These guys were phenomenal in calling all the games of the century. It was the perfect storm with Chris and Bud together during the golden era of televised college football. Can still hear Schenkel's distinct voice as James Street or Johnny Rodgers busted a game changing qb scramble or legendary punt return. You can hear Montgomery to Dicus or Mildren to Harrison in your head. I will never forget him calling the arrival of Nixon landing via helicopter in Little Rock and announcing the attendance of senators from Texas.
How many remember Chris Schenkel and Bud Wilkinson?
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I've got a number of games on DVD from the 60s/70s these guys announced and absolutely loved listening to these guys. So cool to throw those in the DVD player on s raining day and watch football from back then with these guys.
Still the best broadcast team in CFB history, IMO. And those were the days when having your team on television was a huge event.
Schenkel and Bud? Best?
Second best IMHO.
Keith Jackson and Frank Broyles were the best.
"Whoah Nellie. The Penn State Nittany Lions are not flashy but they will put a lick on ya."
"Well Keith, the Lions led by Coach Paterno look hungry today."
Second best IMHO.
Keith Jackson and Frank Broyles were the best.
"Whoah Nellie. The Penn State Nittany Lions are not flashy but they will put a lick on ya."
"Well Keith, the Lions led by Coach Paterno look hungry today."
I absolutely LOVE this thread. Brings good memories. All four Gents taught me to appreciate CFB so very much. *
"The Big Uglies up front....."
A Saturday College Football game with Keith Jackson calling it was enjoyable to watch no matter what two teams were playing.
College football was more fun then. These guys were real pros.
I agree that Jackson and Broyles were the best. There was a certain straight-forwardness and honesty about their broadcasting styles and analyses.
The Lions have this one wrapped up, Keith. Uh huh, starting to see the headlights. There is only a one lane road outta here and these folks will sit on it for hours every week to see their team....
In Roone Arledge's autobiography, Chris Schenkel was quoted as being very much against doing critical analysis of 'kids' during the early college football broadcast.
The trend has been so much the opposite, even being overly critical of high school 'prospects'.
Yep, definitely the good ole days.
The trend has been so much the opposite, even being overly critical of high school 'prospects'.
Yep, definitely the good ole days.
That was an era when college football was a game played by kids trying to get an education, not the business it is now. Today everybody is trying to squeeze a blood out of a rock wherever they can and the true fans, the little guy, gets left in the dust
While I loved watching games that Schenkel and Wilkenson called, I wouldn't agree that this was the golden era of televised college football. Back then, every team was limited to a maximum of two televised games a year and no more than three in any given years, bowl games excluded. The formation of the College Football Association (CFA) allowed the most popular football schools to beat the NCAA's monopoly of the television rights to games and begin widespread broadcasting of college football.
Yes, that earlier era had many great football games, but maybe they seem great due to the limited tv access to other games. While stadium attendance in many cases has suffered, the college football fanatic can watch as many as a dozen games a week should he choose. To me, we are in the golden era of televised college football right now, albeit with announcers not nearly up to the standards of Chris and Bud.
For my money, there was never a better college football announcer than Keith "Whoa Nellie" Jackson. Frank Broyles was also a good color man who paired very well with Jackson, but his delivery was sometimes a little tough on the ears.
Chris Schenkel was very smooth and never got wrapped up in the excitement - he called the game without any of the sideshow. Bud Wilkinson was very smooth also. Together they paired very well and watching/listening to them was a joy. I will echo KC-KS-Lion's remark from Roone Arledge about Schenkel being a "nice guy". I remember reading that many years ago and found that to be spot-on.
Sports programming today has become bigger than any of these "pioneers" could have ever realized. The evil empire from Bristol (whom I cannot name) has grown into a uber-dominant force and their influence (money) on collegiate athletics has created what we experience now. The fact that there are simply too many broadcasts today coupled with a dearth of really good announcers makes me wish for the older days - the offset is that I couldn't watch PSU football weekly.
Chris Schenkel was very smooth and never got wrapped up in the excitement - he called the game without any of the sideshow. Bud Wilkinson was very smooth also. Together they paired very well and watching/listening to them was a joy. I will echo KC-KS-Lion's remark from Roone Arledge about Schenkel being a "nice guy". I remember reading that many years ago and found that to be spot-on.
Sports programming today has become bigger than any of these "pioneers" could have ever realized. The evil empire from Bristol (whom I cannot name) has grown into a uber-dominant force and their influence (money) on collegiate athletics has created what we experience now. The fact that there are simply too many broadcasts today coupled with a dearth of really good announcers makes me wish for the older days - the offset is that I couldn't watch PSU football weekly.
Frank Broyles, 'God is usually on the side of the team with the 2 best tackles'.
Agreed. I think there may be two analysts that can still make a game interesting and are in the Jackson league -- Danielson and Herbie. Bob Griese was actually very good at one time and then I believe he basically aged out of it -- may have been some health issues. Other than that, I'm not sure we have any announcers that a) do their homework, b) deliver consistent, interesting commentary and c) are not trying to build their brand.
Due to the number of games, we now have functionally incompetent people in the booth -- Galloway comes to mind. He and several others on ESPN in particular simply have no idea what they are doing or do too may games each week to be prepared for any of them. Brent knows what he is doing but I think he started enjoying his own voice few years ago -- first rule of broadcasting: you are adding to the experience for others. You are not the show.
Times have changed. Keith Jackson enjoyed coming in to college towns each week, doing the pre-production sit-downs with coaches. It was solid preparation and it gave him and Frank a chance to get a real feel for the contest on Saturday. They knew who was banged up, who was starting over someone else, the feel from the coaches, even the feel around town -- all that stuff. Today, an ESPN guy comes in early Friday, sits down with the production crew, the home SID maybe and goes over roster names. Totally different type of preparation. A coach may make some time, but its more likely an assistant or staffer.
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If you would like to watch a unique announcing clip and something you will never see again (an active coach as color commentator):
(Keith and a familiar face calling the 1974 OSU - Skunkbear game).
Whoa, whoa, whoa ... how quickly they forget the dynamic duo that was Pam Ward and Ray Bentley!
Don't forget "College Football Scoreboard", brought to you by "Prudential: Get a Piece of the rock"...with Dave Dials and Werner Wolf.
My golden Era comment speaks to college football coming into other parts of the county via the medium of television. Previous to that time you could not see other teams except through tapes or cross country travel.
They always managed to cover the Ivy League scores too. That was when the Ivies were averaging 25,000 per game. Now, they are down to about 7,000 per game with the occasional exception like the annual Harvard-Yale game that sells out yearly.
