Courtesy the Miami Herald

(December 17, 2010) Eric Reid was calling a Heat game in Utah last week when the cartoonish words -- suddenly and inexplicably -- popped into his head and off his tongue.

``Yabba Dabba Doo!'' Reid exclaimed after a LeBron James dunk.

The aftershocks immediately reverberated through cyberspace.

``Did Eric Reid really just say Yabba Dabba Doo?'' one blogger wrote.

Some loved it. Others, not so much.

``Eric Reid really needs to stop,'' one Heat fan wrote. ``His friends need to do an intervention.''

Very little that local announcers say stirs more reaction than catch phrases, especially new ones. Several Heat fans have stopped Reid, at Publix and elsewhere, and shouted ``Yabba Dabba Doo'' since he returned from the road trip.

Perhaps they heard it live on Sun Sports. Perhaps they heard Dan Le Batard and Jon Weiner discussing it on 790 The Ticket.

Reid, who has done good work as a Heat announcer since the franchise's inception, insists the reincarnation of the TV show The Flintstones was not planned.

``It came out of the clear blue sky,'' said Reid, who used it again on a telecast last weekend. ``For some reason, it made me want to say Yabba Dabba Doo! I can't remember the last time I watched the The Flintstones. The response has been surprising. The real fun of the job is the spontaneity.

``I pride myself on storytelling, but the things that seem to stick with people are'' catch phrases.

Reid's new gimmick got me thinking about the catchiest catch phrases in South Florida sports broadcasting history. Here's this viewer's list in reverse order, excluding the dozens of pop-culture references that Panthers radio announcer Randy Moller has used, generally only once:

• 15: Up, up and away. Nothing flashy about Marlins announcer Dave Van Horne's home run call, but he deserves a spot on the list after last week's news that he will be inducted into the broadcaster's wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

• 14: Donnie ``Bleeping'' Murphy. Rich Waltz perfectly captured the shock of this journeyman infielder winning two games for the Marlins within a five-day stretch last July.

• 13: You can wave it bye-bye. One of former Marlins' announcer Joe Angel's two home run calls on our list.

• 12: Tippy toe three. Reid's on-target description of Antoine Walker shots from beyond the arc.

• 11: How do you like us now, Miami? Reid's proclamation after impressive Heat wins during an era when the expectations were much lower than today.

• 10: It slipped out of there like a wet watermelon seed. Deceased former Dolphins announcer Rick Weaver's creative call on fumbles.

• 9: Hasta La Vista. Another of Angel's home run calls, always delivered with flair.

• 8: Lenard! And Slamma! Fans would love to imitate former Heat analyst Jack Ramsay's playful, booming, trademark calls -- one delivered after Voshon Lenard three-pointers, the other after dunks.

• 7: Top shelf, where Mrs. Moller keeps the peanut butter. Moller's most enduring goal call, uttered long before he started spewing pop-culture references suggested on Le Batard's show.

• 6: Hot Dog - Hop aboard! Former Panthers radio announcer Chris Moore's snazzy call of select goals during the team's early years.

• 5: He's got a huge pair! Uttered when a Panthers player has two goals. Former Panthers TV announcer Jeff Rimer coined it -- and Moller imitated it.

• 4: His name is Dan Uggla. When Uggla came out of nowhere (actually, out of the Rule V draft) to become a star, Waltz and Tommy Hutton used the phrase to set everybody straight about how to pronounce his name. It became an endearing staple on Uggla homers. But not anymore, with Uggla shipped to Atlanta this offseason.

• 3: Put this one in the win column! Angel's trademark for Marlins victories.

• 2: Holy Toledo! He was rappycaked! Weaver's colorful call on big hits during Dolphins games.

• 1: Awwwwright Miami! Simple but succinct, and a testament to the popularity of the man who coined it, Dolphins announcer Jim Mandich.

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