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Verne Lundquist Originally Fought SEC on CBS Assignment

“I looked at Nancy and I said honey, pack your bags for Tuscaloosa.”

Ricky Keeler

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Verne Lundquist

Verne Lundquist has not called a SEC college football game on CBS since 2016, but he is remembered by so many for his great calls of classic games over the years. He has had the chance to call so many great moments and still does every year at the 16th hole at The Masters, but the SEC holds a special place for him.

Lundquist was a guest on The Press Box podcast with Bryan Curtis and reflected on some of those classic calls and he said the assignment that he treasured the most was calling SEC games on Saturdays from 2000-2016:

“The SEC is in my view hands down the most significant, toughest conference in the country to win. In all the assignments I had throughout my career which still continues for one week a year, the one I treasured the most really of all the things I was lucky enough to do was the assignment of the SEC. I really, really treasure those moments.

“I so much buy into all the pomp and circumstance. I love the bands, I love the pom poms, I love pretending for 3.5 hours every Saturday afternoon that every student-athlete is also a student. That is a challenge at times.”

During their conversation, Lundquist told Curtis what he feels the responsibility of being a play-by-play person is and that was to give the viewer a reason to care about what they are watching.

“I believe that the responsibility of a play-by-play guy is to give the listener or the viewer a compelling reason to be invested in the game and you do that by anecdotal information, stories both good and bad about the competitors, the universities, the coaches, and give them a reason to be alert to want to care whether it is positive or negative and stay with you.

“Yes, the names and numbers are vitally important, down and distance vitally important, but anecdotal information and this is where the play-by-play guy has a responsibility much larger in this context than the analyst does.

“I find myself every Saturday afternoon watching our telecast or ESPN or NBC on Sunday night. I watch myself and pay attention to the lineups, but I don’t get anything out of them. If you get a guy dedicated to your school, he stays 4 years. Now with the possibility of transferring, you need a road map to find out where everyone is going. People are not familiar with these guys unless you are an alumnus or a loyal follower of a specific team. That’s the responsibility you have.”

Back in 1999, Lundquist went from being the number two announcer for the NFL on CBS to becoming the voice of SEC football when CBS brought in Dick Enberg to be the new number two announcer. At first, Lundquist didn’t want to do it, but he found the first SEC game he ever called to be a thrilling experience.

“I fought it. I didn’t want to do it. The rumors became so persistent that I called Sean McManus. We chatted and I told him my concerns and I said now, if you sign Dick, it wouldn’t affect me, would it? He did what executives did so well. He maneuvered sideways and he said he’s such a high-ticket item, I don’t think we would sign him…In the unlikely event that we would hire Dick Enberg, how would you feel about moving to the SEC?

“I said the appropriate things and said goodbye. We were in the kitchen in our home in Steamboat Springs, Colorado and I looked at Nancy and I said honey, pack your bags for Tuscaloosa. My first game ever in the SEC was Florida-Tennessee. I had never been to Neyland Stadium in Knoxville. It was a thrilling experience.”

While Lundquist never tried too hard to be warm on air and he likes the nickname Uncle Verne given to him by Spencer Hall, he mentioned to Curtis that that persona can’t be manufactured by anyone.

“I think it’s the product of my environment growing up. It’s not something that’s manufactured. There’s an amazing quality of television. There’s something going on between the viewer and the person on the other side of the camera. I think this so-called wall is broken down in imperceptible ways. But, the essence of the person who is looking into the camera is conveyed to the person who is viewing. I’ll bet you that if you are watching a television set and you see someone on the air and you think he is an arrogant jerk, 90% of the time he is going to be an arrogant jerk….If you think somebody is going to be nice, they will be.

“I think those of us who choose to be public people have an obligation to be accessible to people. That’s what you aspire to and that’s what comes with the territory.” 

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Saquon Barkley to WFAN’s Tiki Barber: “Don’t Feed Into the B.S.”

Barkley said any narrative that he chose to go to Philadelphia over staying with the Giants is incorrect because New York never offered him a contract.

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Logo for the New Heights podcast and a photo of Saquon Barkley

Former New York Giants and current Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley made an appearance this week on New Heights, the podcast hosted by Travis and Jason Kelce. In addition to several football related topics, Barkley spoke about his war of words with WFAN host and former Giants running back Tiki Barber.

After Barkley signed with the Eagles on a three-year, $37.5 million deal, Barber said that Barkley was “dead to us,” referring to New York Giants fans. Barber has said those comments were more about what the fans were thinking and were “tongue-in-cheek.” Barkley came back at Barber on social media and said he was a “hater” since he came to New York.

In explaining what made him upset about Barber’s response, Barkley said he didn’t think it was right to be attacked by a former player.

“I love seeing NFL guys, I love seeing OGs, I love seeing you guys, you have a platform, this is a place where you know ball, you can talk, you can educate fans,” Barkley said. “Maybe use that time to show, ‘Maybe this is why Saquon is going to Philly’ … the business side of it, use that to show, I’m not saying you got to have loyalty to me because I don’t care for that, to be honest, but you are an ex-NFL player, an ex-NFL athlete, don’t feed into the B.S., let fans do that, they’re supposed to do that, they’re emotional.”

Barkley said any narrative that he chose to go to Philadelphia over staying with the Giants is incorrect because New York never offered him a contract.

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Joe Buck Misses Calling Baseball But Says He’s Already Called it for “A Lifetime”

“People go, ‘Do you miss calling baseball?’ — I did it for 35 years, that is a lifetime in broadcasting…I feel like I put my time in.”

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Credit: Richard Shotwell AP

Longtime sports broadcaster Joe Buck gave up calling baseball when he made the switch to ESPN and, while he says he misses the sport, he’s called 35 years’ worth of the sport. On the latest edition of Nothing Left Unsaid with Tim Green, Green asks his former broadcast partner about the lack of baseball in his life. While Buck says he misses parts of baseball, he doesn’t miss all of it.

“People go, ‘Do you miss calling baseball?’ — I did it for 35 years, that is a lifetime in broadcasting…I feel like I put my time in. I did 24 World Series — that’s a lot, 24 more than I ever expected to do on national television. What I do miss is calling the game for the home crowd. I do miss the local stuff, where you go into the booth, and you’re the Cardinal announcer, and when the Cardinals win, ‘Yay,’ and when the Cardinals lose, ‘Boo.’ When you do the network stuff, it’s like death by 1000 cuts. It’s, ‘you hate my team, screw you,’ and it gets in your head and it takes a little bit of the fun out of it…I don’t miss the stress that comes with all that, but I do miss calling baseball for [a local team]…You show up, you’re not just there for an organization, but for their fans, and you’re kind of rooting along with them. That’s fun. And so, I miss that, but as far as the national stuff, I don’t miss a lot of that.”

Buck reiterated points he made months ago on 810 WHB with Jason Anderson. “I miss doing local baseball. I miss putting on a headset and being the eyes and ears of Cardinal fans, Royal fans, Rangers fans, whatever,” Buck said back then. “That’s more fun than being Switzerland and getting all the junk that comes with it.”

He stopped calling baseball when he and longtime football partner Troy Aikman moved from FOX to ESPN to call Monday Night Football. While he said publicly that he would miss calling the World Series, he also said the 2022 World Series would have been his last anyway. Buck says he may one day feel compelled to call baseball again, though, saying, “I’ve never said that before, but I just feel like I’m 53, basically 54, [and] I think it’s too early to say nevers at this point in my life. I think at some point, I’ll get the itch again.”

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Former Red Sox Pitcher Jonathan Papelbon Joins Roster of ‘Foul Territory’ Hosts

“I am joining the Foul Territory podcast full-time, no more guest spots…I’m coming in and I can’t wait to pop a bottle on this year’s baseball season.

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The already-stacked roster on Foul Territory just got its closer. Jonathan Papelbon, formerly of the Boston Red Sox, Washington Nationals, and Philadelphia Phillies, announced today that he was joining fellow former All-Stars A.J. Pierzynski, Todd Frazier, Adam Jones, Lorenzo Cain, Brock Holt and Jason Kipnis on the show.

The podcast also features former MLB Network host Scott Braun and former 11-year MLB catcher Erik Kratz.

“I am joining the Foul Territory podcast full-time, no more guest spots,” Papelbon said in a video posted to his X account. “Whether it’s a big Ohtani gambling scandal or me giving you baseball gambling winners…I’m coming in, no bulls—-, real talk, and I can’t wait to pop a bottle on this year’s baseball season.”

Papelbon has been a contributor to the show in the past as a guest but will now join in an official capacity. He has also contributed to linear and digital content for NESN since 2021 and will reportedly head to the booth this year.

The former closer will join Alanna Rizzo on the Foul Territory network, who was brought on just a week ago to co-host the podcast’s live program, Fair Territory, with baseball insider Ken Rosenthal.

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