The Top Sports Broadcaster Calls of All Time
Being in the right place at the right time is not all about luck. For the sports broadcasters who have announced some of history’s greatest moments, it came down to doing their job and doing it well. Here are four great moments sure to be studied in sports broadcasting schools for generations to come.
Bob Costas and Michael Jordan
Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals featured the Utah Jazz versus the Chicago Bulls. As the clock winds down in the fourth quarter, Michael Jordan outfoxes Bryon Russell and drops a jump shot to take the Bulls one point over the Jazz. The Bulls win Game 6 and the title. During the Jazz timeout, Bob Costas delivers history:
“That may have been — who knows what will unfold in the next several months? — but, that may have been the last shot Michael Jordan will ever take in the NBA.”
Verne Lundquist and Tiger Woods
Augusta, Georgia is beautiful. Nobody noticed the scenery during the 2006 Masters on the 16th hole the day Tiger Woods marshaled the forces of gravity and golfing perfection on an impossible shot. Lundquist carefully called out the challenge, the uphill approach and then, with Woods’ shot, the miracle:
“Oh my goodness! Oh, wow! In your life, have you seen anything like that?!?!?!?!”
Nobody had. Perhaps no one ever will again. But Lundquist delivered the perfect reaction and the moment lives on in sports history.
Victor Hugo Morales and Diego Maradona
Passion for sports crosses language barriers with ease. You need no Spanish training to know what sports announcer Victor Hugo Morales was feeling in calling the play-by-play for the World Cup 1986, England versus Argentina game. Diego Maradona is pure poetry in motion as he glides toward what has been called “the goal of the century,” and Morales is passionate pride in words (translated into English):
“Now Maradona with the ball, two people on him, Maradona touches the ball, the genius of soccer heads to the right, and leaves the third and passes to Burruchaga … Always Maradona! Genius! Genius! Genius! ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta … GOAL!! GOAL!!!”
Howard Cosell and Joe Frazier
Howard Cosell is remembered for his tendency to talk, and talk, and talk. In 1973 at the World Heavyweight Championship fight between George Foreman and Joe Frazier, it was Cosell’s rare brevity that became historic. Foreman got to Frazier early, and then surprised everyone, even Cosell, who switched gears mid-sentence to scream,
“Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier!”
Media Schools
Do you want your own chance to make that historic sports broadcasting call, that famous play-by-play that echoes down through the ages? Becoming a great sports broadcaster begins with getting a great education at Media Schools. Earn your sports broadcasting diploma. Apply today and make history tomorrow.