The Granddaddy of them all

There aren’t a lot of things that I can count on from day to day and be absolutely accurate. The one thing I do know is that the older I get the more funerals I’ll be attending.

I also know that people who entertained me when I was growing up seem to be passing on faster than I would like to see.

A sports announcer that I really enjoyed announcing a game was a man by the name of Keith Jackson. There was something about Jackson that was different than most. He wanted you to be engaged in the game and not the announcer. That isn’t as easy as it sounds.

Today’s announcers climb over each other to interject their expertise. The only problem is there are a lot of fans out there that may know better about the wide receiver or the middle linebacker than the expert color guy or play-by-play person.

If Jackson said anything you knew he talked with the people in the know and wasn’t just going to say something to fill air space. He would utilize that knowledge at an important part of the game or to keep the fan from switching the channel.

Jackson, a Washington State College grad, passed away at the age of 89 on Friday. The last game he announced was the 2006 National Championship game between USC and the University of Texas from the Rose Bowl.

For 12 years, I’ve been thinking about how great this guy was at keeping my interest in a football game from start to finish. And yes I missed that.

I’ve heard a lot of announcers over the years and if I liked them I would invite them into my living room and listen to them talk about the game and my interest in a game piqued.

If I didn’t care for an announcer there is a good chance I would turn the sound down and just watch the game as if the announcer had left the room. I’m doing that a lot more now than I ever have.

There are a few guys that are so full of their so-called knowledge of the game that make me want to scream.

Some are abrasive when talking about a play that was made by one of the players. I love watching sports like football, basketball and baseball but some of these announcers have made these games unbearable to listen to.

I guess you could say Jackson spoiled me. A few years ago as I was traveling home from an Eastern football game I turned on the Cougar football broadcast. As halftime approached the Cougar football announcer said to stay tuned for a special interview with Cougar legendary announcer Bob Robertson and Jackson.

I wish I had the opportunity to play that one over again and again. It was two old warhorses talking about some great games of the past and how enjoyable it was to be there at that moment and to be a part of history.

On Sunday night I did some channel surfing and clicked onto the SEC network. The guide said that it was going to be a classic college basketball game. What came up was the 1993 Sugar Bowl between the Miami Hurricanes and the Alabama Crimson Tide. The color man was Bob Griese and the play-by-play guy was Jackson.

I turned the volume up and listened to that friendly announcer talking to me once again. He held my interest even though I had seen this game before and knew how it would ultimately end I was given the chance to listen to Jackson again.

After an interception by Alabama that was taken back for a touchdown, Jackson allowed the Crimson Tide fans in the Superdome to scream and holler before he broke the play down and gave out the return yardage.

I saw a lot of football games this year and I never heard the roar of the crowd like I did on that replay.

Much of it has to do with the color guy jumping in to let you know exactly what happened. I think Jackson understood the fans needed to be heard before an interjection of statistics filled the airwaves.

Maybe I’m right and maybe I’m wrong but that short segment of a football game was exciting and worth watching and listening to once again.

Jackson dubbed the Rose Bowl the ‘Granddaddy of them all’ as in all the bowl games. I think Jackson is the Granddaddy of all announcers.

It wouldn’t hurt some of them to study Jackson’s greatness and make it fun to listen to a televised game again.