Announcers we grew up with and the future

[selmaborntidefan]

Thinking tonight, many of us grew up with Musburger, Jackson, Vern, etc. If I am 14 and listening to games who is that Keith Jackson, or Musburger of today? Is it Chris Fowler and Herby? Who are those iconic announcers of today?

Probably Fowler and Kirk.

Bear in mind l think much of this is nostalgia for the moment, not the person. If Ron Franklin calls a moment back then that we associate with Keith Jackson now - because Keith was assigned the game - then he becomes the icon. That isn’t to say that Keith Jackson was a mediocre announcer, he wasn’t. He DID - and you need this - have what l call the sense of the moment, the knowledge to shut his mouth and let the crowd reaction tell the story. It’s like a comedian’s timing and not everyone has it. but if it had not been him, it would’ve been somebody else and you would remember them just as well.

Folks think Pat Summerall and John Madden were great but l can only assume they weren’t actually listening to them call the game. Half of Summerall’s calls were “touchdown Name of Wrong Guy…..l beg your pardon that’s Name of Right Guy.” Seriously, how many iconic Summerall moments can you name? He called 16 Super Bowls - and how many of his calls in any of those games can you recall alongside “Do you believe in miracles” by Michaels, “she is GONE” by Scully or “that’s a winner” by Jack Buck? Summerall didn’t even call The Catch, that was Vin Scully.

Madden has forgotten more football than I’ll ever know and he tried to make it fun but his yammering was tiresome and often pointless. He wasted several minutes amusing about the Gatorade bucket in Super Bowl 21 that the Giants were about to toss onto Bill Parcells’ head. It was a lame as it sounds. What I’ll grant Pat and John DID have was chemistry. Pat was clueless and John spoke endless and it is remembered now as an awesome combo because most of you who recall them were probably six beers deep by halftime.

Keith Jackson was almost a mixture of Pat’s baritone (without getting all the names wrong) and Madden’s enthusiasm. He was good at his job.

But here’s the thing: if it had not been them it would have been someone else. It’s like people who get the warm fuzzies about Jackie Robinson; if it wasn’t him, it would have been somebody else, and the first guy to break the color barrier was going to HAVE to be very good or set the (necessary) cause back (the player who broke the color line wasn’t going to be like that female Vandy kicker a few years ago).

People my age wax eloquently about Howard Cosell, whom I found over the top and useless at nine even before he got fired for the book blasting everyone he’d ever worked with. For those not there - well, l don’t want this going NS but you can probably figure it out from that.

 

[Rush]

The great voices like Keith Jackson, Lindsay Nelson, Chris Shenkel, Dick Enberg, Frank Broyles, etc are long since gone.

Folks like Fowler, Herbie, Rece, do a solid job. But what separates the “old guard” from them IMO was the old guys “let the game be object of the viewer’s attention”. Today, as @TideEngineer08 pointed out, with the numerous games going on at any time, these broadcast teams believe they need to be at times “bigger than the game” or “look at us” in order to draw eyeballs.

It’s the reason I won’t watch a Fox broadcast with Gus Johnson, or, if Joe Tessitore is doing a Bama game, the tube goes on mute.

As a Canadian kid who grew up having no idea American college football existed, eventually discovering broadcasts of games, in the deep South, being called by the legendary Keith Jackson, and Frank Broyles, was like, well, discovering America...

I honestly can't think of any contemporaries who even come close.

Although I find Fowler and Herbie to be at the top of today's group...

Keith was Southern symphony music.

And Frank Boyles proclaiming "God, is on the side, of the team, with the two best defensive tackles..."

I mean, they just don't make 'em like that anymore...

 

[4Q Basket Case]

On TV, Jackson and Broyles were the best. @Isaiah 63:1 is right though...in his last few years on the air, Jackson had been reading his own press clippings way too much.

Broyles call in the fourth quarter of the 1985 barn game (Van Tiffin's kick) was my most memorable...."Keith, my heart can't stand it!"

I know I'm a minority of one, but I liked Gary Danielson. Yeah, he could be a bit overconfident in his knowledge of the rules. But he always taught me something about the game. Verne was kind of like the lovable but slightly tipsy uncle at Thanksgiving. A bit fuzzy on the facts, and forever using the wrong names, but not a malicious bone in his body.

On radio, I'm old enough to have clear memory back to John Forney in his prime. But I'm a Chris Stewart fan.

Forney's love for Alabama was unquestioned, and that came through in his broadcasts. But even at his best, he wasn't a really competent announcer. Way too often the audience had no idea of how much a play gained, down and distance, the situation on time, etc. Sometimes even uncertain of the score. Also bad to call a current player by the name of someone who had worn that same number years before.

Forney did handle when Perkins fired him with class. He was devastated personally, but kept his mouth shut publicly. Eventually he got a second stint after Perkins left, which would never have happened if he had shown his hindquarters.

Eli Gold was a great breath of fresh air early on in his tenure. And he grew to truly love the program. But as with Jackson, he began to think he was bigger than the job even as his broadcast skills started to erode. It's a long story why, but the last time I had to listen to a game on the radio without any TV to supplement, I was driving from Nashville to Tuscaloosa during the 2019 Alabama-South Carolina game.

I was alone in the car, which was good because I was pulling my hair out and yelling all the non-TF words at the radio. I couldn't tell anything about how the game was progressing.

Then Eli got truly sick and was out for a year. Chris Stewart filled in admirably, repeatedly saying he was just keeping the seat warm pending Eli's return. Eli did return but was clearly no longer physically or mentally up to the job. He didn't make road trips, Chris Stewart filled in on away games, and the difference between the two was impossible to ignore.

So CTSN replaced Eli with Stewart. There are several versions of how that happened and why. But Eli said he found out when someone asked him about it. I'm not sure that's true. The version I tend to think was more accurate is that Eli was making demands for his contract that CTSN didn't want to grant. CTSN made a best and final offer, Eli continued to make additional demands, and CTSN just walked away.

Regardless of who said what about whose mama first, or how or when the message was delivered, Eli aired his version of the truth -- including allegations of back-stabbing by the Athletic Department and CTSN, and throwing shade on Stewart. He did so on whatever program and in front of whatever microphone he could find. It was a bad look, and kind of like the way Shula and Franchione left, didn't just burn the bridge. It nuked the bridge, broke up the melted glass on the ground and sowed salt 6 feet down.

So long as anybody with any institutional knowledge of the events is still in the Athletic Department, I'll be beyond shocked if he's ever invited back even as a guest on the grounds, let alone on the air.

 

[22Musso22]

 

[tidefan39817]

Beth Mowins? I'll see myself out..,

Don't forget Robert Griffin the 3rd

 

[CB4]

As a kid in the late 1960’s and early 70’s, I lived for the Forney radio broadcast. As mentioned earlier, TV games were limited each year, so you lived with your radio broadcast team.

And I remember most LSU games were night games and Alabama played mostly during the afternoon. On Saturday nights, I’d dial my transistor radio in on WWL out of New Orleans to listen to John Ferguson calling the LSU games.

I also remember listening to John Ward do Tennessee games and Gary Sanders doing Auburn games

Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s time for my Geritol and tapioca pudding before my 7:00 pm bedtime….

 

[TDBama78]

1- Forney, Layton, Duncan 2- Ely&Snake

 

[Nothingfaced]

Growing up my favorite was either Todd Blackledge or Dave Neal from Jefferson Pilot Sports.

 

[UAH]

As a kid in the late 1960’s and early 70’s, I lived for the Forney radio broadcast. As mentioned earlier, TV games were limited each year, so you lived with your radio broadcast team.

And I remember most LSU games were night games and Alabama played mostly during the afternoon. On Saturday nights, I’d dial my transistor radio in on WWL out of New Orleans to listen to John Ferguson calling the LSU games.

I also remember listening to John Ward do Tennessee games and Gary Sanders doing Auburn games

Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s time for my Geritol and tapioca pudding before my 7:00 pm bedtime….

The night games in Baton Rouge were riveting. In 67 Alabama prevailed 7-6 with a controversial touchdown on a fumble that was judged to happen after the runner crossed the goal line.

The WWL broadcast of Notre Dame vs LSU was memorable. It wasn't hard to root for LSU then.

Watson at the goal line! give him six! Big Orange. John Ward was great.

I have to say that Gary Sanders and the crew were known to cry at length over close calls.

 

[TideEngineer08]

Selma mentioned Ron Franklin. As a kid of the 1990s, he was one of my favorites. Saturday night, Alabama destroying LSU again in Baton Rouge, with that ESPN theme music and Ron Franklin on the call with Mike Gottfried. “Has 5, has 10, and he will score”

Life was good, man.

 

[Tide&True]

I don’t think today’s announcers have the flair of the old guard. Keith Jackson had more talent in his little finger than anybody on ESPN.

 

[JDCrimson]

Ron Franklin, Mike Gottfried made Saturday night college football.

Todd Blackledge was good too.

 

[bamamc1]

I too have fond memories of Forney, Layton, and Duncan calling Bama games on the radio. The smell of peanuts roasting in the oven, Mr Forney describing “a beautiful fall afternoon” and the booth inquiring to Mr Duncan on an upcoming measurement if he thought we made it. Jerry answering with “I’m not sure but there’s one hell of a fight going on in section N.” Good times.

 

[DzynKingRTR]

Selma mentioned Ron Franklin. As a kid of the 1990s, he was one of my favorites. Saturday night, Alabama destroying LSU again in Baton Rouge, with that ESPN theme music and Ron Franklin on the call with Mike Gottfried. “Has 5, has 10, and he will score”

Life was good, man.

Wa Ron Franklin the one that called Holly Rowe "sweetheart " after she said something stupid?

 

[Power Eye]

Besides everyone's favorite Keith Jackson, I associate SEC football with Ron Franklin and Mike Gottfried. To me, they were the voice of the 90s for SEC football. I know they didn't just call SEC games, but it felt like any big SEC night game they called. I don't love Dave Neal as an announcer, but there is a nostalgic feel to him calling a game because he covered some terrible 12:00 SEC game for so many years, and unfortunately, we played in a few back then.

I like Fowler and Herbstreit and they are the best overall. I also like Nessler and Danielson, but they are in college football Siberia now. Klatt and Gus Johnson are unbearable. McElroy and McDonough aren't bad. I would say that Fowler and Herbstreit are what kids today will associate the voice of college games with.

 

[Tideflyer]

The lack of humanity continues to sadden me. I'm old. Get off my lawn AI robot kids!

That extends to many, many things in our society, unfortunately. We have entire generations now that never have, and never will, receive a handwritten love letter. I think we are the lesser for it. But then again , I too am old, and a get off my lawner!

 

[BamaMoon]

I'm in the minority but I actually liked Vern. And as long as Gary would just stick the "football" he was pretty good too.

But yes, I miss Keith Jackson the most!

 

[CB4]

It’s still one of the Greatest Defensive plays I’ve ever seen and The call by Jackson and Griese is Iconic for sure.

Funny think is that we had jumped offsides. Therefore the reception and Teague’s strip never really counted. But we all know how huge the play was in terms of the momentum of that game.

 

[CB4]

Wa Ron Franklin the one that called Holly Rowe "sweetheart " after she said something stupid?

Yep and he was as good as done….

 

[bamamc1]

Wa Ron Franklin the one that called Holly Rowe "sweetheart " after she said something stupid?

I like Holly a lot. She and Michael got in the middle of the FSU-Miami game:

Michael Irvin, Holly Rowe have a laugh after they both get knocked over - ESPN Video

www.espn.com