Loran Smith replaced as UGA sideline reporter
(Updated 8 p.m.)
ATHENS — After 36 years as sideline reporter on radio broadcasts of University of Georgia football games, Loran Smith will not be in that role this season.
He’ll be replaced by Chuck Dowdle, the former WSB-TV sports director.
Smith will continue in his other long-time role as co-host, with Neil Williamson, of Georgia’s three-hour radio pregame show, the “Tailgate Show.”
Georgia associate athletic director Alan Thomas said the change of sideline reporters had been “contemplated” since the 2008 retirement of legendary play-by-play voice Larry Munson altered the “dynamics” of the broadcast.
“I had 36 good years on the sideline,” Smith told the AJC Thursday night. “It’s been fun, and I appreciate the support of the Georgia people.
“I had a good time, and I look forward to more good times. I don’t have to be on the sidelines to enjoy the broadcast and my role.
“I finally get to sit up in the press box where I can see,” Smith added with a laugh.
Smith said he joined UGA’s radio broadcast team in the early 1970s and has served as sideline reporter continuously since 1974. Munson’s hand-off call to Smith became a familiar and enduring part of UGA lore.
Munson’s exact words varied from time to time, Smith said. “‘Whaddaya got, Loran?’ That’s how it started, and I think it became interchangeable,” Smith said. “I think just whatever came to mind. He might have started with my name or might have concluded with it.”
Smith, 72, said he leaves the sideline with “a lot of good memories” and confidence many more are yet to be made under coach Mark Richt’s leadership.
“I’m just looking forward to the future,” Smith said.
Thomas said Smith remains an important part of the broadcast team on the pregame show. Having Dowdle serve as sideline reporter is “a natural progression” of his role on the post-game locker-room show, Thomas said.
In another change to the radio lineup, veteran SEC broadcaster Charlie McAlexander will join Jeff Dantzler on the “Bulldog Game Day” show, which airs one hour before the “Tailgate Show.”
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
302 comments Add your comment
Loran's best (is dead)
August 26th, 2010
8:30 pm
“Well Larry.. I just had a hot dog.. WITH MUSTARD… and I think I saw Elvis in section 102. I’ll have security check his ID and get back to you during the 3rd quarter when I find my shoes.”
Hee Haw
August 26th, 2010
8:31 pm
Sometimes corney is a good thing.
Bulldog Through and Through
August 26th, 2010
8:32 pm
If Eric Z. is the best radio can do, I will not be turning down the volume on the tv to hear the radio side. He is terrible.
69dawg
August 26th, 2010
8:33 pm
Hey ANTI 69….. GO EFF YOURSELF.
Loran, What a ya got ?
August 26th, 2010
8:34 pm
We can still hear the ole boy on the pre-game show.
you young whipper-snappers.
jimmymack
August 26th, 2010
8:34 pm
is this more adams bs. chuck who i really like, could not at this point and time ,replace one of the most knowledgeable men in the bulldog nation.it would be great if this didn’t happen the week before the season started.UNDER THE PRESENT ADM THE PEOPLE WHO DONATE,PARTICAPATE AND ARE TRUE BULLDOG,S WILL NEVER HAVE A VOICE
Bride of Chucky Knapp
August 26th, 2010
8:35 pm
Now let’s get rid of Mr. “Too Cool to Finish Schooll” Zeier!
It's 'Loren, whatdoya got?'
August 26th, 2010
8:36 pm
He and Mr. Munson will both be missed. 10 years from now, we’ll wish we could hear them both on the radio again. One more sad milestone in Georgia Bulldog history.
Loran, What a ya got ?
August 26th, 2010
8:37 pm
Larry, it’s 105 degrees down here on the field, and thats without a uniform on.
It's 'Loren, whatdoya got?'
August 26th, 2010
8:39 pm
What ‘A’ ya got sounds funny.
Loran, What a ya got ?
August 26th, 2010
8:41 pm
Kinda like The Varsity,
What a ya have, What a ya have ?
The Exterminator
August 26th, 2010
8:42 pm
Thank you for posting that letter from Erk to the team before the 1980 opener against UT. A classic.
It was most certainly, “Loran, whadya got?”
Loran didn’t have much but he was a great tradition. He’s a heck of fundraiser, too.
Chuck Dowdle bleeds Red & Black and will be great. He is a great guy, too.
And Tech still sucks.
Loran, What a ya got ?
August 26th, 2010
8:43 pm
They just turned the sprinkler system on here at Jordan-Hare Larry,
and all the Dawg fans are soaked.
Loran, wutah ya got /
August 26th, 2010
8:47 pm
Thanks Larry !
SatillaDawg
August 26th, 2010
8:49 pm
I didn’t think about it before my earlier post, but I agree… “Loran” came first:
Loran, whattayagot?
Uh, well, uh, well, uh, well, uh, L a r r y….!
Loran, wutah ya got /
August 26th, 2010
8:49 pm
I think all the verbal exchanges between Larry and Loran would make a great book.
Higher education at it’s best.
AD Stinky Fingers
August 26th, 2010
8:52 pm
Wha da ya got, Courtney? Red panties? I be liken the fire down below. Well worth throwing away my life, just like a typical UGAg douche.
Loran, whattayagot?
August 26th, 2010
8:55 pm
Larry, you have to drive all the way to Dacula to buy the AJC.
AD Stinky Fingers
August 26th, 2010
8:56 pm
When I first moved to Georgia and saw Dowdle on WSB-TV, I thought he was mentally disable with a speech impediment. The poor f**k just has a horrible southern accent and appears to be only mildly brain damaged and is a demented UGA slobbing bootlicker.
Loran, whattayagot?
August 26th, 2010
8:57 pm
The Sticky Fingers in Charleston has good baby back ribs.
Baldemar Huerta
August 26th, 2010
8:57 pm
17-17, one second on the clock, LSU at the one.
Loran what you got for us?
Well Larry, I just figured out why they call them tight ends. I’m here with the dentist for the 1938 UGA volleyball team. Roger, how many fillings did the team need, and did the university pay for it?
And don’t get me started on his joke of a show “Sports Conversations”, that still has no network sponsors after a year and a network change.
The Exterminator
August 26th, 2010
8:58 pm
Larry: “It’ll be 3rd down. Loran, whadya got?”
Loran: “Well, Laaarrry, I’m standing here next to Mary Crabapple, who cheered for Georgia in the 40’s. Mary, what do consider your most exciting mo–”
Larry: “Third down and 4 on the 48, Georgia in a stand up 5, we really need a stop here…”
UGA fans are so ...
August 26th, 2010
8:58 pm
Loran should have left when Larry did. Tech may suck but Wes Durham is a much better announcer than Scott Howard could ever hope to be.
Wisdom, Moderation, Justice
August 26th, 2010
8:59 pm
Maybe you should now move AWAY from Georgia.
SatillaDawg
August 26th, 2010
8:59 pm
This is Georgia. Georgia is in the Deep South.
Is there some kind of problem with having a Southern accent in Georgia?
I think not.
Go Dawgs!
Mark H - Tampa Dawg
August 26th, 2010
9:01 pm
Sad to see that era come to an end. Glad however that Loran is still with the program. He is a great asset and a true gentleman. Thanks Loran from the Tampabay Bulldog Club.
Baldemar Huerta
August 26th, 2010
9:02 pm
“Wisdom, Moderation, Justice ” HA! The State should be sued for false advertising.
SuperB
August 26th, 2010
9:02 pm
Nothing against Chuck, but Loran belongs on the sideline as long as he wants. He’s been “Bowdened.”
Ron Hyatt
August 26th, 2010
9:10 pm
2 months ago 5
Chuck Chuck Bo Buck
Banana Fana Fo–HEY!
Whaddayagot Question Answered
August 26th, 2010
9:10 pm
I think it became interchangable.
He might have started with my name or he might have concluded with it.
.
Good investigative journalism, Mr. Tim Tucker.
Thanks for clearing thing up.
LarDawg
August 26th, 2010
9:11 pm
They may not even have to tell him he’s not on the air anymore.
Man Enough
August 26th, 2010
9:12 pm
Well the sound of UGA football is changing. We all knew it would come some day. I will miss them both. Lets just hope the change is for the better on the field. I just dont understand how any Dawg fan can talk bad of them. It’s Tradition. I had always known their voices as UGA football ever since I can remember.
Ron Hyatt
August 26th, 2010
9:13 pm
And now Ollie Williams with weather..Ollie?
“Everybody looks like ants!”
Former Radio Man
August 26th, 2010
9:15 pm
I grew up listening to the UGA games on the radio & Braves games on the radio. In my opinion, both broadcasts are close to ‘unlistenable’ now. The way Don Sutton stumbles through play by play & with the idiot now doing Georgia games hollering over every big play, it makes me long for Sundays when I can listen to Wes Durham & David Archer do the Falcons games.
SatillaDawg
August 26th, 2010
9:16 pm
Freddy Fender…..#1 Georgia Bulldog Fan!
Glory, Glory to Old Georgia!
Ron Hyatt
August 26th, 2010
9:17 pm
Wes definitely is becoming the iconic broadcaster in the state. His style is his own.
Baldemar Huerta
August 26th, 2010
9:18 pm
SatillaDawg, +1 internet for you. First poster in over 1000 posts to get it.
Associated Press
August 26th, 2010
9:21 pm
……… .The last laugh
.
Both ESPN and CBS Sports are courting Loran Smith as a sideline reporter.
Baldemar Huerta
August 26th, 2010
9:23 pm
gotta have some eye candy for the blue hair set.
SatillaDawg
August 26th, 2010
9:24 pm
I don’t need no stinkin’ internet…
I’ve known who Baldemar Huerta is/was for more than 40 years.
Go Dawgs!
WAGA
August 26th, 2010
9:27 pm
Ed Thelenius would be proud.
Baldemar Huerta
August 26th, 2010
9:29 pm
Go Dawgs, and take Ga Southern with you!
Smegmatic
August 26th, 2010
9:29 pm
Thinking that this will relieve poor Neil Williamson from having to traffic-cop the nonsense Loran and Munson would ramble on about. Larry was great, don’t get me wrong, but Loran was unlistenable. Dowdle, who knows. But this takes a load off Neil’s plate. What’s funny is that back in the day on WQXI, Neil had the SAME role, trying to make Gary McKee’s rambling, which happened a lot, worthwhile to listen to. Oh, yes.
DAWG DRUNK
August 26th, 2010
9:31 pm
“What ya got Loran?” Larrryyy I’m down here on the sideline with the Georgia cheerleaders and you should see the legs on this Sophomore from Evans County! I haven’t seen legs like this in Athens since Lindsay Scott was here.”
SatillaDawg
August 26th, 2010
9:31 pm
Hey, Freddy…
Delta is ready when you are.
John
August 26th, 2010
9:33 pm
Typical Exchange
What you got, Loran?
Well, Larry, if it rains, the players will get wet?
……..
Back to you, Loran.
Larry, if the Dogs don;t score, they won’t win.
Ray Goff
August 26th, 2010
9:36 pm
There’s a job open on the Georgia sidelines?
HomeComing
August 26th, 2010
9:38 pm
Did Loran ever come up with a big scoop?
UK THOROUGHBRED
August 26th, 2010
9:43 pm
Who cares? uga will lose to Kentucky again this year!
Chuck UGA
August 26th, 2010
9:48 pm
Chuck Dowdle may be a nice guy, but I just decided to leave my radio home from now on. His broadcast voice is hideous to listen to, and I’m no fan of Scott Howard except in basketball. I am writing Greg McGarity to suggest he seriously look for a new announcer.