November, 2006

MUNSON: A Hero to the Bulldawg Nation
By: Jeff Dantzler

It was 28 years ago, on a chilly night in Lexington that the greatest college football announcer ever, delivered one of his most magical performances. Georgia came from behind and beat Kentucky 17-16 on a closing seconds field goal by Rex Robinson. Much like any golden Georgia moment since 1966, the play, the drive, the win are synonymous with the play-by-play call of the one and only Larry Munson - beloved legend, true superhero to the Bulldog Nation.

"The whole stadium's standing...naw, some of 'em are upside down, but they're tryin' to stand...Rex sticks it up there, it looks good...YEAH! YEAH! YEAH! YEAH!" Still rocking and rolling along, in his 41st season behind the microphone as the legendary voice of the Georgia Bulldogs, the mighty Munson has the distinctly beautiful, quadraphonic gruff voice that sends chills through the red and black nation, no matter what he's saying.

Music fans say about Munson's favorite, the icon of icons, Frank Sinatra, "he could sing the phone book, and it would be a number one hit!"

Munson, an accomplished piano player who actually performed with Old Blue Eyes once, is equal to the claim.

(How would you have liked to been at that show?) Most Georgia fans still carry their headphones to the games, if for no other reason than to hear him say, "get the picture." It took me several years of knowing him just to get over the awe of the voice when carrying on a conversation.

What a thrill listening to Munson tell stories about fishing with Ted Williams "and how he folded this check three or four times over, and put it in his denim shirt pocket," or hearing the Sinatra tale "he made me change my socks, I'd worn white socks," or having him list off my many shortcomings: "Dantzler, why aren't you married yet, you need a wife, a fiancé, a mortgage, a real job, and a dog."

All the while, this is the voice that told me as a ten year old..

"I know I'm asking a lot you guys, but Hunker Down One More Time!!!" "Auburn floats a high wobbly pass, and they broke it up, the Dawgs broke it up! Clock running, running, and oh look at the Sugar falling out of the sky!!! Look at the Sugar falling out of the sky!!!"

It's those defining moments, like the 19-14 victory over Auburn in 1982 that clinched a third straight Southeastern Conference championship for the Bulldogs, that have been Munson's distinctive holy grail of calls. The ones that are word for word on the backs of tee shirts.

In the two aforementioned games though, the true beauty of the craft was the setup of those game-winning plays. The drives that set up the winning plays were described with such stunning clarity, detail and passion - with that magnificently beautiful set of pipes - that he took college football play-by-play broadcasting to a true art form.

The Chairman of the Board would have certainly been proud.

Thank God Almighty that those games were not on televison. Thank Him again that they were on the road, so outside of about 8,000 Georgia fans on site, Munson was the lone link between the glory and the Bulldog nation's collective senses and emotions.

When the greatest college football player of all time burst onto the scene on a steamy Knoxville September night in 1980, that game wasn't on television either.

Thank you again.

"Five, ten, twelve, he's running over people, Oh you Herschel Walker...My God a Freshman!"

You've seen the footage of the play. Every time a Georgia fan sees Walker running over Tennessee's Bill Bates, the memory senses instantly go to Munson in stereo.

Those two had many memorable moments together.

"There goes Herschel!"

This past weekend, when leaving Jacksonville and St. Simons, which always brings a stream of tears when the Torras Causeway and sparkling marshes of Glynn are in the rearview mirror, I naturally thought back to the other two of the five holy grail of Munson calls.

It was 1975 and nothing had been working all day. Until... "Appleby's gonna throw a bomb, caught, Gene Washington, touchdown! Appleby stopped planted his feet and threw a bomb, and Washington, thinking of Montreal and the Olympics ran out of his shoes! The Gator Bowl stadium stunned! Rocking! The girders are bending now."

Five years later...

"The booth came apart, the stadium, well the stadium fell down, they will have to rebuild this place now. Miracle!"

Buck Belue's 93-yard touchdown pass to Lindsay Scott is one of the five most famous plays in college football history, as the last minute 26-21 victory over Florida kept the Bulldogs dreams of the 1980 national championship alive.

Munson's call has surpassed the fame of the play. When college football fans watch those shows that list off those things like the greatest plays and players, Belue-to-Scott naturally comes along. It's always accompanied by the call.

"Lindsay Scott 35, 40, Lindsay Scott 45, 50...Run Lindsay! , 35, 30, 25, 20, 15, 10, 5 Lindsay Scott! Lindsay Scott! Lindsay Scott!"

Hold on, I just had to wipe away a couple of tears.

This was THE defining moment in the history of Georgia football. That call made Munson nationwide. The entire college football universe discovered what the Bulldog nation had long known.

The legend behind the mic at Georgia was and is the Best EVER!

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November, 2006 MUNSON: A Hero to the Bulldawg Nation By: Jeff Dantzler

November, 2006

MUNSON: A Hero to the Bulldawg Nation
By: Jeff Dantzler