“He stops, pops and it drops” (basketball phrase)
“He stops. pops, and it drops” is a basketball announcer’s call for a player taking and making a jump shot. The Albert brothers (Marv Albert, Al Albert and Steve Albert) all announced for New York-area basketball teams and all used the saying, although Al Albert and Steve Albert have received the most credit.
The Alberts have used “stops…pops…drops” since at least the 1980s.
Wikipedia: Steve Albert
Steve Albert (born Stephen Aufrichtig) is a sportscaster. He has served as a play-by-play announcer for the New Jersey Nets, New Orleans Hornets, Golden State Warriors, New York Mets, and Cleveland Cavaliers. In addition he served as a broadcaster for New York Islanders, New York Rangers and New York Jets, and as the sports anchor at WCBS-TV, WNBC-TV and WWOR-TV and did morning sports reports on WABC (AM). He has also covered major boxing fights on Showtime Championship Boxing for 17 years.
He is the youngest of three brothers; his oldest brother is Marv Albert, and the middle child in the family is Al Albert.
Wikipedia: Al Albert
Alan “Al” Albert (born Alan Aufrichtig) is a sportscaster who formerly called games for the Denver Nuggets and Indiana Pacers.
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He started with the Denver Nuggets, where he was the play-by-play announcer for 18 years, perfecting his signature open jump-shot call, “He stops…pops…SWISH!”
Google Books
Teaching the Art of Poetry:
The Moves
By Baron Wormser and David Cappella
Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc.
2000
Pg. 28:
We can feel it when the basketball announcer exclaims, “He stops, he pops, it drops.” Not only is the rhyme memorable but “pops” is a remarkably strong little word to portray the athlete getting a shot off.
Bill Adams photos
19-MAR-2004
Dunleavy for the Long Two Pointer.jpg
Oakland Coliseum Arena, Oakland, California
Second year player Mike Dunleavy stops and pops, and it drops.
WarriorsWorld.net
My earliest Warriors memory, is, oddly, that one recycling commercial they used to play.
Posted by Ben on 2005-02-24 02:49:05
It had Chris, either Mitch or Timmy, and most memorably Sarunas, who crunched up a piece of paper and threw it in the garbage. The voiceover went: “He stops…pops…and it drops!”
High Socks & Short Shorts
Thursday, March 16, 2006
4.20.83: prehistory
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Your announcers: Steve Albert (catchphrases: “Stops, pops, and it drops” and “Scoop to the hoop”) and Bill Raftery.
Duke Basketball Report
mgtr
12-09-2007, 03:18 PM
It seems to me that Marv Albert (of NY Knicks and ladies underwear fame) began the use of colorful language when announcing basketball game. I remember particularly “he stops, he pops, it drops!” At least that was clever, and interesting the first three times. It is not so much the strained effort to be different that hurts, but the constant repetition that is the killer.
WarriorsWorld.net
Steve Albert replaces Giggles!!!
Posted by WsAsFan4ever on 2008-01-28 17:01:28
stop, pops, and it drops!!!
WarriorsWorld.net
Bring steve albert back! ‘stops, pops and drops!!’
Posted by Richie on 2010-02-25 15:58:04