Sports

Voice of the Rebels: Dick Calvert looks back on four decades behind the mic

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Dick Calvert is in his 44th season announcing UNLV Runnin’ Rebel games.
R. Marsh Starks/UNLV Photo Services

He’s the voice you heard attending games as a child, letting you know what’s happening in the game and reminding you to drive home safely. He’s that familiar voice you still hear at the Thomas & Mack Center when UNLV’s basketball team is on the floor. The Rebels’ team changes each season, but game announcer Dick Calvert is one constant in the game-day experience.

Calvert is in his 44th season announcing Rebel games and estimates he’s missed about five games in all that time behind the microphone.

“It’s an honor in the first degree,” says Calvert, 79, of the tenure of his gig. “I always try to be a professional and treat the other teams with first class.”

Calvert, the “Voice of the Rebels” and a member of the Southern Nevada Sports Hall of Fame, has called so many games, the seasons and players sometimes run together. The memories are so numerous, it’s hard to pinpoint a favorite game, team, moment or player—a request he frequently receives from fans. “You are asking an old guy to remember this stuff,” he says. “It’s one big jumble.”

Here’s a brief trip down memory lane:

When the Thomas & Mack Center opened in 1983: Calvert also called games at the Rebels’ previous home, the Las Vegas Convention Center. “You are talking Danny Tarkanian, Sidney Green, Larry Anderson, that crew in 1983,” he said. “The brand new digs were just incredible. We went from 6,200, or whatever that bowl held at the convention center, to this amazing building.”

The wrong Michael: When the Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls played at the Mack in the 1980s, Calvert called the game’s most famous player by the wrong name. It’s one of a few blunders in his career. “Michael Jordan was the last to be introduced and I called him Michael Jackson,” Calvert said. “That gave everyone a chuckle.”

All in the family: One of Calvert’s favorite UNLV teams was the 1977 Final Four squad, affectionately called the “Hardway Eight” for its relentless style of play. That team included guard Tony Smith. In the mid-1990s, Calvert got to introduce another Smith, Tony’s son Damian.

The streak: UNLV has made a 3-pointer in every game it has played since the NCAA introduced the 3-point line for the 1986-87 season. Fans are aware of the streak and salute each game’s first three with an extra-loud cheer. And Calvert updates the streak in real time. “To me, that is one of the most important things I do every game.”

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