Fred D. McLeod III (September 1, 1952 – September 9, 2019) was an American sportscaster who served as the executive producer of multimedia, and television play-by-play announcer for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball 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 in the United St ...

(NBA).

Early life

McLeod was born on September 1, 1952 and grew up in the

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

suburb of Strongsville. During his sophomore year in

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

, McLeod and his family moved to the

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

, area, where he finished high school and attended college, graduating from Point Park College where he was a pitcher on the baseball team, reaching the NAIA College World Series.McLeod bio - AEI Speakers Bureau
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Broadcasting career

McLeod began his broadcasting career in 1974 as a sportscaster for

KQTV KQTV (channel 2) is a television station in St. Joseph, Missouri, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by Heartland Media. The station's studios and transmitter are located on Faraon Street in eastern St. Joseph. Although KQTV ser ...

in St. Joseph, Missouri, and later moved to WSTV in

Steubenville, Ohio Steubenville is a city in and the county seat of Jefferson County, Ohio, United States. Located along the Ohio River 33 miles west of Pittsburgh, it had a population of 18,161 at the 2020 census. The city's name is derived from Fort Steuben, a ...

. In the late 1970s, he returned to Cleveland when he was hired by WJKW-TV 8 as a weekend sports presenter, and also providing play-by-play commentary for WJKW's coverage of

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

' games during the 1979 season. McLeod later moved to

KPIX KPIX-TV (channel 5) is a television station licensed to San Francisco, California, United States, serving as the San Francisco Bay Area's CBS network outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside ...

-TV in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, where he was a sports presenter as well as play-by-play commentator for the Oakland Athletics. In 1982, McLeod moved to

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, where he became a sportscaster for WJBK and later with

WDIV WDIV-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Detroit, Detroit, Michigan, United States, affiliated with NBC. It serves as the Flagship (broadcasting), flagship broadcast property of the Graham Media Group subsidiary of Graham Holdings, Graham ...

, and in 1984 became a television play-by-play announcer for the NBA's

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at L ...

, a position he held until 2006. From the 2006-07 to 2018-19 seasons, McLeod was the television play-by-play announcer for the Cleveland Cavaliers alongside former Cavalier

Austin Carr Austin George Carr (born March 10, 1948) is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, and Washington Bullets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is known by Cleveland ...

. He also served as play-by-play announcer for Detroit Lions preseason telecasts in 2019. On September 9, 2019, McLeod died suddenly at the age of 67. He is buried at Sunset Memorial Park in North Olmsted, Ohio.

Signature calls

*''Right down

Euclid Euclid (; grc-gre, Εὐκλείδης; BC) was an ancient Greek mathematician active as a geometer and logician. Considered the "father of geometry", he is chiefly known for the '' Elements'' treatise, which established the foundations of ...

!'' - when a Cavaliers player drives down the lane to the basket *''____ says "I got your back!" ''- when a Cavaliers player grabs an offensive rebound and puts the ball in the hoop *''Sweaty palms time'' - during the closing minutes of tight games *''The bottom!'' - when a Cavaliers player hits a three-pointer *''Shakin' the

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

!'' - after a powerful slam dunk by LeBron James *''A wine and gold winner'' - immediately after the final horn of a Cavaliers win *''Good night ____, we'll let ourselves out!'' - when the Cavaliers win a road game *''He shut off his water!'' - when a Cavaliers player stops an opponent from driving to the basket *''He blew a tire'' - when a player on either side fumbles the ball and turns it over *''He's gone video game'' - when a player is hot shooting or hitting multiple difficult shots *''Convenient banking hours'' - when a player shoots the ball off the backboard and into the hoop. The phrase is often used sarcastically as if the player meant to bounce the ball off the glass all along when it clearly was a mere happenstance. *''He shuffled his shoes!'' - when an opposing player committed a traveling violation

Awards and honors

*Four-time Lower Great Lakes Emmy Award recipient as a member of Fox Sports Ohio's Cavaliers broadcast team - 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019 *

Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse is a multi-purpose arena in Cleveland, Ohio. The building is the home of the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League (AHL). It also ...

media area named the "Fred McLeod TV Studio and Media Workroom"2019 winners - Lower Great Lakes Emmy Awards
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McLeod, Fred 1952 births 2019 deaths American television sports announcers Cleveland Cavaliers announcers Cleveland Indians announcers Detroit Lions announcers Detroit Pistons announcers Detroit Tigers announcers High school basketball announcers in the United States High school football announcers in the United States Major League Baseball broadcasters Oakland Athletics announcers People from Strongsville, Ohio Point Park Pioneers baseball players Television anchors from Cleveland Television anchors from Detroit