The mighty Munson: A singular voice that will resonate forever
Larry Munson: The man, the voice, the legend. (AJC file photo)
He wasn’t the classic radio voice. On purely technical terms, he wasn’t the paragon of play-by-play, either. But such was the power of the mighty Munson personality that none of that mattered. You didn’t care if his calls were vague or his growl sounded like a Waring blender being jammed down a garbage disposal. You cared only that the man behind the microphone agonized as much over this particular football game as you did.
This isn’t to suggest Larry Munson wasn’t a pro. He was. But he was the amateur’s pro. There was no distance in him. He’d beseech the Georgia defense to hunker down – “One … more … time” — and he’d fret that a perfectly winnable game was unwinnable simply because that’s way of all fretters, and when the unwinnable game somehow got won the growl would raise hosannas as sweet as any bit of church music.
The idea of radio play-to-play was, in those long-ago days before every game found some television outlet, to paint a picture and to tell a story. Munson painted like Van Gogh on a starry night and conjured up better stories than Jack London. When the Georgia Tech broadcaster Al Ciraldo died a few years ago, Munson lamented his passing by saying, “We’re the last of a breed.”
In Munson’s day, the radio man was the fans’ only constant conduit to a team. On any given autumn Saturday nowadays we can watch a dozen games, but we couldn’t back then. The Rex Robinson game in Lexington in 1978? Wasn’t on live TV. The Herschel debut in Knoxville two years later? Wasn’t on live TV. The sugar-falling-from-the-sky game in Auburn two years after that? Wasn’t on live TV.
Any broadcaster could give you the down and distance; only Munson could give you the agony and the ecstasy. From property being destroyed on St. Simons after Belue-to-Scott to the Volunteer noses broken by the hobnailed boot, the Munson sense of imagery was a gale force unto itself. Nobody else sounded like him. Nobody else would choose the words he chose. The first time I heard Munson doing a Georgia game, I thought I had, by a trick of the ionosphere, tuned into some ham radioman having a nervous breakdown. The more I listened to him, the more I realized my first impression wasn’t far wrong, and I mean that in the best possible way.
There were no mail-in Saturdays for Munson. Every week was another passion play. Didn’t matter if the Bulldogs were playing the worst team in creation — Munson would worry to the extent that his listeners started breaking out in flop sweat because, halfway through the first quarter, Podunk State was “acting as if she wants to score.”
True fact: Vince Dooley, himself a worrier of renown, would try to avoid Munson during the week because, Dooley said, “he makes me nervous.” When Dooley would go overboard extolling some overmatched opponent’s virtues, we’d all wink. When Munson started growling on (and on) about the speed of Podunk … well, the winking would cease and the nerve-jangling would commence. You’d suspend disbelief simply because of the force of one voice.
I’m proud to say I knew the man, and I must tell you this: There was no artifice in the Munson persona. What you heard on-air was the Larry Munson. I’ll never forget that cold day in Auburn back in 2002, when 10-1 Georgia, ranked No. 7 in the land, was trying to win the SEC East for the first time. Before kickoff, I asked Munson what he thought. He looked at me as if I was crazy for even asking. “We haven’t got a chance in hell,” he said.
History will record that Georgia won on the fourth-down pass — 70-X-Takeoff, the play was called — from David Greene to Michael Johnson, and again the Bulldogs had overridden the odds and the fates and the primordial Munson doubts to prevail. And that was why Munson held us in such thrall: Georgia wouldn’t win because it had twice the talent of its opponent but because good had, miracle of miracles, trumped evil.
To listen to Cawood Ledford, the greatest pure play-by-play man who ever lived, call a Kentucky basketball game was to hear talent and craftsmanship. To hear Munson at work was to be bombarded by the sheer depth of feeling for what he was witnessing. When the famous Memphis record man Sam Phillips first heard the blues singer Howlin’ Wolf on the radio, Phillips is said to have said: “This is where the soul of man never dies.”
To hear Larry Munson call Georgia football was to experience something similar. (And surely it was no coincidence that Munson was, in an earlier manifestation, a professional piano player. He had the ears to go with the voice.) The great man passed away Sunday night at age 89; the great growl will live forever.
By Mark Bradley
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378 comments Add your comment
GT Letterman
November 21st, 2011
1:12 am
May he rest in peace, and may football be always played with such passion, indeed.
Thank you, Mark, for remembering him to us so well.
Kyle
November 21st, 2011
1:18 am
It hasn’t been as exciting to turn on Georgia radio since Larry had to leave and it never will equal that time again when it was but at least we had him call those games as only he could for all those years and that can’t be taken away. Thanks Larry…
Buttsmehre
November 21st, 2011
1:19 am
Rest in peace among the immortals, Larry. Light the cigar and remember, Bulldog Nation.
Nice work, Mr. B.
Rick Buchanan
November 21st, 2011
1:20 am
The greatest Bulldog ever.. Seriously. The man loved Georgia Football. Fishing, movies and pretty women.. Enough said.
Buttsmehre
November 21st, 2011
1:20 am
From a lifelong Dawg, thanks for your gracious words, GT Letterman.
Dawgs1965
November 21st, 2011
1:28 am
This man illuminated some of the most memorable moments of our lives as Georgia fans. I miss him every fall Saturday and always will. R.I.P., Mr. Munson.
Dawgs1965
November 21st, 2011
1:34 am
Munson illuminated some of the most memorable moments of our lives as Georgia fans. I miss him every autumn Saturday and always will.
R.I.P. Larry Munson
FloridaDawg
November 21st, 2011
1:36 am
I remember so many games that I couldn’t attend due to distance. I remember my buddies and I huddling around a radio listening to our first game in 1980…
Listening to every single word of Larry describing the UGA vs Tenn game with Herschel leading the way.
Larry Munson….better than being there!
Richard
November 21st, 2011
2:01 am
I am so lucky to have grown up with Larry.I lived in Athens from middle school through high school at Clark Central and was lucky enough be in the redcoat band for the 1980 National championship year. I didn’t miss a Saturday call by Larry from middle school to his retirement. Yes, we have all missed him since he stepped down. I know we miss him greatly, I will never, never hear Lindsey Scott or see sugar falling from the sky. It will never be the same. God rest your soul Larry. I bet the fishing is wonderful where you are now. All of your flies are perfectly tied and the water will carry them and allow them the most perfect float. We miss you! God bless… Tight Lines to you!
On a sad night. A very sad night we look at the stars and give thanks for such an amazing man. You will never be replaced.
Chris
November 21st, 2011
2:01 am
Thanks Mark for a great article. I, like so many will always have fond memories of those fall days in Georgia when Larry was rooting for the Dawgs along with the rest of us. Nothing like it.
Live From New York
November 21st, 2011
2:13 am
A line from the signature Nat King Cole song applies to Larry Munson: “Unforgettable in every way.” There are a few people, such as Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand and Josh Groban, whose voices are instantly recognizable. Larry Munson was in that rarefied class, too. He had an unmistakable voice, and his excited or agonized descriptions of Georgia football games were always gripping. This was all the more true because he had special talents for colorful phrasing and sly humor, sometimes at his own expense, as when he reported smashing through a metal chair in the uproar of the Dawgs’ last-minute victory over Auburn several years ago.
During my four years at UGA, I went to almost every home game. And I remember how much I enjoyed listening to the highlights of Munson’s play-by-play after the fact. When the game was away and wasn’t televised, I got to enjoy the full Munson monologue. Even when I moved to other states, I could hear his reporting on WSB Radio when the Dawgs had a night game.
We won’t see or hear Munson’s equal again. But we can appreciate the many years he provided a marvelous mix of exultation and despair as the Dawgs’ gridiron fortunes waxed and waned. For Bulldog fans everywhere, he provided a grand soundtrack for our tream’s autumn combat.
Richard
November 21st, 2011
2:19 am
Grew up with you in Athens Larry.
Love you and miss you.
Go Dawgs!
There will never be another…
Mike Morgan
November 21st, 2011
2:28 am
God Bless Larry. I grew up a Tech fan and went to Auburn. Larry, however was the voice of college football, especially UGA. One of a kind, never to be duplicated. We all mourn for his loss.
Beachdawg
November 21st, 2011
2:29 am
I first remember Larry announcing for the Braves. He’d describe a line drive down the line as being “3/4 of an inch foul…He just missed a triple”! Then of course he came to UGA. After the Rex Robinson field goal in Ky, I actually called him and told him I thought he was going to have a heart attack and give us one too!!! He just laughed, but was most gracious.
Rest In Peace, Larry. You’re one Damn Fine Dawg!!!
jeffrey d
November 21st, 2011
3:47 am
Thanks, Mark. Great work (as always). RIP Larry Munson
padre
November 21st, 2011
3:51 am
maybe Larry willl have a little pull with st pete on the other side and give uga a little special help.
Kevin
November 21st, 2011
3:53 am
I was at UGA from ‘81-’83. No doubt going to see the games between the hedges was always memorable. I often would regret having tickets to the home games because I couldn’t hear Larry on my small portable radio.
David
November 21st, 2011
4:04 am
A friend in the press box, it seems strange to many of us around the UGA family that he gone never forgotting. As many games I been too I never heard his broadcast live every though he was there and was a presents to everyone. He was miss by everyone around when he was force to retire many years ago. Many years ago, I remember talking to him about UGA hopeful trip to the Rose Bowl that never happen. He and I was looking forward to that trip; however, the last minute where the BCS change there minds we when to New Orleans instead. Believe it or not, the Rose Bowl game would of been his last UGA broadcasting game; I believe why he did not make that trip to New Orleans because it was like another road game to him that year because of his health reason he did not travel with the dogs.
Jason in Gainesville
November 21st, 2011
4:14 am
Larry Munson to me was what my childhood through adult life as a Bulldog fan was all about. Countless Saturdays with his voice coming in across the radio and giving us the most colorful play by plays a sports fan could hope for. Larry, you will always be a part of what it means to be a life-long Georgia Bulldog. Rest in peace.
clay
November 21st, 2011
4:20 am
R.I.P Larry Munson. The best play by play man in history.
OoltewahDawg
November 21st, 2011
4:27 am
I was at UGA from ‘73 to ‘77. As I was reading this great piece and the comments, I was tearing up, because I remembered sitting in my dorm room during away games and listening to Larry. To this day, I still get really nervous in tight games, thanks to that beloved man. My wife and daughters aren’t into sports, so they can’t understand. Larry, RIP
OoltewahDawg
November 21st, 2011
4:41 am
I was at UGA from ‘73 to ‘77. Mark, as I read your column and the comments, I found myself tearing up. Well done, sir. I was recalling the times that I listened to the away games in my dorm room, and after I left, when I had the opportunity to watch them on TV, like many in here, I would turn the TV volume down, and find the radio broadcast. I now understand why to this day I still get nervous and tensed up when the Dawgs are in a tight game. It is because of our beloved Larry Munson. My wife and daughters are not into sports, plus they all grew up here in Tennessee, so they can’t understand.
Larry Munson, RIP
London Based Jacket
November 21st, 2011
5:02 am
I am a Georgia Tech grad but being a native Georgian meant I always loved listening to Larry Mundosn even though I wanted Georgia to lose whenever I heard his voice.
He has been a hugely important ambassador who repsented the passion of of football both for the Univesrtiy of Georgia and the state more generally.
Whilst we all knew this day would come I think it is somehow fitting that it camne the week of the Tech / Georgia game when the state’s tow big programmes come together.
I know the Tech nation will remember him respectfully and with great admiration Saturday.
Thanks Larry Munson for so many great memories and so many painful calls when Georgia was putting it on Tech.
Notso Fast
November 21st, 2011
5:02 am
He was the best that I have ever heard. I am a Gator fan that attended the U of F but whenever the two teams played, I would listen to Larry. I knew he would pull for the Dogs but I didn’t care. It will be a long time before we forget some of his calls. No one like him.
Smokewagon
November 21st, 2011
5:04 am
I was at the game Sat. and was thinking about how we used to bring radio headsets so we could listen to Munson at the game. My favorite call was the Clemson game where Kevin Butler kicked a 60+ yarder to win the game. All Larry could say was “Oh my God” but we all knew that Kevin had made it.
P B Orr
November 21st, 2011
5:05 am
Larry was the same age as my Dad who died a couple of years ago. When I was a kid we’d have two radios in the fishing boat, one with Pop in the back tuned to Munson, and one on Tech and Al Ciraldo up front with me. We seemed to miss all the TV games because we were out fishing with my brother Ralph, Larry, and Al. Now they’re all gone.
The voices of Munson and Ciraldo wafting over Lake Lanier – I wonder how we ever caught anything.
Alps Plaza Movie Group
November 21st, 2011
5:10 am
I knew this day would come but man it still stings. Rest In Peace Larry.
Dawgz4Life
November 21st, 2011
5:12 am
Thank you Larry, your voice still rings over the years and in my BullDawg heart. I was working in the tobacco field on that glorious Saturday afternoon when you begged Lindsay to run and broke your chair, and the stadium fell down…..
I will never forget it, and will cherish that moment always. There are many others, but that is a memory never to be forgotten. Thanks Larry from a grateful Dawg, RIP.
"Chef" Tim Dix
November 21st, 2011
5:14 am
“My God! A Freshman!”
On a full scholarship in heaven.
SadDawg
November 21st, 2011
5:23 am
Even with the Dawgs on the cusp of the SEC Championship, this is a sad day for the Dawg Nation. Rest in Peace Larry, we’ll miss you
Big time???? NOT!
November 21st, 2011
5:24 am
Rest in Peace. One of a kind.
MrTyTn
November 21st, 2011
5:26 am
As a freshman at Georgia (1980), I had gone home the weekend of the Clemson game. Get the picture: memorable clear blue Saturday afternoon picking peanuts in Pavo, Georgia; tractors in green, combines in yellow. Listening to Larry call the game that Scott Woerner almost won the game by himself. Larry had me so wrapped up in the game I stopped my tractor and ran across the field stopping the other operators to tell them we won. He made our lives richer.
Rest in Peace, Larry.
OoltewahDawg
November 21st, 2011
5:37 am
I was a student at UGA from ‘73 to .77. Great piece, Mark. while reading it and the comments, my eyes teared up, recalling the Saturday afternoons during away games when I would listen to Munson in my dorm room. I now realize why to this day I get so tense and nervous during tight games. It’s Larry’s fault! There will never be another like him. He will go down in history as the greatest play-by -play announcer in college football.
heeldawg
November 21st, 2011
5:43 am
Mark, a great column–one of your best ever. Larry was a unique talent, a verbal artist who could put your rear end right there in the bleachers next to him. He suffered losses along with us, exulted in paroxysms of joy when we pulled out an unexpected win, and was a true Dawg to the very end. I’ll never forget when he single-handedly stopped the Homecoming parade in the early ’80’s once to have a student bring him a beer. Cigar in one hand, PBR in the other, he allowed the parade to recommence its route only when he’d had a sip and pronounced it good.
I thought about Larry this past Saturday on the way into the game, and about how he deserved to be there one last time. I missed him then; I will miss him forever.
God bless you, Larry Munson.
DuluthGator
November 21st, 2011
5:44 am
I may be a Gator! But I also know the best when I hear it.And Larry was one of,If not,the best I’ve ever heard do a play-by-play College football game.Sorry for your loss Bulldog fans.
Lowcountry Bulldawg
November 21st, 2011
5:44 am
Great column remembering Larry and some really wonderful posts of us sharing our memories involving Larry. Larry is the reason why I temper my enthusiasm in any game Mark. Sad day in Dawg Nation…
dawgerbrown
November 21st, 2011
6:02 am
It’s said that lving a full life is all about creating moments and memories that you can take with you throughout your years. So many of those moments for me and tens of thousands of others are due to Larry Munson and what he has meant to a proud Bulldog Nation. Thank you Larry, for so many great memories and for a life well lived. Thank you for being a DAWG.
Black Mountain NC Bulldog
November 21st, 2011
6:09 am
My Favorite Uncle and I spent a lot of Fall Saturdays fishing, in his lake and listening, to Mr. Munson. If the game was on TV we would turn down the volume and listen, to him, on the radio.
Rest in Peace and God Bless your family.
Bill
November 21st, 2011
6:13 am
I’m a dyed-in-the-wool GT fan going back to the mid-60’s, but I always loved listening to Larry Munson. “Run Lindsey!!” “My God, a freshman!” ” I just broke my chair!” He even made me believe we had a chance to beat Georgia when we were 1-10. RIP Larry.
dawgerbrown
November 21st, 2011
6:15 am
A good time to break out the “Best of Munson” DVD’s. Fix a good drink, smile, shed a tear, and relive some great memories. Thanks Mark for a great article.
Monty Cash
November 21st, 2011
6:29 am
Nicely done Bradley.
red&black
November 21st, 2011
6:30 am
Wonderful article Mr. Bradley. You captured every detail of great man. Thank you so much.
ozzfest
November 21st, 2011
6:31 am
On to eternity for the GREAT Larry Munson.
It is with LOVE that we say goodbye.
Buckeye
November 21st, 2011
6:32 am
Larry Munson represents the best of college football in this day and age of the worst in college football.
This Buckeye has been a fan since moving to Atlanta in 1986.
There will never be another one quite like you.
RIP Larry Munson « Everyone's Entitled to Joe's Opinion
November 21st, 2011
6:34 am
[...] Read the obituary from AJC sports writer Chip Towers. Here is sports columnist Mark Bradley’s tribute. [...]
Dawged
November 21st, 2011
6:47 am
I was exiled in Hoover ,Alabama for work in the early eighties-on football weekends I would drive to the top of Oak Mountain to receive the Georgia game broadcast by a station out of Anniston on the Ga-Ala border.Larry’s voice would flow through the airways and help soothe some of my loneliness and homesickness as normally only a call home to my mama could do.He was the Best,I will always miss him come gametime.My 4 kids (All great Bulldawgs) grew up thinking turning the tv sound down and Munson up was normal. Great job with your tribute Mark-Thank You.God Bless Munson.He and Lewis can now go fishin and talk about women and Georgia football together…..
BubbaDaBaller
November 21st, 2011
6:50 am
SEC East Champions Saturday…sent him off proud…RIP Larry…One of a kind and the memories of your calls will be your legacy…One Damn Good Dawg Man!
doc
November 21st, 2011
6:51 am
Lets go Georgia—————-We all loved you Mr. Munson.
Lilburn Dawg
November 21st, 2011
6:56 am
Great article, Mark. Larry would appreciate those words.
If heaven has a football team, Larry will be announcing it…….you can bet on that!
No one ever questioned the depth of his emotions and caring during his broadcasts. A tragic and monumental loss for all of us who stand in the UGA circle. He made us proud!
"Run Lindsey Run"
November 21st, 2011
6:58 am
Larry Munson’s voice was as much Georgia football as Georgia football itself. Oh how we will miss him. Forget turning the volume off of our tv, we would turn off the tv if we could listen to Larry! It was so pure of an art listening to him, that when he asked us to get the picture, we got the picture, painted on every sunspilt fall with a sea of red and black, and why in the world would we mess it up with watching it with our eyes when we could see it in our mind.
I can almost here him say, and I don’t know, do you really think we can beat this team? Really? And they have this coach who has come here from up north and has done wonders with that team and here they are, all yellow and purple and My God, he has them believing they can do the unthinkable and give us a run for our money today. Erk has his hands full today and I don’t know, we are all up against it now. Can lady luck give us just one more chance, I mean one more is all we are asking for, isn’t it? Whachagot Lorin?
“My God, he is just a freshman!” ” Run Lindsey, Run!!!”