Lloyd Pettit (March 22, 1927 – November 11, 2003) was a sportscaster in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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and
Milwaukee
Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...
as well as the owner of the
Milwaukee Admirals
The Milwaukee Admirals are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). They play in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Panther Arena. They are affiliated with the NHL's Nashvil ...
.
Early life
Pettit was born in Chicago and moved as a small child to the Milwaukee suburb of
Shorewood, Wisconsin where he graduated from
Shorewood High School. He went on to study at
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world.
Chart ...
, and graduated in 1950 with a degree in television and radio journalism. He was a member of the
Sigma Chi
Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American fraternal literary societies. The fraternity has 244 active (undergraduate) chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has initiated more tha ...
Fraternity
A fraternity (from Latin ''frater'': "brother"; whence, "brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club or fraternal order traditionally of men associated together for various religious or secular aims. Fraternity in ...
. He worked as a Wisconsin sports broadcaster at
WMAW and later
WTMJ Radio until 1956.
Chicago sports broadcaster
Pettit returned to Chicago, where he was a sports broadcaster on
WGN-TV and
WGN Radio for a variety of different teams during the 1960s, including the
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...
and
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...
. He usually worked as the sidekick for the main TV announcer,
Jack Brickhouse. His baseball broadcasting style could be described as low-key and businesslike, compared with the excitable Brickhouse. He also broadcast the
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine ...
, when Brickhouse was busy covering the Cubs or White Sox.
Pettit is most fondly remembered by fans of the
Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division i ...
of the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...
. His first love in sports was ice hockey, and he shone at coverage of that sport. He was the original choice to broadcast the NHL's national games on
CBS in the late '60s, but Jack Brickhouse, who ran WGN-TV's sports operations, would not release him from his contract to do the games, and the assignment went instead to
Dan Kelly Daniel, Dan or Danny Kelly may refer to:
Academics
* Daniel Kelly (sociologist) (born 1959), British sociologist and nursing professor
* Daniel Kelly (philosopher) (born 1975), American philosopher
* Daniel P. Kelly, American physician and Prof ...
of the
St. Louis Blues. That dispute led to his, and the team's, moving to
WMAQ Radio in 1970. During his career, the Hawks had a number of highs and lows. Regardless, Pettit covered the games with enthusiasm and expertise. His signature catchphrase, which was even worked into the Blackhawks official fight song, "Here Come The Hawks," was "There's a shot... AND A GOAL!!!" He retired from the Blackhawks in 1976, after a dispute over the quality of his broadcast partners, and from all broadcasting in 1980 to pursue other business interests. He was presented with the
Foster Hewitt Memorial Award by the
Hockey Hall of Fame in 1986.
Milwaukee Admirals
After his broadcasting career finished, Pettit and his wife Jane returned to Wisconsin full-time. They bought the
Milwaukee Admirals
The Milwaukee Admirals are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). They play in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Panther Arena. They are affiliated with the NHL's Nashvil ...
of the
International Hockey League (now in the
American Hockey League
The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...
) in 1976. The Pettits were instrumental in getting the
Bradley Center built, in the hopes of securing an NHL franchise, though the Pettits withdrew their bid when they felt the expansion fee was too high. The arena became the home of the Admirals and the
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...
's
Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...
, with whom they also had minority ownership.
He, and his wife,
Jane Bradley Pettit, were both elected to the
Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1993.
In 1994, Pettit and
Jane were honored with the "Lombardi Award of Excellence" from the Vince Lombardi Cancer Foundation. The award was created to honor Coach
Lombardi's legacy, and is awarded annually to an individual who exemplifies the spirit of the Coach.
See also
*
Pettit National Ice Center
External links
Obituaryfrom the ''
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currently ...
''-November 14, 2003
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pettit, Lloyd
1927 births
2003 deaths
American radio sports announcers
American television sports announcers
Chicago Blackhawks announcers
Chicago Cubs announcers
Chicago White Sox announcers
Green Bay Packers announcers
Foster Hewitt Memorial Award winners
Major League Baseball broadcasters
National Football League announcers
Milwaukee Admirals
National Hockey League broadcasters
Medill School of Journalism alumni
Radio personalities from Chicago
Radio personalities from Milwaukee
Shorewood High School (Wisconsin) alumni