Coming up in November, CBS will air a documentary which will honor Verne Lundquist’s 50 years in broadcasting. Throughout his career, Lundquist has had the opportunity to call some of the greatest moments in sports history including Jack Nicklaus’ birdie at the 17th hole at August to win the 1986 Masters®, Christian Laettner’s shot to win the Eastern Regional Finals for Duke in the 1992 NCAA Tournament, the figure skating competition at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, Tiger Woods’ amazing shot on 16 in the 2005 Masters® and then there was The Prayer at Jordan Hare, the great Alabama-Auburn game last year.
Lundquist joined CBS in 1982 after starting his network career with ABC as a sideline reporter for the North American Soccer League broadcasts with Jim McKay and Paul Gartner. Then at CBS, he called some 20 different sports. In the mid-1990’s, Lundquist left CBS to become the voice of the NFL on TNT and rejoined the Tiffany Network in 1998.
Before Lundquist became a national broadcaster, he was one of the voices for the Dallas Cowboys and a local TV anchor in the Metroplex.
Here are the details of the documentary on Uncle Verne.
“IN YOUR LIFE”
CBS SPORTS TO AIR DOCUMENTARY CELEBRATING VERNE LUNDQUIST’S 50 YEARS IN BROADCASTINGDocumentary to Air Saturday, Nov. 29 at 1:30 PM, ET
IN YOUR LIFE, a one-hour documentary celebrating Verne Lundquist’s50 years in broadcasting will air Saturday, Nov. 29 (1:30 PM, ET) on the CBS Television Network.
Verne has witnessed and called some of the greatest moments in sports history from Jack Nicklaus’ birdie at the 1986 Masters® to Christian Laettner’s last-second shot to beat Kentucky in the 1992 NCAA Tournament. IN YOUR LIFE relives these indelible moments with Verne as the storyteller, and takes you through his incredible career.
The documentary follows Verne over the past year, his 50th as a broadcaster, which included announcing two of the greatest games in college football history – Auburn defeating Georgia (11/16/13) and Auburn beating Alabama in the Iron Bowl (11/30/13) – as well as receiving numerous honors, including the Vin Scully Lifetime Achievement Award in Sports Broadcasting and the Blackie Sherrod Lifetime Achievement Award.
The documentary also features interviews with those who were there with Verne during these memorable moments, both announcing and playing, such as Jim Nantz and Grant Hill, as well as other sports broadcasting icons. He made his broadcasting debut on August 31, 1963 at KTBC-TV in Austin, Texas, a station owned by President and Mrs. Lyndon Johnson. Verne joined CBS Sports in 1982 and has called more than 20 different sports for the Network. He is currently the lead college football play-by-play announcer calling the SEC ON CBS and Army-Navy game. He also calls the Masters and PGA Championship and will announce his
31st consecutive NCAA Tournament this year.Some of the memorable sports moments called by Verne:
- 1986 Masters: Jack Nicklaus sinks a birdie putt on the 17th hole – “MAYBE, YES SIR”
- 1992 NCAA Tournament: Duke beats Kentucky in the East Regional on Christian Laettner’s buzzer beater – “THERE’S THE PASS TO LAETTNER. PUTS IT UP. YESSSSS!”
- 2005 Masters: Tiger Woods chips in at the 16th hole – “IN YOUR LIFE”
- 2006 NCAA Tournament: No. 11-seed George Mason knocks off No. 1-seed Connecticut – “BY GEORGE, THE DREAM IS ALIVE”
- 2013 Iron Bowl: Auburn defeats Alabama returning a missed field goal with no time remaining – “AN ANSWERED PRAYER”
CBS Sports’ creative director Pete Radovich produces. Harold Bryant is Executive Producer and Senior Vice President, Production, CBS Sports.
That is it for now. Been a busy day here at the Fang’s Bites offices.
