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The alarm went off at
5 a.m. as
it does every
Monday morning. I get up, stumble to the bathroom, look
in the mirror to make sure I survived the night. I turn on the
coffee pot and then turn on Channel 2 Action News as part of my
wake up ritual.. Fred Blankenship gave us the bad news that the
legendary voice of the Georgia Bulldogs Larry Munson had passed
away at the age of 89. Larry Munson was the voice of the
Bulldogs from 1966 until retirement in 2008. He also served over
the years with stints announcing for the Braves and the Atlanta
Falcons. In my time as Atlanta Falcons public address announcer
for seven seasons I got to see Larry every home game at the old
Atlanta-Fulton Stadium. He came in the press box with his usual
attire of a velvet track suit and a cigar clinched between his
teeth. "Tough win yesterday Larry" I said one Sunday morning to
which Larry growled back "we got no line, we are beat up, I
don't know how long we can go on like this, Vince has got to do
something" he replied. With Larry Munson, what you saw, or shall
I say what you heard is what you got. In our lives we have heard
and seen great ones in the announcing booth. Larry's predecessor
in the radio booth at Sanford Stadium Ed Thelenious was a fine
announcer who also did sports on Channel 5. He was a respected
broadcaster. Milo Hamilton of the Atlanta Braves who gave us the
legendary call when Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth's record for home
runs, brought excitement to listening to Braves games. The team
of Skip Carey, Pete Van Wieren, and Ernie Johnson were treasures
in their skills of explaining the game of baseball and keeping
you interested even when the game was in a rain delay. Skip's
razor sharp wit could crack up the rest of the announcers. I
remember the Atlanta Falcons broadcast team of Brad Nessler and
Steve Holman. Brad is now with ABC and Steve is the voice of the
striking Atlanta Hawks. Both are class and
quality individuals as well as broadcast professionals. Brad
used to do a dead on impression of Larry Munson that was
hysterical.Atlanta Falcon and Georgia Tech radio voice Wes
Durham is a second generation college sports broadcaster. His
father Woody Durham served for decades as the radio play by play
announcer of the University of North Carolina. I worked at WSKY
in Asheville and I remember his enthusiastic open "this is Woody
Durham, along with Bob Holliday, and Jim Hevner with Evan Appel
on the floor and from Carmichael Auditorium in Chapel
Hill....Carolina basketball is on the air!!!" Woody would almost
shout to create excitement for the Tar Heel fans everywhere. Wes
has that same passionate delivery like his dad. Georgia Tech's
legendary voice Al Ciraldo served from the Bobby Dodd era until
the 90s as Tech's play by play announcer. Ciraldo was a great
influence on a fellow who grew up about a block away from me
growing up. I remember this young fellow mimicking Al Ciraldo as
he recreated a Yellow Jacket game. He was holding his mother's
broom handle like it was a microphone. I never forgot that sight
in watching a six year old Mitch Gray find his calling early in
life. Mitch does a tremendous job as the voice of the University
of West Georgia Wolves. His professionalism should put him in
the Georgia Radio Hall of Fame soon. Mitch's has an encyclopedic
memory that is amazing. His brothers Gary and Tony were so proud
of their baby brother. An interesting thing about Tony, Gary,
and Mitch Gray. All three married girls named "Diane." I worked
at the flagship station for Auburn football and basketball
during my time in Montgomery. Jim Fyffe did play by play and his
enthusiastic signature "TOUCHDOWN AUBURN" will ring in my ears
and my heart forever. Jim was my personal life coach. He told me
that I should stretch my horizons. I am glad to have had Jim
Fyffe as a personal mentor. Jim's was there during the glory
days of Bo Jackson who won the Heisman. 1971
Heisman winner Auburn quarterback Pat Sullivan was Jim's color
man for Auburn football. Pat will be remembered by me for
announcing with a dip of Skoal in his mouth. The University of
Alabama and Auburn mix it up in the Iron Bowl today. The Crimson
Tide for years had John Forney, a Birmingham advertising
executive as play by play announcer. He was there for several of
the 13 national championships. We first heard Eli Gold as he
announced NASCAR races on the Motor Racing Network. Eli is a New
Yorker who announced for the Buffalo Sabres of the NHL. His
versatility also brought him to be the radio voice of the
Alabama Crimson Tide. Eli is perhaps one of the nicest people
I've ever encountered in broadcasting in my 36 years of getting
paid for having fun. I remember the time when the Georgia and
Georgia Tech football games seemed to have a greater rivalry
than it is today. That's just my opinion, I could be wrong.
Georgia won the right to represent the eastern division of the
South Eastern Conference next Saturday in the Georgia Dome.
Georgia Tech is certain to get a good bowl bid. Both teams are
coached by talented men. The Dogs and the Yellow Jackets
certainly will have a good game. I hope that there is a special
recognition for the man who inspired so many people to go into
the arena of sports announcing. Larry Munson's contributions to
the University of Georgia are too numerous for these pages.
His gravel voiced delivery of "sugar falling from the sky" and
"Lindsey Scott, Lindsey Scott, GO Lindsey" along with the most
memorable call with the Dogs and the Vols of Tennessee, "we took
a hobnail book and stepped on them" will be played over and over
in our hearts. Who can ever forget the "hunker down you
junkyard dogs just one more time." Larry grew up in Minnesota
and was an avid outdoors man who loved to hunt and fish. He
loved the movies and always took a crowd of Georgia students
every Sunday to watch a current release in an Athens
theater. Larry did stints as a radio announcer for the
University of Wyoming and Vanderbilt sports before coming to
Georgia. Larry had a passion for sports broadcasting unlike
anyone we will see in this lifetime. Larry loved his craft but
more importantly it should be said that the true love of Larry
Munson's life was the Georgia Bulldogs. Larry Munson painted us
a picture with words. If radio announcers were artists
then Larry was Van Gogh or Picasso.
Rhubarb Jones is a Tallapoosa native and a Distinguished
Lecturer in the Department of Communication and Director of
Special Projects in the Office of Development at Kennesaw State
Unversity. Previous columns are available at
www.tallapoosa-journal.com and commentaries are heard
weekdays at 11:05 a.m. on WKNG 1060. Comments may be sent to P.
O. Box 1001, Tallapoosa, GA 30176 or via email at
rhubarbjones@aol.com
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