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Legendary and colorful Penguins broadcaster Mike Lange dies at 76

Legendary and colorful Penguins broadcaster Mike Lange dies at 76

USA Today20-02-2025

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Longtime Pittsburgh Penguins television and radio broadcaster Mike Lange has died at the age of 76, the team announced Wednesday night.
The colorful Lange, who retired in 2021 after 46 years of calling Penguins games, received the Hockey Hall of Fame's Foster Hewitt Award for outstanding broadcasting in 2001.
"Mike Lange was a wordsmith — a magician behind the mic," the Penguins said in a statement. "The Californian quickly became a quintessential Pittsburgher, and his colorful calls and smooth cadence brought Penguins hockey to life.
"The Hall of Famer's voice is synonymous with the biggest calls in franchise history, including all five Stanley Cup Championships, and his unique one-liners and knack for anticipating game-changing plays set him apart from other announcers. Only Mike could make the biggest names in hockey seem even more magical with just his voice."
The Penguins won championships in 1991, 1992, 2009, 2016 and 2017 during his tenure. He described the plays of Penguins legends Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and others.
All things Penguins: Latest Pittsburgh Penguins news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.
Lange was honored in a pregame ceremony celebrating 45 years as the voice of the Penguins in 2019. The team named the press box at PPG Paints Arena the 'Mike Lange Media Level.'
Lange broke into the NHL in 1974-75 as a radio play-by-play announcer for the Penguins. He left for one season, but returned in 1976-77. Lange did radio exclusively until 1979, when games were simulcast on radio and TV. He was the television voice of the Penguins through 2005-06, before returning to the radio booth in 2006-07.
The Sacramento, California, native got a degree in broadcasting from Sacramento State before starting off calling minor league hockey with the Phoenix Roadrunners and San Diego Gulls. He also called games for soccer's Washington Diplomats before joining the Penguins.
'I didn't get cheated in my quest to do what I have always loved," he said in 2021.
Mike Lange's famous sayings
"Lord Stanley, Lord Stanley, give me the brandy."
"Scratch my back with a hacksaw."
'Buy Sam a drink and get his dog one, too."
"Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has just left the building."
'Smilin' like a butcher's dog."
"He beat him like a rented mule."

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The Stimpmeter was developed after the inventor read about Gene Sarazen hitting a putt into a bunker at Oakmont. Schauffele still hasn't figured out the winning part of it, at least not at the U.S. Open. Despite his top 10s, he has yet to seriously challenge in the final hour. This year presents a different test for the 31-year-old Californian, who broke through last year in the biggest events by winning the PGA Championship and the British Open. He is still trying to find his groove after missing two months with a rib injury that significantly slowed the start of his season. That was a serious challenge — sitting at home, resting, doing next to nothing. 'I felt like I was playing at a pretty high level. Then I got hurt,' he said. 'My expectations of what I knew I could do to where I was were different. And accepting that was tough. I think that was sort of the biggest wake-up call for me coming back.' So a U.S. Open at Oakmont — fun, he calls it — might be a good measure of where he is. Most of the 156 players, and even a few alternates, made their way out to the course on a relatively dry day that should stay that way at least until the weekend. Justin Thomas was among those who came to Oakmont a few weeks ago to get in some serious study, knowing practice rounds can be the biggest grind because they take so long. Everyone is trying to figure out what to do from the rough, where to miss, how to avoid mistakes. Dustin Johnson played nine holes, his first time back at Oakmont since he won his first major nine years ago. He played the final seven holes not knowing if the USGA was going to penalize him for his golf ball moving on the fifth green. That's some serious mental toughness. There have been a few changes, including even fewer trees. 'The course is just as hard as I remember, if not harder,' Johnson said. The USGA likes to test every part of the game, and that includes the mental side of it. Jack Nicklaus, a four-time U.S. Open champion, said he used to listen to players complain in the days leading up to the Open and figure he could rule them out. 'I hope it psyches a lot of players out,' Thomas said. 'I understand this place is hard. I don't need to read articles, or I don't need to hear horror stories. I've played it. I know it's difficult. I also have faith that if I go play well and I'm driving the ball well and I'm hitting my irons like I know I can, I'm going to have a lot of birdie opportunities.' Thomas also mentioned the need to have a good attitude. The definition is different for each player. For him, it's being committed over every shot on every hole and accepting the outcome. 'I think once I start second-guessing myself or not trusting my instincts is kind of where I get myself in trouble,' Thomas said. 'Then when I do that, I naturally am pretty pissed off if it doesn't work out. It wasn't because of the shot, it was more from the lack of commitment. That's where it starts for me generally.' With Schauffele, it can be hard to tell when he loses his cool. And he's not a big believer that anyone throwing a club is costing himself shots. Tiger Woods, who won the U.S. Open three times, was among the best at putting any anger behind him before he settled over his next shot. 'I think I look pretty level-headed when I play, but internally I might be absolutely just thrashing myself,' Schauffele said. 'I think truly having a good attitude is just sort of accepting what happened and allowing yourself to be pretty much at zero to hit the next shot.' It's not just the U.S. Open where Schauffele has shown remarkable consistency. He rallied down the stretch at Quail Hollow to make the cut, and his cut streak is at 65 tournaments going into Oakmont. That's the longest streak since Woods made 142 cuts in a row that ended in 2005. He has game, clearly. And he has the right head for the U.S. Open. 'Part of my attitude thing is we're all playing the same course, and it's going to be hard,' he said. 'You may think something's unfair, but it doesn't really matter at the end of the day. Whoever can deal with it the best is going to play well. That's the attitude I've had — look at it as a fun challenge versus feeling like you're living in a nightmare.' ___ AP golf:

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