# 32 Great Sports Calls **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [October 18, 2010, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/32-great-sports-calls/557584 "2010-10-18T18:58:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/32-great-sports-calls/557584/1 "2010-10-18T18:58:21Z")
Pretty good stuff. I’m especially glad they included Jon Miller’s call for Ruben Rivera’s baserunning gaff - I was listening to that one live and have never been able to find a video until now. [Link](http://joeposnanski.si.com/2010/10/14/thirty-two-great-calls-2/?eref=sihp) ---
**Author:** ![CapnPitt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/edb3f5/32.png) [@CapnPitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CapnPitt)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/32-great-sports-calls/557584/2 "2010-10-18T20:53:32Z")
Nice find. I love this stuff. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/32-great-sports-calls/557584/3 "2010-10-19T19:45:50Z")
They missed one of the great ones. Darrell Waltrip calling his brother’s win in the 2001 Daytona 500 while at the same time worrying about Dale Earnhardt who had crashed behind the leaders of the race. Hearing his pure joy of watching his brother win and in the next breath hoping Earnhardt was okay. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/32-great-sports-calls/557584/4 "2010-10-19T20:13:30Z")
Yeah, nice to see that Ruben Rivera play. That is a good sync of Miller’s _radio call_ and the TV broadcast. I’d have put “Bless his heart” and “See you tomorrow night!” up in the top 10. I’d have also put Ron Santo’s plaintive “Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!” when Brant Brown dropped the fly ball back in 1998 on the list. If that’s too homer-ish of a call, then you’ve got to remove Larry Munson from the list. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/32-great-sports-calls/557584/5 "2010-10-19T21:31:26Z")
Can’t find video of the Santo call but it was a brutal/brilliant moment. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/32-great-sports-calls/557584/6 "2010-10-20T07:52:27Z")
Another good one was [Lon Simmons’ call of Steve Young’s touchdown run against the Vikings in 1988](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8P1TzqWEgY). ---
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/32-great-sports-calls/557584/7 "2010-10-20T08:17:43Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > Pretty good stuff. I’m especially glad they included Jon Miller’s call for Ruben Rivera’s baserunning gaff - I was listening to that one live and have never been able to find a video until now. [QUOTE=Jon Miller] That was the worst baserunning in the [very long] history of the game. [/QUOTE] Funny because it’s true. I was surprised to see Jordan’s 1991 shot against the Laker ranked so low (high). I just discovered that Doug Flutie’s hail-mary against Miami happened [the very game](http://www.jhowell.net/cf/scores/Miami(Florida).htm) after Miami blew the biggest lead in College football (at the time, 1984) to lose a game. They had a 31-0 lead on Maryland at half-time and lost 42-40. Maryland’s QB at time was Frank Reich, who also engineered, as Buffalo’s QB, the greatest NFL comeback; the memorable 32-point 3rd quarter comeback against Houston in the 1992 play-offs. Though I can’t find it, on Saturday Night Live, there was a parody of Bobby Thompson’s home run to beat the Dodger’s to win the pennant. The call was a very deadpanned “The Giants win the pennant; the Giants win the pennant,” like the announcer was reading a news wire about pork options. Of course, Al Michaels’ Miracle on Ice call was #1. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/32-great-sports-calls/557584/8 "2010-10-20T08:58:47Z")
One of my favorite pieces of commentary was from an American football game many years ago. I have no idea who was playing or calling. Toward the end of the game the team in possession was at about the 40 trailing by 2. The commentators discussed how on the next play they would be looking to pick up a few yards for the field goal attempt. When, after the snap, the QB started to drop back in the pocket the caller simply said, “He’s going for the whole thing,” and didn’t say any more while the pass was made, the completion made and the touchdown scored. He just let the crowd tell the story. I just loved the economy of it at a time when all Aussie callers were blabbermouths. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/32-great-sports-calls/557584/9 "2010-10-20T13:26:34Z")
As I was reading the article, I was remembering some of the really famous ones. There was a reference to the Miracle on Ice call, so that one was a giveaway. “The Giants win the pennant” was the first one I thought of. (Didn’t know the history behind how it came to be recorded, though.) And I even made a “down goes Frazier” joke in a post a few weeks ago. And those turned out to be 1, 2, and 3.