NY Islanders: 3 fun facts about legendary announcer Jiggs McDonald

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The origin of the nickname Jiggs

He was John Kenneth McDonald when he was hired, but Cooke wanted that to change. The owner told the young announcer that "John Kenneth McDonald" was as fine a name as he had ever heard, but it had no recall value. At training camp with a broadcast coming up, Cooke asked McDonald what his nickname was growing up. He replied quietly, "Jiggs," and the owner thought it was marvelous.

McDonald's father had a resemblance to one of the protagonists in the comic strip "Bringing up Father," which featured the characters Jiggs and Maggie. As such, an eight-year-old Ken started being called Jiggs around his hometown. He had never used it on the air, but the team sent out a memo saying that Jiggs McDonald would be behind the mic.

As Jiggs tells it, from that day on, whenever someone called his house looking for Ken, he knew it was either a relative or a bill collector.

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