We’re still trying to absorb the news that Brent Musburger won’t be calling games after next week. He’ll leave behind a rather large legacy of broadcasting. Whether as a host or as a play-by-play man, Musburger has a rather large inventory of calls whether it’s in baseball, college basketball, college football or the NBA.
Some videos of his previous calls have been posted in the Brent Musburger timeline, but some more will be embedded here. We asked you on Twitter, our devoted Awful Announcing readers to suggest your favorite calls so we’ll list them here. The best responses are below:
https://twitter.com/aaronstol/status/824353649929441282
Yes, the Holy Buckeye Game. This garnered the most responses. On November 9, 2002, Purdue was leading Ohio State late when on 4th and 1, quarterback Craig Krenzel threw a 37 yard pass to Michael Jenkins. It led Musburger to exclaim “Holy Buckeye!”
"You are looking live…"
— Michael (@NCSU84) January 25, 2017
His signature line that opened many a broadcast whether he was anchoring the NFL Today on CBS or calling a game. Some said “You are looking live” was a nod to gamblers to show the weather conditions at each NFL location. No matter what it was, the line always gave a game a big event feel. First from the NFL Today and then from a few college football games:
Desmond Howard's touchdown catch on 4th and 1 against Notre Dame in 1991.
— Jared Greenleaf (@sportsCDT) January 25, 2017
At the Big House on September 14, 1991, Michigan quarterback Elvis Grbac threw a TD pass on 4th and inches to now-College GameDay analyst Desmond Howard. Brent’s call pretty much summed it up for everyone who watched the game:
1976 NBA Finals game 5 "Garfield Heard at the buzzer!"
— Classic TV Sports (@classicTVsports) January 25, 2017
Here’s the insane Game 5 of the 1976 NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and Phoenix Suns which went to triple overtime. Brent was in his second season of calling the NBA on CBS. This is the second overtime during which John Havlicek hit a shot to put the Celtics up late, but then everything went crazy at the Boston Garden. And then Garfield Heard hit a shot at the buzzer to put the game into triple OT.
1995 AMERICAN LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES – NEW YORK YANKEES AT SEATTLE MARINERS
Coming off the devastating 1994 Strike, Major League Baseball needed a very compelling postseason to bring fans back to the sport. In the Division Series, the Yankees and Mariners went to a Game 5 and it went to extra innings. Brent Musburger and Jim Kaat calling the game for the Baseball Network on ABC. One day we’ll go into the Baseball Network which could be described as a “disastuh,” but that’s a story for another day.
Ken Griffey scored the winning run after DH Edgar Martinez knocked him in.
BRENT ON JIMMY “THE GREEK” SNYDER
On January 16, 1988, NFL Today prognosticator Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder got into big trouble by making racially charged comments to a Washington, D.C. TV station inside a restaurant. When asked to talk about Martin Luther King Day, Snyder said African American athletes were superior because they were born and bred that way dating back to the Civil War.
CBS fired The Greek immediately and Musburger was instructed to make comments on the NFL Today before the NFC Championship Game at RFK Stadium in DC.
Nebraska-Missouri in 1997
— RJ Coco (@LittleRockStan) January 26, 2017
The “Flea Kicker” on November 8, 1997 was one of the craziest games in college football. Missouri was up 38-31. Nebraska went for the tying score and Scott Frost threw a pass towards the end zone which hit a Missouri defender in the foot, then went off intended receiver’s Shevin Williams’ foot and then was caught by Matt Davison in the end zone. Missouri fans then stormed the field thinking the game was over. Watch Brent and Dan Fouts describe the scene:
RICKY WILLIAMS SETS COLLEGE RUSHING RECORD
Brent Musburger was on hand for the Texas A&M-Texas game when Ricky Williams broke Tony Dorsett’s rushing record.
BRENT TALKS ABOUT THE STATE OF COLLEGE BASKETBALL
During the 1986 NCAA Championship, CBS gave Musburger an opportunity to give a commentary on the state of the sport. He gave a frank commentary on some dirty programs. You won’t see something like that from a rightsholder in this day and age:
Those are just a few samples of Musburger on the air for CBS and ABC/ESPN. He’s certainly had a stellar broadcast career and this only scratches the surface of his work.
