way with words. "They call San Francisco the City, New York the Big Apple. Swing with me now to the City of Jazz...New Orleans!" That's how he would open the broadcasts.

He had so many signature calls...PiiiisssTOL PETE! AJ from the parking lot!



He was one of a kind and will be missed.

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Thank you for the memory. His iconic intro for the New Orleans Jazz games was awesome. He dropped it when the team moved to Salt Lake City because he couldn't bring himself to say Swing with me ... to the City of Jazz .... Salt Lake City?

The year the Jazz arrived in NOLA in 1974 was the last time the GSW won the championship. They were led by none other than Rick Barry. 1975 was the last year of the ABA and "Dr. J" Julius Irving led the Nets to the ABA championship. Pistol Pete was the NBA scoring leader in the 1976-77 season with 2273. (George Gervin led 4 of the next 5 years)
Incidentally the year the Jazz left NOLA for Salt Lake City was the year that Magic Johnson led Michigan State to the NCAA championship over the the Larry Bird led Indiana State.

Further factoid. The pick the Lakers used to get Magic came from New Orleans who had traded it for an aging Gail Goodrich...

You guys recall the CST opening to the inaugural New Orleans Hornets game after the relocation? It was against the Jazz and CST got Hot Rod to do his opening line as the Hornets broadcast came on the air.

Only worthwhile thing CST did as the team's broadcaster.

While we are on the subject (and a few old timers are frequenting this thread), why? Why did they move to SLC? Batiste wasn't Mormon, SLC was an even smaller market than Green Bay (or even NO 2 years after Katrina). I understand there were conflicting schedule issues, but why did they have to move? Did elected officials push them?

I thought Sam Battistone was Mormon. At least that has always been the party line as to why SLC rather than a larger market.

As for why they left NOLA? Superdome lease was onerous and the Jazz were actually low on the priority list of tenants. Saints were the major tenant and several other big annual conventions, events and Mardi Gras krewes got priority over the Jazz. The City was in a big growth phase and was eyeing up a relocation of an MLB team (rumors of the A's or the White Sox swirled). And local governments bending over backwards to make sports franchises happy was not quite the norm at the time, though I think the Saints benefited greatly in that area as a result of the Jazz relocation.

As to why it got to the point of moving - that's where the anecdotal stuff of Battistone wanting to be closer to his Mormon roots comes in. If that's not true, it's been passed off as fact in NOLA for 35 years.

No, Battistone wasn't Mormon, and if he was, he wasn't active, as my parents have been members here since the early 70's, and at the time the congregation was small enough where everyone knew everyone. If somebody owned a pro sports franchise, people would know. But perhaps (like some Mormons here) he did want to get back to Mecca. I know I have no interest in doing that, but I have been born and raised here, not in the Wasatch.

Watch who you call "old timer," sonny! Was a Jazz fanatic in grade school and went to games every chance I got to see Maravich, Truck Robinson & crew. Loved that atmosphere, less "entertainment" and more straight hoops. The Jazz left when the NBA was at a low ebb and many of the franchises, including New Orleans, were operating in the red. Don't think any politicians pushed them out, but could be they didn't get concessions they were looking for. Here's an article on the move from forum favorite Jimmy Smith...

http://www.nola.com/hornets/index.ss...he_day_th.html

Great find on that article. I was 12 when the team moved. Pretty much turned my back on the NBA until we landed our current team in 2002.

Loved the NBA of the 70s.