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Sports => VTTW Message Board => Topic started by: BigOrange Maniac on November 22, 2011, 02:27:17 EST



Title: I understand UGA fans' love and admiration for Larry Munson
Post by: BigOrange Maniac on November 22, 2011, 02:27:17 EST
But I gotta be honest, I don't get all the non-UGA fans who are today calling Munson "the best ever." I'm not sure if that's their way of honoring him on his passing, or if they truly think that.

Personally, I found Munson to be colorful but not very descriptive of the game. Obviously I'm biased, but I don't think he was even in the same league as guys like John Ward. I understand that he's a Southern football legend and I have no problem with that. But for fans outside UGA, what was there to like about Munson's style?


Title: Re: I understand UGA fans' love and admiration for Larry Munson
Post by: SmokeyJoe on November 22, 2011, 02:37:09 EST
I think he was once a sportscaster on the local evening news in Nashville.  Kid you not.  That's going way back there.   :biggrin:  I would say he was in Ward's league, as was Caywood Ledford.  That was just a different era.  Those guys could really paint a picture.  I listend to Bob & Bert for the La-M game.  Simply awful.  The radio was the internet for me once upon a time.   :beer:


Title: Re: I understand UGA fans' love and admiration for Larry Munson
Post by: VinnieVOL on November 22, 2011, 02:44:23 EST
But I gotta be honest, I don't get all the non-UGA fans who are today calling Munson "the best ever." I'm not sure if that's their way of honoring him on his passing, or if they truly think that.

Personally, I found Munson to be colorful but not very descriptive of the game. Obviously I'm biased, but I don't think he was even in the same league as guys like John Ward. I understand that he's a Southern football legend and I have no problem with that. But for fans outside UGA, what was there to like about Munson's style?

With all due respect to him, I agree.


Title: Re: I understand UGA fans' love and admiration for Larry Munson
Post by: VOLveeta on November 22, 2011, 03:53:11 EST
John Ward was the Voice of the Vols, Larry Munson was the voice of the Dawgs.  No need to compare. 

Larry Munson made no apologies for being a homer and I appreciate that.  I miss those days.  Innocent, "I love my team" days.  I was saddened to hear of his passing and his LINDSAY SCOTT, LINDSAY SCOTT, LINDSAY SCOTT will forever be a favorite moment of mine in the world of sports broadcasting.  He was a homer and didn't try to cover it.  What's the problem?

RIP Larry.


Title: Re: I understand UGA fans' love and admiration for Larry Munson
Post by: BanditVol on November 22, 2011, 05:37:29 EST
I thought he was pretty good, but he did piss me off with his "hobnailed boot" comment.  All's fair in love and war though.  He was in fact colorful, and his best moments were pretty good, though I only know them by listening to uga fans ("there's gonna be some furniture broke tonight", lol).

I do have a favorite Larry Munson memory, one of the few times I listened to him live.  In 1997, I was in the swamps of Kennedy Space Center for a payload integration test on the Shuttle.  It was the last Saturday in October, the day of the Word's Largest Cocktail party.  We needed uga to beat UF to make it to our first-ever SECCG.  That had unfortunately been true something like 3 of the 5 years it had been in existence.

So around 5 pm local time, I am driving my rental car off the base, wondering if uga had a prayer.  I really didn't think they did, as SOS had dominated them since he came back to UF in 1990.  I think he circled that game on his calendar every year.  As a true gator, man did he hate them!

So I am fiddling with the AM dial on the cheap radio in my "lowest cost" rental car, and in a very static-y voice I catch Munson on a Jacksonville station calling the game as the first half wound down.  I don't recall the score, but I think it was a two score lead.  As the half closed, he announced the score first, and then added "we...over they!  We...over they!"  I nearly ran off the road in surprise.

I then headed to local favorite Dixie Crossroads to meet the rest of the team and have rock shrimp while watching uga KICK THAT ASS for the rest of the game.  At that point, I knew we were a lock for our first SECCG.   :dude:

So to Larry Munson...thanks for the memory dude.  One of my better football memories, and certainly the best not involving UT.


Title: Re: I understand UGA fans' love and admiration for Larry Munson
Post by: buckyvol on November 22, 2011, 01:13:10 EST
Living in Atlanta, I have listened to Musnon quite a lot over the years.  At first I could not stand the guy.  Whereas John Ward was enthusiastic about the Vols, if we were playing poorly, he would say so.  Musnon on the other hand seemed to make excuses or blame the refs.  But over the years I began to appreciate him as a very colorful and sometimes funny commentator.  He had a style about him (like "Loran, whatta ya got?") that was unique.  Hats off to the "old school" commentators.  It is a dying art.


Title: Re: I understand UGA fans' love and admiration for Larry Munson
Post by: BigOrange Maniac on November 23, 2011, 02:05:55 EST
John Ward was the Voice of the Vols, Larry Munson was the voice of the Dawgs.  No need to compare. 


You're probably right. But all those who say that Munson is the best-ever ARE making those comparisons, obviously.

As for the "problem," there's really no problem from where I stand. I'm just curious as to why non-Georgia fans liked the guy. As a non-Georgia guy myself, I was never a fan.  I guess I'm just petty, but someone who has to say "OMG" over and over to make his point tends to turn me off a little bit, plus I always felt Munson was a pretty poor sport. Homerism is good, but there have been legions of football broadcasters in the South who could be homers and still be gentlemen about it. "We stepped on their face with a hobnail boot and broke their nose. We crushed their face" goes down as one of his most memorable moments ever. I thought it was pretty lame.


Title: Re: I understand UGA fans' love and admiration for Larry Munson
Post by: WoodstockVol on November 23, 2011, 11:35:29 EST
Munson called Vanderbilt football and basketball games from 1946-1965. I think He called football and basketball for Wyoming for 4-5 seasons before that. It's unbelievable that somebody could do that for that long :eek: