Hero Announcer Still Making Hockey Interesting

It has yet to get old, not with pop culture spewing out quotes by the Kanye-byte: this season, as he did last, Panthers radio broadcaster Randy Moller is screaming out phrases suggested by listeners of 790 The Ticket's Dan LeBatard Show when Florida scores.

LeBatard's staff just put a third compilation of the funnies up on YouTube, because there's only about 7 people who actually listen to the Panthers on the radio (radio, as we know, is a thankless but often awesome affair).

If you wonder what took so long -- the second compilation came out in March -- look no further than the team's record. Though they've scored 82 goals in 30 games, some calls need be accompanied by foreshadowing sobs in lieu of clever quotes: the Panthers have lost 13 games in regulation, 6 in overtime, and have only won 11 on the season.

(Somewhere, the Dolphins feel a tad better about those fourth-quarter collapses).

Still, Moller's managed to work in such classics as "Mike Bibby be floppin'," "Beyonce had one of the greatest videos of all time," "That, my friend, is how you get pink eye," and a timely local cringe-inducing favorite, Cam Cameron's Ted Ginn-drafting classic, "Hey, we need those thumbs to go this direction."

So do the Panthers, of course. Monday night's loss to the Oilers was the sixth of the last seven home games, and the Cats hope to spark a turnaround on the four-game road trip starting tonight in Columbus. And if they can't, well, we can hope for two things: no one bashes Tomas Vokoun in the head, and the Panthers score at least once so Moller can make listening worthwhile.