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
UGA Junior
December 1st, 2011
5:53 pm
I like it mark. But damnit i told you to never say the dawgs will win again
Joe
December 1st, 2011
5:57 pm
Does this qualify for a Peabody Award? If so, you deserve it. I don’t know whether to start crying or bash my head through the office wall. Stirring!
JDW
December 1st, 2011
5:57 pm
Should we prevail, the words “look at the sugar falling from the sky” in Munson’s voice should echo from the rafters!
GATA
December 1st, 2011
5:59 pm
“We got no business even BEING here! LSU’s got all that size and speed, my God the speed! The Dawgs come in with NO running backs no not even ONE! What I wouldn’t give for even a backup from Clarke Central! The entire universe is sitting right square on top of Murray’s head and everybody in the state is wondering how we’ll survive this thing!”
Great article Mark – I can just hear Munson’s voice…
WNCDawg
December 1st, 2011
6:00 pm
Great job Mark. Nailed him. He was back with us for a few more minutes….
DAWG
December 1st, 2011
6:01 pm
Thanks, Mark. Definitely brings tears. I hope Larry knew how much he was loved and how good he was !! The BEST !!!
bulldogbubba
December 1st, 2011
6:06 pm
Thank you Sir! Santa will most definitly be good to you this year. If we had for Larry for one more game.You Big Softy!!!!!!!!
andrew
December 1st, 2011
6:08 pm
Nice job Mark
Texas Dawg
December 1st, 2011
6:09 pm
Great work, Bradley. Munson would love it.
great piece
December 1st, 2011
6:12 pm
well done
Eldawg
December 1st, 2011
6:17 pm
Great job Mark! I enjoyed that.
Disoriented Dawg
December 1st, 2011
6:20 pm
This is better than watching (or listening to) the real game.
In this one, we win!
BozinGa
December 1st, 2011
6:20 pm
Can’t tell you how good this piece is Mark. You outdid yourself. My eyes got misty. Thanks!
MAT Dawg
December 1st, 2011
6:22 pm
Very good job Mark!!
Calder Ehrmann
December 1st, 2011
6:22 pm
Genius Mark! The best piece I have ever read and I have been reading sports articles for about 25 years. Thank you for this!
WDE
December 1st, 2011
6:23 pm
@SSIgator hey pinhead can you do us a favor can you get Mushchamp to guarantee a LSU victory please……God you are a sore loser but good news you are going to get a lot of practice in the near future..
mh
December 1st, 2011
6:23 pm
Whether you have memories of listening to Larry Munson call the games from back to 1966 like I have or were just blessed to hear him the last 10 years or so, you can probably understand why sports writer Mark Bradley’s rendition of how Larry might call the upcoming game could be so touching and stir many fond memories. He was a classic pessimist regarding whomever Georgia was going to play but there was NOBODY more excited when Georgia would pull out a win and hundreds of thousands of UGA fans will never forget his unbridled bias toward the Dawgs, his passion and love for the game, his enthusiasm and unrehearsed calls on many critical plays that inspired the Bulldog Nation.
I think Jeff Foxworthy would probably say something along the line of “if reading a made up article about how Munson may have called a game yet to be played gives you good cold chills, then you probably are a serious multigenerational Bulldog fan especially since at least 1966 when Larry graced the microphone to call the UGA.
games.” Foxworthy would be right for me personally as I did get cold chills reading it and am proud of it.
If you are not interested in or have never followed UGA football, all this will probably seem hard to understand.
If however you bleed red and black, then you have to nominate Mark Bradley for a pulitzer as one blogger posted. If you knew and followed Munson’s career, you cannot read Bradley’s “how Munson might have called the upcoming game” without be amazed at the timing in his wording and phrases that Munson made famous, at his recollection of all the games Larry would worry about ahead of and during the games, at the unintended sense of humor Larry displayed, at the raw enthusiasm about great plays etc. It is though you were listening to Larry again. Absolutely amazing work of writing. Mark Bradley knew Larry Munson very, very well, loved the man and misses him as so many of us do.
62-39-5 vs Tech- 48-40-2 vs Florida
December 1st, 2011
6:24 pm
Great impersonation of the greatest football radio play by play man in the history of earth.
130on2
December 1st, 2011
6:25 pm
One word. OUTSTANDING!!!!
Mark Bradley
December 1st, 2011
6:26 pm
Once again, I thank y’all. I’m humbled. Really.
Ludatripp
December 1st, 2011
6:29 pm
The part with Lorne Smith was spot on. He would have said something stupid and Munson would have interrupted him.
jimmyd
December 1st, 2011
6:41 pm
Great job, brought tears to my eyes. Growing up in Waycross in the 60’s and listening to Munson was a way of life. My first memory of Larry Munson was calling the Georgia/ Miami game and big Ronnie Jenkins running through the mud to lead Georgia to a win. I do not think I missed a game on the radio for the next 40 years. Thanks for all the memories Larry.
62-39-5 vs Tech- 48-40-2 vs Florida
December 1st, 2011
6:42 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.
You would have loved him.I listen to him ever since I was
a little boy and I’ll be 54 in two weeks.You coud be driving down the road at night and it would be like you
were on the side line with the team.There was many a game
I would pull off the road just so I could concentrate on
what he was saying and what was about to happen.When more and more of the games started getting televised,like many have said, I would turn down the tv sound and listen to Larry. After 911,it seemed the games started having time delays and it was out of sync with the picture .I sure miss him.Go Dawgs beat LSU.
Ole dog
December 1st, 2011
6:47 pm
Awesome!!!
I laughed out loud a couple of times and could picture myself up at Clarke Hill Lake listening on the radio on a Saturday afternoon. It would be great if it can happen anywhere close to that. The one thing that gives me hope is remembering 1984 Cotton bowl against undefeated # 2 Texas and the dawgs won late, 10 to 9. (# 1 Nebraska lost to Miami that day too!) So yes it is possible and that is why we play the games. Can’t wait to see this one.
Allen Waters
December 1st, 2011
6:48 pm
Just play our best game young men! How about LSU in Athens when David Greene threw 5 td passes against them or the SEC 2005 when we beat the heavily favored #3LSU for the Championship while being ranked #13. Remember the big score in BR the last time? It was a shame to give up the game on a ridiculous penalty against AJ with the bothched ko and long run by them to take the game in Athens. I beleive these are some of the reasons they play the game! UGA fan in India that will be watching at 230am on Sunday.
Bat Masterson
December 1st, 2011
6:50 pm
Well done, Bradley.
Really
ChattDawg
December 1st, 2011
6:56 pm
A+ piece of work!
Max Sizemore
December 1st, 2011
6:59 pm
Well, the others have said it all. But it was SO GOOD that I’ll post anyway: SPECTACULAR. It simply could not have been better.
Allen
December 1st, 2011
7:02 pm
Started listening to Larry in the 70’s, great great piece.
rooster
December 1st, 2011
7:03 pm
What a fine thing you’ve done, Mark. Excellent.
Elementary my Dear Watson
December 1st, 2011
7:03 pm
Bradley………you kicked the ” whatchamacallit ” out of this article
AltamahaDawg
December 1st, 2011
7:10 pm
Keep swelling Brandley’s head and he’ll have to borrow hats from some other staff member.
Dawg Fan
December 1st, 2011
7:12 pm
Dont forget—-OMG,OMG,OMG,OMG, dont raise the academics or we will be like Vanderbilt—We are only in it for football, not graduation, or jobs in the future. Hang Jan Kemp, we would have been National Champs for good ole Vince, if Jan hadn’t caught us changing dumb players grades, just so we can play football.
JaxDawg
December 1st, 2011
7:15 pm
Mark, I swear I could hear Larry too! Got a tear in my eye and a lump in my throat.
Mike
December 1st, 2011
7:24 pm
Beautiful, Mark.. Sincere thanks. We needed that.
Tim
December 1st, 2011
7:29 pm
for ALL you LSU fans! Im gonna take the 14 points LSU is giving up! Sitting in SEC 118 Row 3 BET WHAT YOU WANT!!!!
todd grantham
December 1st, 2011
7:30 pm
Mark, you really did capture The Great Man. All those phrases I grew up with and into middle age with. I’ll bet you even know that when people refer to “run Lindsay run” that is in error. The Great Man said run just once.
What a privelige it must be to have personally known him. I’ll bet he’s reading your piece and thinking “My God Almighty Bradley’s good!!”
juvenal
December 1st, 2011
7:34 pm
don’t like wes, either-give me Vin Scully any day-Al told you where the ball was, Kim added the color……..
Lisa
December 1st, 2011
7:41 pm
That was the greatest article Mark! I could just hear Larry. Thanks for the updated memories and go Dawgs!
Free A.J.
December 1st, 2011
7:43 pm
Mark this is awesome. Great creativity on your part. As I read it I could hear Munson’s voice…you are right on the money here…let’s just hope the game turns out this way!
coladawy
December 1st, 2011
7:51 pm
Mark, This is the finest column you ever written. Save it for the scrapbook.
Remembance
December 1st, 2011
7:57 pm
Thanks so much for the from the heavens memories.
Remembance
December 1st, 2011
7:59 pm
Dawg Fan: Clearly, you are not.
James
December 1st, 2011
8:00 pm
Nice!! Brought a tear to my eye.Thanks
wally
December 1st, 2011
8:01 pm
I am 62 years old and am from Anderson SC. In the late sixties all Clemsom started at 1 pm and Georgia startd at 2 om. i would go to the Clemson games and coming home We would listen to the Great Munson. I decided to attend my first Georgia game maybe Baylor, not sure, I remembe it being about as hat as you could get it.. Everything went perfect they stll had the train running, it may even stoppned and watched the game. I met one of the nicest guys in the world from Atlanta, he even ask me to have lunch with him. My first Georgia game was wonderful. NO more Clemson Tigers. a whole lot of Larry Munson, Hershal Walker. My favorite player over the years was a walk on line backer No 47 by tne name of Griffeth. Back in those days the stadium was not closed in and you could actuall speak to the guys as they went into the locker room. I was there for most of the home games, he recognied me and alwas spoke. Boy, it was great to be a BULLDOG then and it is great to be a BULLDOG noe. PLEASE can ther be an upset Saturday, This ole Man from SC wants to see one real bad.
dawgfacedboy
December 1st, 2011
8:06 pm
Dudes, just heard a rumor that Crowell has been dismissed from the team. Anybody heard anything???
1969 Graduate
December 1st, 2011
8:06 pm
Hey, Wally, I’m older than you are, and I’m not old, so you can’t be either.
That was great. I don’t know how you did the sound track, but I could hear Larry’s voice just as clear as it ever was, which is to say it wasn’t clear at all, and nothing made sense all by itself, but all together it was as pretty as a picture.
The man was a poet.
Hunker down, Bulldogs.
Jeff
December 1st, 2011
8:09 pm
I was thinking the same thing, brought tears to my eyes. I could just hear Larry saying! Great job, Mark. Awesome! Now let’s go GATA, you Hairy Dawgs! Show them what your made of.
lee
December 1st, 2011
8:13 pm
the best tribute to Munson yet
Jacksonville Road Dawg
December 1st, 2011
8:22 pm
Pretty Darned Nice MB ! — One of the greatest memories of all times! Listening to Larry “Call the Dawgs !”