Verne Lundquist is an Embarrassment to CBS and the SEC
Mar 19, 2014; Buffalo, NY, USA; Bill Raftery and Verne Lundquist prepare during practice before the second round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament at First Niagara Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports
After two straight Mississippi State games on CBS, I think I’ve heard enough of Verne Lundquist. Many State fans didn’t hear him against Auburn as they were at Davis Wade, but most everyone tuned into the Kentucky broadcast and it was twice as bad.
Last week I joked around about Uncle Verne. He’s old, sort of ornery and sort of jolly. I get it. I don’t have a problem with him announcing college football, or even SEC games. But to put him on the game of the week is an embarrassment to CBS and the SEC.
His partner in the booth, Gary Danielson, is pretty bad as well, but not half as bad as Verne. There have been drinking games based around his screw-ups but I think that is a seriously bad idea because you could end up in the hospital.
1. Two weeks ago Verne called us Ole Miss. Against UK, he called us “Mississippi” on multiple occasions.
2. Getting players’ names correct is way too much to ask for him. “Mike” Wells, Zach “Johnson”, etc. What classification is a player -who knows, let’s guess! Firmly believe that Jameon Lewis was returning punts all year until he got hurt – keep hammering away at that misinformation!
3. Verne only has an intermediate knowledge of the rules. At least once a game Gary has to educate him on what a particular rule is.
4. The delayed reactions are both irritating and startling. Here’s an example: hand-off to the running back who breaks it up the middle for a 40 yard gain. After mumbling something under his breath after the ball was snapped, Verne is silent during the run and gives an “OH MY” three seconds after the play is over. Not sure if his glasses got foggy after a chortle or what.
5. Uncle Verne does not like cowbells. Against Auburn he compared them to vuvuzelas, the annoying artificial noisemaker from the 2010 World Cup. Against Kentucky he said, “State fans are not allowed to take cowbells on the road, which gives great pleasure to all of us”. So much for an impartial observer.
6. He just starts throwing stuff out there. When the Kentucky defense had too many men on the field and a flag was thrown, he shouted “a timeout has been called” when UK did not call a timeout nor were they trying to call a timeout. The penalty was called and that was the reason for the whistle.
I could go on, but I won’t.
What should be done? Easy – put Verne out to pasture. He’s had a great career. He can still call games, just not the best game from the best conference every week.
Keith Jackson stopped calling the top national game every week for ABC in the late 90s. He was still in his prime in my opinion, but he finished out his career announcing west coast games for the next decade or so.
Brent Musberger took Jackson’s place on ESPN/ABC by calling their game of the week, and this year he has moved down to the SEC Network with Chris Fowler taking his place.
CBS features a national spotlight for the biggest and baddest games from the biggest baddest conference. They have great telecasts complete with amazing aerial views and spectacular high definition clearer than almost any other network. Let’s assign announcers to these games that are of equal quality.
At the end of the day I can go elsewhere to for my media of the game. On Saturday, I went outside to enjoy the nice weather with family and I listened to Jim and Matt on the radio. My irritation with Verne didn’t come up until I watched the replay. But it’s not just State games – I’m a SEC fan who watches the CBS game of the week every week, and I’d like to hear announcers who are in their prime and good at what they’re doing.