Biography:Boom goes the dynamite

"Boom goes the dynamite!" is a catchphrase coined by Ball State University student Brian Collins, popularized after a video of him delivering an ill-fated sports broadcast that included the phrase was shared on YouTube in 2005. In the ensuing years it has become a popular phrase, used to indicate a pivotal moment.

Origins

During his freshman year, Collins agreed to appear on Ball State University's campus newscast in place of the regular sportscaster, who was ill. The teleprompter was operational, but an inexperienced operator accidentally fast-forwarded through the script, leaving Collins with no choice but to ad-lib most of his script. Among the games Collins had to report on was the March 22, 2005, NBA game between the Indiana Pacers and New Jersey Nets. The phrase can be heard as Pacers shooting guard Fred Jones hit a three-pointer with 2:03 left in the first quarter.

Collins had coined the phrase earlier in his freshman year while playing the video game Super Mario Kart with his college roommates; the group had enjoyed coming up with new phrases to shout during moments of triumph in the game.

A video of the broadcast was posted on YouTube several months later and gradually gained significant attention over the next few years.

A trademark application on the phrase was filed but ultimately abandoned by a San Diego-based speculator who offered it on T-shirts, saying that part of the proceeds would go to a scholarship fund at Ball State for journalism students.

ESPN SportsCenter anchor Scott Van Pelt sent Collins words of encouragement and paid homage to him using the "boom" catchphrase on the air several times.

Analysis

The newscast is now known as "the Collins incident" in communications classes.

In 2009, the Fox Sports program Best Damn Sports Show Period called the clip the #1 biggest "sports blooper" in all of televised sports reporting history.

Collins media appearances

Collins' sportscast was featured on television and radio throughout the country and earned him an appearance on The Late Show (hosted by Ball State alumnus David Letterman).

Collins was featured in the "Web Redemption" segment of the May 24, 2011 episode of Tosh.0. He was by then a professional freelance reporter, although he stated that he had not covered sports since the infamous 2005 incident.

Collins, among other "internet stars", was set to star in the upcoming film The Chronicles of Rick Roll, which was first announced in 2011.

In popular culture

"Boom goes the dynamite" has been used in a large number of television shows, movies, and video games, as well as occasionally in theater, advertisements and songs, most frequently between 2008 and 2011. The line is usually used to indicate a pivotal moment.

"Boom Goes the Dynamite" is the title of an episode of the TV show Scandal that aired on February 21, 2013. The phrase is also said by a character during the episode. The line is a catchphrase of animated character Cleveland Brown during or immediately following coitus, on the shows Family Guy and The Cleveland Show. The character Kim Crawford uses it repeatedly in the Disney XD show Kickin' It. The phrase has also been used on the TV shows Breaking In, King of the Hill, Brooklyn Nine Nine, How I Met Your Mother, Weird Loners, Veronica Mars, Jonas, House M.D., Franklin and Bash, Gossip Girl, Legion, Warehouse 13, and Timeless among others.

The phrase has also been uttered live by broadcasters and talk show hosts including Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart (during his 2009 interview of Jim Cramer) and Keith Olbermann.

The phrase has also been used in multiple video games to indicate some notable accomplishment, including the games Orcs Must Die, Heroes of Newerth, Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse, Saints Row, Saints Row IV, Uncharted 2, APB:Reloaded, Borderlands, NBA Jam, Tomb Raider, and Overwatch.

A character in the 2008 film Wanted uses "Boom goes the dynamite."

The line is spoken by the title character in the satirical Broadway musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, and is likely referenced by the phrase "Boom! Goes the Cannon" during "Right Hand Man", a song in the first act of "Lin-Manuel Miranda"'s Hamilton, which premiered in 2015.

Big D and the Kids Table's song "Doped Up Dollies On a One-Way Ticket to Blood" from their 2009 album, Fluent in Stroll, opens with the lyric "Boom goes the dynamite, dynamite, dynamite, boom goes the dynamite, dynamite, boom!"

Funk super group Cameo frontman Larry Blackmon frequently shouts the phrase in live shows before performing the song "Word Up".

The phrase has also been used to indicate a flub during a live broadcast. For example, Will Smith used the line after a mispronunciation during the 81st Academy Awards in 2009.

"Dynamite" by Dutch electro house producers Quintino and MOTi features the phrase, performed by singer Taylr Renee, at the beat drop.

The line was used to denote a pivotal moment in episode seven of the first season of the television series Legion, first broadcast on March 22, 2017, by Oliver Bird, the eccentric character played by Jemaine Clement.

The quote was referenced in the teaser trailer for Deadpool 2, where during the credits the boom operator for Deadpool's parody of the PBS series The Joy of Painting is listed as "goes the dynamite".