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
sUGAr DAWG!
December 1st, 2011
4:50 pm
Standing “O”
SugarBowlBound
December 1st, 2011
4:51 pm
Very nicely done, Mark! Larry would be proud!
Forever a Dawgfan
December 1st, 2011
4:52 pm
Perfectly written Mark. I can see him saying every last word! Well done.
Bigdawg1980
December 1st, 2011
4:53 pm
That is priceless….thanks for sharing. Munson will always be alive in Dawg Nation…..
Now that's funny
December 1st, 2011
4:53 pm
Loran Smith: “Larrah, the lovely Julie Moran sent me a note telling me she’d be watching from Hollywood and rooting for her Dogs … ”
dawg fan
December 1st, 2011
4:53 pm
Thomas has never knocked anyone backwards. That should be edited.
DLink
December 1st, 2011
4:54 pm
I enjoyed that read immensely. Never heard Larry or of Larry Munson, not being a big sports fan. If this is how he announced games, though, I’d probably be a lot more into the sports scene than I am. I love a great character, I think we all do. Thanks for introducing me.
Drewski
December 1st, 2011
4:54 pm
Absolutely wonderful. Awesome job, Mark. DAWGS, WIN OUT FOR MUNSON.
tiger-uga
December 1st, 2011
4:55 pm
Great work, I could hear that voice! I saved this work of art!
Disoriented Dawg
December 1st, 2011
4:56 pm
Good piece Mark. You must have been hard at work on this one while you dropped those past few puff pieces on here. This one definitely makes up for those!
RIP Larry
Joseph Pulitzer
December 1st, 2011
4:56 pm
Beautiful … Mr. Bradley, you win the prize.
GT Dude
December 1st, 2011
4:56 pm
Nice read, thought I could hear Munson as I read it
Unfortunately, it’s not going to change the outcome; LSU is too deep for UGA to keep up in the second half.
Gainesville Dawg
December 1st, 2011
5:00 pm
Mark, Wonderful story!!!!! I could just hear Munson’s reactions during the game.
You are to be commended!
Thanks!
DawgOne
December 1st, 2011
5:00 pm
Absolutely wonderful. As someone who grew up with Munson on the radio, I can hear him in your writing. A wonderful tribute to a legend by a writer I consider one of the best in sports media.. One of the best articles I’ve seen written in some time.
longtimedawgfan
December 1st, 2011
5:02 pm
credit where credit’s due…nicely done…very good…
Rowdy
December 1st, 2011
5:06 pm
Awesome!
Jeff
December 1st, 2011
5:07 pm
I was fully prepared to be offended that you’d try this but …you did Larry proud.
Paul in NH
December 1st, 2011
5:07 pm
Great post Mark – made me laugh a great deal.
dawg4u
December 1st, 2011
5:08 pm
Great rendition Mark. You “out-munsoned” Munson. That brought me back to the many games I listened to Larry on the radio especially in the early days BI (before internet). Fine trip down memory lane and as Jesse Outlar would say “Kudos.”
SSIgator
December 1st, 2011
5:09 pm
Speaking of Larry, have they put him in the ground yet? If not, he will be a little ripe by December 10th.
Ron Burgundy
December 1st, 2011
5:09 pm
At least Larry got to see other teams win BCS titles. Ho hum.
Sandlot
December 1st, 2011
5:11 pm
Well played, sir.
JoeDawg
December 1st, 2011
5:12 pm
That brought a tear to my eye, Mark…We will never be lucky enough to have another Larry Munson.
MerryMary
December 1st, 2011
5:18 pm
Wow! Thanks for this. I couldn’t read it aloud to family members for laughing and crying at the same time. You caught the Munson spirit. It was so good to hear “Munson” one more time-I have missed him so much since he left the booth when health forced him to retire.
LawDawg86
December 1st, 2011
5:20 pm
Very nicely done, Mark! I was grinning ear to ear, with some non-dry eyes because I could really hear Larry calling it just like you wrote. +1 for Bradley!
superDawg
December 1st, 2011
5:21 pm
I said “HUNKERDOWN YOU GUYS ONE MORE TIME”.
Buckeye
December 1st, 2011
5:22 pm
Larry Munson is THE best of Georgia football and among the best of all of college football.
I give Larry all credit for my paying any attention to dog football here in Atlanta. Listening an AM 750 WSB on Saturdfays was always a treat.
shaggy
December 1st, 2011
5:22 pm
Mark,
This is the best column that I have ever read by you.
God Job!
GO DAWGS!
Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof!
superDawg
December 1st, 2011
5:23 pm
I miss Larry and I love UGA football.It is not the same without him but he will be there as long as I live.
Buckeye
December 1st, 2011
5:24 pm
How much did Chick Filet pay for the plug, MB? Too funny.
The Ole Ball Coach
December 1st, 2011
5:24 pm
Hats off Bradley….you nailed it…..You nailed it…..
kirktfish
December 1st, 2011
5:24 pm
Gonna miss Larry till I see him again.
Jacketdad
December 1st, 2011
5:26 pm
I am a Tech fan from Tennesse but this was a great job of writing. It really captured the sprit of a Munson broadcast. He was an unbeleiveable sportscaster – we were all privileged to have listened to him.
superDawg
December 1st, 2011
5:26 pm
GO DAWGS!NUFF SAID.
Barry
December 1st, 2011
5:26 pm
As a Georgia player many years ago I knew Larry Munson in his earliest days and most thereafter. I believe he would love this article and be flattered, for obviously it is written with admiration. Nice going Mark Bradley!
AlaskaDawg
December 1st, 2011
5:26 pm
Awesome! Best tribute to Munson yet!
GeorgiaBoner
December 1st, 2011
5:27 pm
Gay.
Dirty Dawg
December 1st, 2011
5:27 pm
The thing about this is, I suspect, you – Mark – had to think about what to say and how to say it…with Larry it just spewed forth. I’ll always believe that the man was a ‘throwback’. He did football like an announcer from the 30s. I never realized it until one day I was watching some old movie from about that time that included the radio broadcast of some game…it was as if Larry was doing the game.
Either way, this one was fun…and memorable.
The Ole Ball Coach
December 1st, 2011
5:28 pm
Why don’t they sale the complete games where Larry Munson called them on the Radio comlete with commericals……… Munson Estate, WSB 750, and UGA could make some big dollars….
Heck I would buy many of the games just to listen to his voice…..
georgia tiger
December 1st, 2011
5:28 pm
MB
As a Georgia Tiger and a UGA parent you got it exactly right. Larry is pleased I am sure. Only problem is Jarvis Jones would have to be able to catch those Tigers! Go LSU. Very nice job.
Pitbull
December 1st, 2011
5:29 pm
Don’t forgetMark that when Georgia or the other team got down inside the other team’s five yard line they were “knocking on the door”
And when a Georgia field goal kicker kicked for a long one (over 48 yards) it was “watch it…watch it… watch it…it’s good and Georgia gets three on the board.”
And when a Georgia defensive player tacked hard, he “really racked ‘em.”
And the line was “when did she walk in the door?” when something great happened. Who she was Larry never said on the air but it was Lady Luck.
Hoopster
December 1st, 2011
5:29 pm
Well except for the fact that Crowell won’t be dressed out or playing, it’s cute.
Y3ll0wjacket
December 1st, 2011
5:31 pm
Freakin’ great article, Mark. Thanks for making me crack up while at work. This definitely brings back the memories. I’ll be rooting for the Dawgs along with Larry during the game, even if I am a Yellow Jacket, class of ‘88. I was a Munson fan long before I went to Tech.
Brent
December 1st, 2011
5:35 pm
The best of your career. I’m a lifelong Tech fan and have tears in my eyes. Mark, that was unbelievable.
Michael Ruffin
December 1st, 2011
5:35 pm
Mr. Bradley, for this column and the one the other day about the BCS rendering the SEC title game irrelevant you, sir, deserve the Pulitzer Prize…
DawgInaTruck
December 1st, 2011
5:37 pm
Great job dude. I could hear his voice as I read the article. That means you absolutely nailed it.
Brent
December 1st, 2011
5:39 pm
A work of Lewis Grizzard proportions. That’s the ultimate compliment from a southerner.
P-Man
December 1st, 2011
5:41 pm
Very nice, Mark. I also heard Munson’s voice in my head as I read it.
I especially liked the reference to the Notre Dame replays, as that took me way back…
MH
December 1st, 2011
5:52 pm
Jeff Foxworthy might say you know you are a serious Dawg fan if you get cold chills reading a made up Munson call of the upcoming Uga -Lsu game. I Did and proud of it. Incredible job of portraying how Munson might have called the game. You knew him well. Thanks for the memories. Mh
Louie
December 1st, 2011
5:52 pm
I hope it works out just like Larry called it.