UGA versus LSU, as the mighty Munson might have called it
Could Georgia hook just one more big fish for the Munster? (AJC file)
Georgia plays top-ranked LSU on Saturday. Were the radio man Larry Munson, who died Nov. 20 at age 89, around to call the game, it might sound a bit like this:
Munson: “Get the picture: We’re wearing red jerseys and silver britches, going left to right on your radio dial. And we have NO CHANCE. They’ve got 12 guys who make Big Jonathan Jenkins look like Tom Thumb. And such SPEED. Even Vandy didn’t have speed like this …
“We kick off to them. Their guy runs right through 10 of our guys — look at that speed! — and gets all the way out to their 25. We have NO CHANCE. But Jarvis Jones breaks through and knocks the quarterback down! They have to punt! Whaddaya know about that? …
“Crowell in the ‘I’ and we give it to him and he goes five, TEN, FIFTEEN yards! He ran right through those monsters! Looked like that professor in ‘Jurassic Park’! And now Murray fakes it and throws it and … we catch it! Over their heads! MALCOLM MITCHELL! Touchdown! It’s a TOUCHDOWN! It’s a miracle! A miracle on … whaddaya call this street thingy outside the Dome? Northside? It’s a Miracle on NORTHSIDE DRIVE! Old Saint Nick just dropped through this roof and smacked LSU with a gunnysack full of coal, and Les Miles is standing there with a nose as red as Rudolph’s!
“I gotta calm down before I destroy some Dome property. Loran, whaddaya got?”
Loran Smith: “Larrah, the lovely Julie Moran sent me a note telling me she’d be watching from Hollywood and rooting for her Dogs … ”
Munson (interrupting): “We kick it off and their man has it. He runs through 15 of our guys and he’s gonna score and there goes our lead. He ran that kickoff back TWO HUNDRED YARDS.Have you seen SUCH SPEED? We have NO CHANCE.”
(We move to further action, as they used to do on Notre Dame replays.)
Munson: “Second quarter, tie game, and LSU’s acting like she wants to score. And we can’t stop anybody. We are so puny and so slow! How’d we ever get in this game, anyway? But now Jarvis Jones knocks down their quarterback again — four sacks for him, Hondo Williamson tells me — and they have to kick a field goal. And we’re down 10-7 and we’ve got NO CHANCE.”
(We skip ahead to the fourth quarter.)
Munson: Getting very, very late now, and we need a miracle. We need Lindsay and Herschel and Appleby all baked in one big APPLE PIE! They’re up three and they’re about to put us away and … JARVIS JONES knocks down the quarterback AGAIN! Six sacks for him! And they have to punt to us! Whaddaya think, Scott? Do we have a chance?
Scott Howard: “We might, Larry.”
Munson (snorting): “You young guys ALWAYS think there’s a chance. We don’t have enough TIME. But looky here! We give it to little Thomas and he knocks people backwards, and now Murray throws a screen to the tight end and … Orson Charles! ORSON CHARLES!!! RUN, ORSON!!! … And it’s a touchdown! IT’S A TOUCHDOWN!!! … We throw a two-inch bomb and he takes it TWO THOUSAND YARDS! We just took a 2X4 and smacked Mike The Tiger right in his striped backside!!!
“But there’s TOO MUCH TIME. We can’t stop them again. We’ve got no SIZE, no SPEED. We shopped at the dime store and they went to Rich’s. And our guys are SO TIRED …
“BUT it’s fourth down! FOURTH DOWN with 61 seconds left! I might be asking too much, but: Guys, just ONE MORE TIME! HUNKER DOWN! HUNKER DOWN!!! And they snap it and … MY GOD! JARVIS JONES! JARVIS JONES!!! He got him AGAIN! It’s OUR BALL! All four legs just fell off my chair! And we’re in the victory formation and we’re under 10 seconds and …
“Sugar is falling out of the sky! NO! It’s little Chick-fil-A cows! On parachutes! They’re COWS DIPPED IN SUGAR! LOOK AT THOSE SUGAR-DIPPED COWS FALLING OUT OF THE SKY!!! …
“We had NO CHANCE! But we had Old Lady Luck! And Old Lady Luck just slapped Les Miles in the face with that APPLE PIE! And that pie had a ANVIL in it! We broke their NOSE! We broke their HEART! I broke my CHAIR! I spilled my COKE!
“We’re going to the SUGAR BOWL! Beignets and crawfish etouffee for New Year’s! We’re gonna paint Tchoupitoulas Street red and black! Who’ll we play there, Scott?
“Houston, huh? Have you SEEN Houston’s quarterback? And all that SPEED? We’ll have NO CHANCE.”
By Mark Bradley
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514 comments Add your comment
Andy
December 1st, 2011
3:11 pm
Nice Mark. I always loved how Larry was obsessed with the clock regardless if the Dawgs were up or down. “Look at the clock! It’s not moving!”
Old water boy
December 1st, 2011
3:11 pm
As a UGA letterman in the 80’s , it takes me back to my pre and post school days listening to the games. Well done…like others, I was reading in my mind with the ‘voice of Larry’ .
harold
December 1st, 2011
3:14 pm
SEE HAROLD’S POST @ 2:09 PM. UGA IS GOING TO GET ABUSED. THIS GAME WILL BE A MASSACURE. RICHT’S BIGGEST CONCERN IS HOW BIG THE HOSPITAL BILL WILL BE.
Lakedawg57
December 1st, 2011
3:14 pm
Mark great job I heard his voice for every word you wrote. I love being a under Dawg !!! Just hoping these young man can keep on plugging. I think we (They) win it for LARRY.
The Dome is worse than Bonkers
December 1st, 2011
3:15 pm
We just crushed their face with an anvil apple pie!
HCCynic (and Tech dropout)
December 1st, 2011
3:15 pm
Well done Mark, VERY well done.
Please overlook my loyalities for a brief moment, and allow me to say, simply, that when i learned of Mr. Munson’s passing, I immediately prayed for comfort for his family, felt a sense of sadness for everyone in the Dawg nation (which includes my wife),
and had a flashback to the “day” of AM radios, Saturday afternoons when the voices of Al Ciraldo (GT) and Larry Munson (UGA) would both be blaring in one room or the other, around the house.
RIP Mr. Munson and thanks for the memories
And to the UGA Football team, Win this one for Larry!
Spaceman Spiff
December 1st, 2011
3:17 pm
@ DIT
From what am hearing is that IC did something the seniors didnt like…dont know what it is, but they gave him a “good one”… take it for what its worth
Kudos Mr. Bradley.
December 1st, 2011
3:17 pm
Was anyone else brought to tears? I had to “use the bathroom” at work after reading this.
Tim
December 1st, 2011
3:17 pm
Good stuff!!! Very well done and really enjoyable to read.
WDE
December 1st, 2011
3:18 pm
Having a pretty crappy day here at the old salt mine today got a chance to read this during lunch, thanks for the laugh Mark! Well done very well done indeed !! You know you’ve been “channeling” your inner Larry for a few days now some of your best work ever!! Kudo’s !
Bob
December 1st, 2011
3:18 pm
This may be your greatest column. I sat at my desk and fought back the tears.
harold
December 1st, 2011
3:18 pm
I AM AN IDIOT. MY POOR JACKETS GOT HAMMERED LIKE A CHEAP DATE ONCE AGAIN.
OoltewahDawg
December 1st, 2011
3:19 pm
Whoever read this wonderful piece and did NOT hear Larry’s voice just ain’t right.
WDE
December 1st, 2011
3:19 pm
@harold = great place to park a “hobnailed boot”
Spaceman Spiff
December 1st, 2011
3:20 pm
Excellent job, MB!
Charles
December 1st, 2011
3:20 pm
I just read that to myself from start to finish in Larry’s voice. Yeah, you nailed it, really nice work.
Run Lindsay Run
December 1st, 2011
3:21 pm
I have never had a nice thing to say about your columns, but today I must admit it brought a tear to my eye and a shiver up my spine! Very well done!!! Go Dawgs!!!
robodawg
December 1st, 2011
3:25 pm
Classic. This is something to keep. You might add our players are wearing red hats.
claytondawg
December 1st, 2011
3:25 pm
“MY GOD, A JOURNALIST!!!” Thanks for the happy tears, thoughts, and memories.
JIV
December 1st, 2011
3:26 pm
Newsline – Heavan …..
And now Ladies and Gentlemen, W-GOD would like to welcome our new play by play man who is ready to call the action for you today and for rest of eternity … the big Dawg himself … Mr Larry Munson.
Thank You God … Great to be here … Ok … get the picture now …
R.I.P Larry – hope I am luck enough to hear you live again at some point soon …..
UGADog83
December 1st, 2011
3:27 pm
I could hear Larry’s voice while I was reading this. He was the best. His voice has been part of my life since he came to UGa when I was 5 years old. I will always miss him. Let’s hope he’s in the booth standing behind Scott on Saturday evening! Go Dawgs!
Patrick
December 1st, 2011
3:27 pm
Thanks so much for that, Mark. It brought me a chuckle and a few chills. You really captured ol’ Larry very well. I miss his voice already.
Troll Power Ratings
December 1st, 2011
3:27 pm
That was awesome. Trolls everywhere are cringing.
Rusty
December 1st, 2011
3:27 pm
Mark, I often critisize what I perceived to be your bias against UGA. However, you did a good job on this one.
Bo
December 1st, 2011
3:28 pm
I know today’s journalist wants to be known as objective but you know every now and then we need our hometown folks to be a little more of “homer.” Jesse and Furman were beloved and considered great sports writers and they weren’t above finding good in the hometown college teams. After all its not he NFL writer style that leaves a legacy. I hope that 20 years after you are gone people still remember your name and associate it with some warm, endearing story about “our guys.”
Ted M
December 1st, 2011
3:28 pm
great blog
dean
December 1st, 2011
3:30 pm
Sigh. I miss Larry. Saturday night, I think what I’ll do is turn the TV sound down and “listen” to Larry’s call.
GeorgiaFanStuckInGamecockCountry
December 1st, 2011
3:30 pm
Great job. I really enjoyed this. Sounds just like how Larry would call it. RIP Larry!!!! GO DAWGS!!!
Dalton Dawg
December 1st, 2011
3:31 pm
I got such a mixed bag of emotions reading this column. It gave me chills, and I couldn’t help but hear his voice as I read. Great Job Mark. You hit the “hobnail” on the head. RIP Larry. You DGD!
Steveo
December 1st, 2011
3:34 pm
Good job Bradley…you brought a tear to my eye…wish Larry could have called this one…..”Hunker Down Dawgs …just one more time”!!
Ray Stalvey
December 1st, 2011
3:34 pm
Great article. Gave me goosebumps!
DIT
December 1st, 2011
3:35 pm
Thanks Spaceman Spiff
Makes one wonder how long Crowell will be around especially if we get Marshall.
BklynDawg
December 1st, 2011
3:39 pm
D@mn, Mark.
That was eerie. Beautiful, perfect, and hopefully prophetic. . . but eerie.
Must-read for every Bulldog.
TexDawg
December 1st, 2011
3:40 pm
Well done! I could hear Larry making the call. Thanks for that.
DawgFan (the original)
December 1st, 2011
3:40 pm
That took a lot of work Mark…great job and God Bless Larry Munson and the Dawgs!
Beachdawg
December 1st, 2011
3:42 pm
Great job, Mark!!! Munson was as important to the Bulldogs as….well….the Bulldog!!! There will never be another Munson and God Bless Scott Howard for having to follow him. He’s in a no-win place with fans. The history that Larry Munson helped re-create with his words are why we all can give our imitations and recollections. They’re forever burned in our minds. I hope YOUR rendition becomes reality on Saturday. Larry WOULD say, “we don’t have a chance”, yet deep in his heart of hearts he knew that we did!!!! Hunker Down Dawgs!!!!
timthebrave
December 1st, 2011
3:42 pm
Mark, good one
JDawg1785
December 1st, 2011
3:43 pm
Well done, Mark! I could hear Larry in my head the whole time.
Old Boy
December 1st, 2011
3:43 pm
Thank you Mark. I could hear his voice through the entire article. Well done.
Woosinator
December 1st, 2011
3:43 pm
Great job Mark!!
If you believe in Karma (and I do)…there is nothing better than being a massive underdog in a championship game where NOBODY thinks you have a chance. Munson made us feel that way even when we were heavy favorites. He would have a field day with this one! I really miss him.
Its only justice that the Dawgs shock the world. “We were out of it and gone….I gave up…so did you.” If the game is close early watch those Tiger collars start tightening….maybe Larry can give a tug from above.
SHOCK THE WORLD!!! Go DAWGS!
DePort
December 1st, 2011
3:45 pm
We cant honor a legend without some of these idiots still getting on here and making idiotic comments about stuff that dont matter…. Geaux get a girlfriend/boyfriend or something ….
Say What???
December 1st, 2011
3:46 pm
Inspired piece of prose, Mr. Bradley. Thank you for sharing that with the Dawg Nation.
Hankie Aron
December 1st, 2011
3:51 pm
Mark- Easily the best column you ever wrote. Smiles and tears. If I could add anything to it, on the PAT it would be “Walsh stuck it in there”
VA Dawg
December 1st, 2011
3:54 pm
Priceless. Great job!
balismith
December 1st, 2011
3:54 pm
anyone who is a true georgia fan has loved listening to larry describe the action of a georgia game and frankly yours does not come close
dean
December 1st, 2011
3:54 pm
Dear blog gobbler. Please release me. Never mind. I’ll say it again.
Sigh. I miss Larry. On Saturday night, I think I’ll turn the TV sound down a “listen” to Larry’s call.
Mike
December 1st, 2011
3:55 pm
I know one thing – he would have had a nervous breakdown and we would have had NO CHANCE – but you know he would have died a little with each point scored against us and lived every point we scored. No player on the field would have been more exhausted at the end of the game than Larry. We miss you!
JSD
December 1st, 2011
4:00 pm
This is the most rediculous article you have ever written. Next.
Go Dawgs
Cuz
December 1st, 2011
4:01 pm
Mark, you managed to put every over the top reference Larry ever did in one article. I don’t think even Larry would use them all at the same time. But I have to admit, it was entertaining and a tribute to “The Voice of the Dawgs”.
441North
December 1st, 2011
4:09 pm
Mark, you gave me chills. Ohhhh you Mark Bradley ! ! ! Just posting and blogging with those skinny fingers ! ! ! My God a Senior Writer ! ! Give the guy some rest …………………..