AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2007 > June > 26 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USFor so many fans, Munson is the Bulldogs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Furman Bisher
College football, in its moleskin and hightop-shoes days, grew up with those unseen heroes of the broadcast booth. Television was yet no more than a wisp of somebody’s imagination. Your team was identified with an old familiar voice. You turned on the old Philco or Atwater Kent and out came this familiar tone bringing to life in words the stars you knew otherwise only through headlines and blurry newsprint. You and your favorite broadcaster thereby became close kilocycle friends.
Once television came along, gradually moving through the “snowflake” stages to high definition, taking over your game room with huge, enveloping screens, the old broadcaster was sort of lost in the dust. Some, not all. Larry Munson not only held his place, but seemed to grow in the affection of the loyal Georgia Bulldogs follower. At least television never cut into his faithful populace. You identified Georgia football and Munson, Munson and Georgia football. You wondered how and why, since every game day the stadium was packed and rolling with woofing patrons decked out in some combination of the colors red and black.
Dramatic moments in Georgia football are etched in history by something Munson blurted out in one of his totally spontaneous verbal creations. It came across in a vinegary voice that cannot be imitated, hoarse and throaty and strictly Munson. You may have watched it by television, but chances are the televised voice was drowned out by a radio tuned to Munson.
My exposure to Munson has been limited. I was in some press box somewhere, trying to create something of my own. But I had time. Munson had no delete button on his voice. Once it was said, it was history. To this day, though, he has never found himself impounded by something carelessly thrown out across the air. The late, great Ted Husing once described a Harvard quarterback’s play as “putrid,” for which he was subsequently banned from Harvard games.
Well, time closes in, and Munson has decided to draw the curtain. Imagine, if you can, a Georgia football game broadcast without Munson presiding in his crackling description. (“The Dawgs line up at the Auburn 5, and …”) How all these men of broadcast have become as much a part of the game as the coach, many of them gone, but, oh, the sounds they left behind — John Fulton, Jim Fyffe, Al Ciraldo, Stan Torgerson, John Ferguson, and the pioneers, Ted Husing, Graham MacNamee, and — Georgians, hold your breath — Bill Munday.
Munday came first. Famed nationally, as one of “The Big Three” with Husing and MacNamee. He was the original Munson, with phrasing distinct only to himself. Brought down by booze, reduced to operating an elevator in city hall before he was rediscovered and brought back in the ’50s, dried out and infused with his passion. Munson will depart with a far broader reverence, when the time does come, and it would be this old crock’s expectation that Scott Howard steps into the breech.
Permalink | Comments (26) | Post your comment | Categories: Furman Bisher, UGA / SEC
Comments
By dawgeatvol
June 26, 2007 8:20 PM | Link to this
Too young to remember all the names you listed, but AMEN on Munson! Will be a sad day when he is no longer on the airwaves. A true Dawg through and through.
By NASCARfan
June 26, 2007 10:49 PM | Link to this
Mr. Bisher, I am going to be totally honest, here. I know you’re partial to the Bugs, but I appreciate what you’ve written today. You really are a class act. Thinking about Larry retiring is downright depressing. I don’t want to think about it. Georgia Football without Larry calling the action would be like this rag without Furman Bisher.
It just wouldn’t be right anymore.
By Gen Neyland
June 27, 2007 12:38 AM | Link to this
Furman
May I call you Furman..? Good…When the time comes for you, go. Don’t hang about like a Sid Hartman. I know the newspaper business gets in the bloodstream and it’s hard to kick the habit, but there is life outside of a deadline. Thank you for your years of service to Mama Cox and The Atlanta Newspapers…
By falcon80
June 27, 2007 2:26 AM | Link to this
Longtime Dog fan who moved to Ohio between football seasons. The first thing I checked when I got here was the 750 stream to make sure I could still have Munson on Saturdays! Now I’m reduced to getting kinda misty listening to his famous calls. Just don’t tell me you are retiring yet Furman. At least stick around long enough to give Terrence some lessons on how to write, construct, and build some valid interest in what will follow.
By VA DAWG
June 27, 2007 6:44 AM | Link to this
Furman….Great Article….I grew up in the 60’s and 70’s when the dawgs had maybe 2 televised games a year…my family sat in the livingroom on Saturdays and listened to his every word…his DVD/CD collections are priceless…how big is Larry Munson across the college football landscape….just watch ESPN College Gameday and listen to Reece Davis try to do his best Larry Munson on every UGA highlight. He is the only radio voice that I have everseen TV personalities try to immitate….
By VA DAWG
June 27, 2007 6:44 AM | Link to this
Furman….Great Article….I grew up in the 60’s and 70’s when the dawgs had maybe 2 televised games a year…my family sat in the livingroom on Saturdays and listened to his every word…his DVD/CD collections are priceless…how big is Larry Munson across the college football landscape….just watch ESPN College Gameday and listen to Reece Davis try to do his best Larry Munson on every UGA highlight. He is the only radio voice that I have everseen TV personalities try to immitate….
By Jeff
June 27, 2007 6:56 AM | Link to this
Furman, It’s days like today that I so appreciate your wisdom and your love of history. Munson has been a part of my life from day one. No matter where we lived, WSB 750 was our Saturday in the fall routine. But to bring up the other names of the radio greats, brought back even more memories. While as a kid, I hated the Jackets, I grew to appreciate Al Ciraldo. He was the Munson to Tech and I learned to enjoy his putting flesh and blood on to what I was hearing. You do the same the games on paper. Thank for all you do and for your love of the games.
By Bubba, Jr.
June 27, 2007 7:33 AM | Link to this
“Touchdooooooown, AUBURN!” - Jim Fyffe “Toot of the whistle. Toe meets leather.” - Al Ciraldo
Thanks for everything, Mr. Bisher. One of these days I would like to find you sitting under the big oak tree at Augusta National and shake your hand. You have provided me with 30+ years of enjoyable reading.
By Chuck
June 27, 2007 7:51 AM | Link to this
Furman, you mentioned the AJC growing up with college football, and that comment brought back a flood of memories. First of all, hungrily opening the paper on Sunday morning to the sports pages filled with detailed accounts of the games, with the front page running one of those sequence photo shots of one of the crucial plays of the day, complete with bubbles identifying players. Then at noon, watching on tv “Football Review”, hosted by you with a panel of AJC reporters commenting on the games they were dispatched to cover on Saturday. It was like newspaper on tv, and the comments made the ESPN talking heads of today seem like boring, rank amateurs. A million thanks for those memories! P.S.—-Munson never stooped to labeling a bulldog QB’s play as putrid, but then again Reggie Ball went to Tech.
By KC
June 27, 2007 8:23 AM | Link to this
I’ll savor all my Munson memories from 2001 and before, and will be equally thankful my kids wont have to guess what in the world is going on in the football game by listening to Munson. Throw him a parade, name a street after him, just make sure he never puts his mouth in front of a microphone again. Follow his lead, Bisher.
By dcadawg
June 27, 2007 8:40 AM | Link to this
You KC, are an idiot.
By Gene
June 27, 2007 9:26 AM | Link to this
Before he was a bulldog, Munson was the sidekick to Milo Hamilton. Munson was not as colorful as a Braves announcer, but he was good. I have caught many a Georgia game, fading in and out, while I was driving through some neighboring state—“they cut our heart out and threw it out on North Avenue.” What a treat. And I am an Auburn fan.
By Bob
June 27, 2007 9:35 AM | Link to this
dcadawg,
You are right my friend. KC, for 30 years I have followed Munson from around the globe on Armed Forces Radio. Frequently the signal would fade in and out, but whenever it came in clear, I had no problem knowing what was going on. Perhaps you should learn a little bit about the sport and you would better comprehend what Larry was saying.
By GatorFan
June 27, 2007 10:24 AM | Link to this
Furman - You left out the greatest of them all, Bob Ufer of Michigan!
I don’t understand why they don’t delay the broadcast a few seconds do it would sych up with the TV broadcast. I would love to mute the CBS morons.
By Dan
June 27, 2007 10:27 AM | Link to this
Mr.Bisher I’m not sure who I’ll miss more you or Munson..Larry has been the voice of the Dawgs almost my entire life as a Bulldawgs fan, an you have often been the only voice of reason at the AJC..my hat it off to the both of you….in many ways you both have enriched my life…thanks!
By Bob
June 27, 2007 11:01 AM | Link to this
Chuck,
Yeah, I remember those great sequential photos in the Sunday morning paper. College Football was really covered back then. And the Sunday morning shows were fantastic. The old video tape and Coaches Dodd and Dooley going over the games the night before. As a kid I was a Tech fan and loved Jack Hurst and Al Ciraldo as well as Ed Thilenius for the Dawgs. As I grew wiser, I chose to go to UGA and the rest is history.
Furman you have been great. Don’t hang em up too soon.
By Gary T.
June 27, 2007 11:23 AM | Link to this
Mr. Bisher, Another masterpiece. You are the Larry Munson of the written word. That means you are the absolute best. Someone wrote the other day that Munson was a homer. He was. But he still drew an accurate picture for us listeners. Hunker down, Larry. Hunker down, Furman.
God bless both of you.
By Ed
June 27, 2007 12:04 PM | Link to this
I grew up in Central Florida, and my Dad, brothers and I would barely be able to pick up a signal on our old radio from the Orlando radio station that carried Georgia football games. An Orlando car dealer named Creamons sponsored the games because his son Joe played for the Dawgs. Sometimes we would listen to the game outside in my Dad’s truck when it received better reception than the radio in the house.
My favorite memories are Munson calling UGA-KY in ‘78, Georgia-LSU in ‘78 (Lindsay Scott running a kickoff back all the way), Georgia - Tenn in ‘80 (reception was really bad that night - my most vivid memory was not of Herschel’s heroics, but of a Vol fumble down near our goal line that preserved the win) and Georgia-Clemson in ‘84. I rarely heard Munson for most of the 1990s after moving to West Texas, but for the past three or four years, I’ve had the pleasure of listening to him call games through the internet service the Univ. offers. It still seems miraculous to listen to a crystal clear broadcast of Munson calling Georgia football games from 1,700 miles and two times zones away. I’m almost 40 years old now and have been blessed with 30 years of listening to Munson call Georgia games. It may be too much to ask for, but I pray for just a couple of more seasons of Munson.
By hop
June 27, 2007 12:08 PM | Link to this
Ed Thilenius had the greatest voice of any announcer that i have ever heard.
he did not have the passion of a larry munson but he was still outstanding.
ED would have been great on any national broadcast with his delivery and knowledge of the game.
By NHSeagle1
June 27, 2007 2:58 PM | Link to this
Munson is without a doubt a classic. I allways would mute the Mussburgers of the world just to heat Munson call the games. But, unfortunately Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake messed all the up during their “wardrobe malfunction” at the Superbowl. Now TV broadcast are at least 3 seconds behind.
By Willis
June 27, 2007 3:11 PM | Link to this
Thanks for another great piece, Furman.
Ironically, it’s the Internet (of all things) that brought Larry Munson back into my home. For many years, I’ve lived hundreds of miles from Athens. I’ve even lived across the ocean and listened to Larry from many time zones away. When I bought my first PC in 1997, I could suddenly welcome that voice back into my living room. The Internet also allows me to hear Larry’s great calls from the past any time I want.
Many of the great radio voices of an earlier era now echo only through museums of broadcasting. But the gravel and crackle of Larry Munson’s poetry will live forever in cyberspace.
By BT
June 27, 2007 4:10 PM | Link to this
KC, anyone who played football or truly follows the sport can know exactly what Munson is saying. Munson has always painted the picture in detail and if he’s gotten slower in his age it doesn’t bother me. I can remember several moments in time of where I was and what Larry was saying. My fondest was the hobnailed boot from Tennessee 2001. I was at Berry College for Mt. Day. Thank goodness I was able to listen to Munson from my car. My brother and our wives were there that day as well. Tennessee went up at the end on a screen pass and I thought my heart had been ripped out. Then David Greene drove the field to put us back on top with less than 10 seconds. My brother and I hollered like two little boys. Munson was pure art that October afternoon and has been ever since. Think about the ending to last year’s Colorado game.
By Erk
June 27, 2007 5:05 PM | Link to this
Oh how I will miss Larry saying “All right, get the picture!” and “Georgia knocking on the door! and I will miss him talking about “Lady luck grinning from ear to ear”. Thanks for the great article.
By Ninja Dawg
June 27, 2007 8:22 PM | Link to this
Thank You Mr. Bisher. Larry Munson is a classic. I love it when he gets excited and says things like “oh,no!, they kicked it a thousand miles, and the clock is against us too”! I will really miss him when he quits announcing. Also, I will miss you. Even though I’m a life-long Bulldog fan, I’ve always enjoyed your words. You and Munson are the best!
By Leroy Rogers
June 27, 2007 10:57 PM | Link to this
I have read all the biased opinions of football fans from all over. I respect Larry Munson and the great career; I would compare him to Harry Carey. Both never realized there is life after work. The Vols John Ward is a perfect example. John realized there were other things in his life, after the booth. Football and basket ball. His claim to fame in football was: “Give him six!” I too remember the ‘80 UT GA game when Glen Ford fumbled near the gold line and that was the end of his career. A gift of a national championship, just like Clint Stoerner, and the Vols in ‘98. When the Vols play, I want to listen to the unbiased network announcers regardless of who is in the booth. I go back to the radio games of the forties and I like these best. My worst complaint today in college football is: going back to the booth, at halftime, for some “expert’s” opinion of what we just watched or could expect to see the second half…leaving the great, dedicated band members part of the color of college football..Gone With The Wind. Don’t know who got the idea you are leaving Mr. Bisher. I have been reading the Atlanta papers since 1954 when my youngest brother moved to Marietta and worked with the late, great Bobby Dodd’s brother. So I have seen a few snows and full moons in my life time….and my advice to Mr. Neyland…please be yourself. Only one General on the Hill— now called Rocky Top!
By Gen Neyland
June 27, 2007 11:57 PM | Link to this
Dear Mr. Rogers,
General Neyland inspired me in my early days. I use this moniker in his honor. Although I’m still in my rookie year blawgging with the Dawgs, this has been me from day one and it isn’t going anywhere. Now for taking your advice, I’d rather not. Thank you for your concern but it means little to nothing.
Sincerely,
Gen Neyland
P.S. I’ve a few gray whiskers too, my friend. I find that a wise man will call them wisdom…