Earlier today, we came across a post on Awful Announcing about the American Sportscasters Association releasing its list of the Top 50 Sportscasters of all-time.  Other than Bill Walton finding himself at no. 39, we don’t have a major problem with the folks listed.

But we did see one major omission: leaving Verne Lundquist off the list.  We ask: How DO you do… that?

Maybe we’re partial because we’re all fans of SEC football and get to hear Verne call a lot of games - but the guy is good.  Whether it’s SEC football, college basketball, or golf, Lundquist is always one of the best.  We also discovered, via Wikipedia, that his nickname amongst broadcasters is “The Golden Throat.”  You have to love that.

While we also like Jim Nantz, we like that Verne doesn’t feel the need to constantly be clever.  When UNC won the title a few years back, you may recall Nantz dropping the cheesy “there’s a new dean in college basketball” - referring to Roy Williams and Dean Smith.  He often drops those lines where it sounds like he thought all week about what he would say in a certain situation.  Verne is rarely guilty of that, by our estimation.  You don’t listen to him call a big moment and wonder, did he think of that “witty” line or play on words last week? Also, he’s a guy that you often don’t notice - which is a great quality.  Think the opposite of Dick Vitale.  You just watch the game and follow the action, without hearing him miss numbers, or downs, or penalties, etc.

Another huge feather in Verne’s cap is that he was the play-by-play guy for Happy Gilmore.  And no, he did not play a character.  He played Verne Lundquist, damn it.  We would consider his call of the battle between Happy and Shooter McGavin to be his 3rd greatest broadcasting moment.

In addition to what Verne does week in, week out for CBS, he’s also been the voice behind two of the most famous calls we remember.  He called the Laettner shot in the 1992 NCAA Tournament (which we will not re-hash now).  And of course, Tiger’s chip shown below.

…So Verne, don’t your worry, you definitely have earned yourself a spot near the top of the CIV Best Broadcasters list.