McCarthy finds voice to be RTÉ’s Olympic hero

If you haven’t heard him over the last few weeks, you’ve surely heard of him.

The guy doing the basketball commentary on RTÉ for the Olympics, who insists any dunk from LeBron is greeted by a BOOM-SHAKA-LAKA!, observes that anytime Carmelo or Durant “spots, he nets”, especially when they’re launching it from beyond that three-point arc, that special place that, thanks to him, we’ve all come to know as DOWWWNNN-TOOOWWWNN!

This past fortnight saw Tim McCarthy not only introduce the delights of world basketball to the country; Tim McCarthy was introduced to the world. He’s become a cult figure, not just here at home where Newstalk’s Off the Ball team have paid homage by putting his distinctly-animated commentary to the light groove of a particularly well-known Petula Clark track (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0qBsQ34jSc), but even in the States where ESPN contributors have gushed that his commentary would power that country for the next hundred years and that he should be calling NBA games — in the NBA — pronto.