Yesterday was Jack Cristil's birthday...

[dawgstudent]

What's your favorite Jack memory?

Mine is us playing Ole Miss in basketball. Anthony Boone gets fouled and is "injured". Ole Miss gets to sub someone in for the FT's in a close game. As soon as the 2nd FT is shot, Boone pops up to check back into the game. Jack in a pissed off sarcastic voice says "A miraculous recovery by Anthony Boone"

 

[thekimmer]

What's your favorite Jack memory?

Mine is us playing Ole Miss in basketball. Anthony Boone gets fouled and is "injured". Ole Miss gets to sub someone in for the FT's in a close game. As soon as the 2nd FT is shot, Boone pops up to check back into the game. Jack in a pissed off sarcastic voice says "A miraculous recovery by Anthony Boone"

It is difficult to choose just one memory given his long and illustrious career. I will never forget the feeling of listening to him close out the 1980 bama game. A game I had a ticket to attend but, I could not go. Pun intended.

My most abiding memory of Jack was really just the sound of his voice being so instantly recognizable and synonymous with MSU athletics. A constant for over 50 years in a life of change that took me from my earliest recollections in rural mississippi to growing up, graduations, marriage, children, and moves to various parts of the country. In the latter, part of that time was prior to internet availability and being unable to hear his voice over the airwaves for a number of years could sometimes produce profound homesickness. I remember the absolute miracle it was to hear Jack's voice again on my old desktop computer sometime in the 90s.

 

[T-TownDawgg]

The 08 football season was tough. The only bright spot was Jack's calls throughout that year, and his egg bowl broadcast was absolutely some of the most hilarious radio ever. Jack pissed is pure gold.

ETA: His final broadcast from Knoxville. That sign off was both emotional and succinct in ways only Jack could express.

 

[KeyserSoze1999]

Winning in Rupp Arena in 1995, "The silence is deafening! THE SILENCE IS DEAFING!!" and later on, "...all the Fine Folks who follow the Maroon and White they're rejoicing in this thing...and the Kentucky band is playing something that sounds like a Funeral Durge...(Jim) Well, that is Old Kentucky Home...(Jack) Sounds like a Funeral Durge I was right to begin with!"

 

[cowbell88]

Jackisms. I miss the Jackisms.

 

[Trojanbulldog19]

just the things that Jack could say like n one else could. he could be very blunt. I've really enjoyed the biography on him that I got a few months ago. Lot's of things about Jack I didn't know in that book. Never knew he was color blind. That's pretty amazing to call games and be color blind.

 

[Bobby Ricigliano]

My most recent favorite Jack memory is the thread we had on this yesterday.

 

[MissStFan87]

Jack: Gary Ervin with the outlet pass, and he throws it WAAAY over Shane Powers' head! He threw it into the 3rd row.

Jim: He thought it was Marcus Campbell over there.

Jack: Marcus Campbell would need to have Wesley Morgan on his shoulders to have caught that pass!

Jim couldn't help but bust out laughing.

The Carl Hess Stansbury ejection postgame show was great too.

 

[Hatchie Dawg]

Living out of state and before the net I would roam the am airwaves at night trying to pick up parts of an MSU broadcast. Most of the times I’d sit out in my car, sometimes even drive it around to find a sweet spot. If I got some weak signal “ the voice of the bulldogs” was still unmistakable even through all the static. I’d sit and listen to the bits I could understand, It was a pain in the butt,but a good memory now. I miss him to this day.

 

[vhdawg]

The 08 football season was tough. The only bright spot was Jack's calls throughout that year, and his egg bowl broadcast was absolutely some of the most hilarious radio ever. Jack pissed is pure gold.

ETA: His final broadcast from Knoxville. That sign off was both emotional and succinct in ways only Jack could express.

From where I was sitting in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, I could see Jack Cristil during that 2008 game, and was listening to him at the same time, and boy was that one pissed off cold old man. My favorite call that game was something like "Tyson Lee sacked again, this time for only a loss of seven yards." He also went off on the refs once for flagging Ole Miss for celebration on a touchdown, saying they'd earned it and they should be able to celebrate. And then of course the fantastic 2nd Sonic Drive call.

 

[thekimmer]

I had a somewhat similar experience...

Living out of state and before the net I would roam the am airwaves at night trying to pick up parts of an MSU broadcast. Most of the times I’d sit out in my car, sometimes even drive it around to find a sweet spot. If I got some weak signal “ the voice of the bulldogs” was still unmistakable even through all the static. I’d sit and listen to the bits I could understand, It was a pain in the butt, but a good memory now. I miss him to this day.

At the time I lived 600 miles east of my MS hometown and I found out completely by accident that there was a limited time window when the sun had set where I was but still up in MS I could pick up WFCA AM. Had about a 45 min window to listen to whatever was on. In part of the fall that coincided with two things: My drive home and an MSU sports show. It seems ridiculous now but back then it was a little slice of heaven.

Also unless you are of a certain age you might not know what WATS line is. Back before the days of cell phones and unlimited long distance, businesses used WATS lines for long distance intercompany communication as it was a special rate that generally provided unlimited usage between sites. A colleague told me about a State alum coworker of his in the Chicago area back in the 80s who would go into the office on Saturdays and call a buddy at another company site in MS on the WATS line who would tune into the game and put the phone next to the radio so this guy could sit at his desk and listen to Jacks broadcasts. I would have done the same thing if I could've.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

Yeah Carl Hess postgame was a classic.

 

[JML105]

My ex in laws lived next door to Jack's g/f in Tupelo so I was able to visit with Jack several times in a personal setting. Side note: He didn't really want to talk about MSU sports all that much when at home.

But my favorite memory was one Christmas dinner that they ate with us, he insisted on saying the prayer before we ate. Since he was Jewish, he said it in Hebrew. I have no idea what he said, but I didn't have to because it felt like that it meant more.

 

[thekimmer]

Side note: He didn't really want to talk about MSU sports all that much when at home.

I can totally understand that. I know Jack loved MSU but then it was work for him and most folks want a break from work at home. Plus, I'm sure that's all most folks wanted to talk to him about.