Scattered Thoughts on the Passing of Larry Munson, the Voice of the Georgia Bulldogs
by T Kyle King on Nov 21, 2011 11:09 AM EST
in Georgia Bulldogs Football
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PrintHonestly, I should’ve been ready for this moment. After the health scare around his birthday, we all should have been. I should have had a planned obituary "in the can" and ready to post, just in case, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.
How could I have? I remember January 1, 1981, when I was twelve and my father was in the den, recording on that bulky VCR the Sugar Bowl in which the Georgia Bulldogs would play for the national championship, and he had me stationed in the living room recording Larry Munson’s broadcast of the contest on audiocassette, so he could later dub the legendary play-by-play announcer’s calls over the televised game.
That, in a nutshell, is who Larry Munson was: the soundtrack to our Georgia fandom.
The Bulldogs’ greatest moments of the last 45 years are unimaginable, inconceivable, apart from Munson’s gravelly delivery when describing them. Tennessee 1973. Florida 1975. Kentucky 1978. Tennessee 1980. Florida 1980. Auburn 1982. Clemson 1984. Alabama 1990. Tennessee 2001. There is no remembering those thrilling events apart from Munson’s words.
In War Between the States, Cale Conley stated it succinctly: "To try and describe the play would be futile, because the live call of gravelly-voiced Bulldog announcer Larry Munson is the way it will always be remembered." That is true of so many defining moments, so much so that his words are as inextricably woven into the fabric of our recollections as the strains of Angelo Badalamenti’s music are bound up in our appreciation of the films of David Lynch.
Lawrence Harry Munson was not born a Georgian, but he became one of us, and he came to embody all of us. His persistent pessimism was pervasive almost to the point of self-parody, but, for a fan base accustomed to the dour pregame fretting of Wally Butts and Vince Dooley, Larry gave voice to the sum of all our fears . . . yet no one enjoyed the postgame victory cigar more deeply or truly than Larry Munson, and no one ever appreciated life in Bulldog Nation more fully or exuberantly than he did.
When John Candy died, John Larroquette said it was like losing a letter of the alphabet; you could still speak the language, but you’d never again be able to make as many words. So it is with the loss of Larry Munson. We are diminished by his passing, but not so much as we were ennobled by his presence. His name will forever be emblazoned on the press box, his voice will forever ring forth from the Sanford Stadium scoreboard, and, as red "G" flags are lowered to half-staff throughout Bulldog Nation and the battle hymn soloist prepares to blare "Taps" into the twilight from the southwest corner of the upper deck, we celebrate the life of the man who made us the fans we are by speaking straight from his heart straight into ours.
We are saddened by the loss, but we are thankful, this special week, for having had the privilege of hearing his words, and we look up to the shining canopy of Heaven as he leaps into the waiting arms of God, and we say: "There goes Munson . . . there goes Munson . . . there goes Munson . . ."
We love you, Larry.
Go ‘Dawgs.
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It's still difficult to know how to feel or what to say.
I only met the man a few times, and he didn’t know me from Adam, but it feels very much like losing a beloved member of the family.
It’s almost impossible to overstate what Munson meant to legions of Georgia Bulldog fans for 40 years. He wasn’t a saint, that’s for sure, but his greatness and place in Georgia lore is undeniable.
Editor, Dawg Sports.
Go Dawgs!
This line...
“and the battle hymn soloist prepares to blare “Taps” into the twilight from the southwest corner of the upper deck" just made the tears flow…just getting that mental picture brought forth that raw emotion that so many of us have felt over the past 12 hours.
Lawrence Harry Munson will forever live in the hearts, bodies and minds of the Bulldawg Nation and it’s our job to pass along all those great memories he left us with, so that Bulldawgs that haven’t been born yet will know what it means to love the men in red and black.
"I will fly in the greatness of God as the marsh-hen flies, In the freedom that fills all the space 'twixt the marsh and the skies"
-Sidney Lanier, Poet and Writer from Georgia
Now I have cried twice this morning
Thanks a lot.
I HATE the gators.
by CaptJackSparrow on Nov 21, 2011 12:25 PM EST reply actions
My way of life Is fall’n into the sere, the yellow leaf
RIP Larry-We Will Miss You…
Classy as always TKK.
"I know I'm asking a lot, you guys, but hunker it down one more time!"
From the University:
bring your tissues.
Housemother & Editor at Dawg Sports
I can bake like a demon.
Y'all have my condolences.
…..That has to be like losing a family member. Munson was a unique character, and fun even for the opposing fans to listen to. I had my earbud radio on at Sanford Stadium when the Tigers visited the Bulldogs, and was really wishing Larry Munson was still doing the broadcasts.
......Drowning in cool elixir.
by Acid Reign on Nov 21, 2011 2:28 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
Larry was one of a kind
I still remember listening to the 1980 UGA Tenn game in a mall parking lot with my dad. Coming back from Auburn games at night we always tried to get the Georgia game on the radio just to listen to Larry. There won’t be another like him ever. My condolences Dawg fans.
by WolfSpringsTiger on Nov 21, 2011 2:29 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
He was an SEC Institution
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Munson family and the entire Bulldog Nation This was a very eloquent tribute T Kyle. Well done indeed.
AubTigerman
"The reason you come to Auburn is because of Auburn people.This is a special place, from the coaches all the way to the fans" - Andrew McCain OT
by aubtigerman on Nov 21, 2011 2:32 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
Great post from Izzy on Dawgpost.... Thought I'd share it here...
Losing Munson and getting older….
It sucks to get older. I can remember my dad saying that the worst thing about getting older was that you go to more funerals. One by one people that mean something to you leave and its never easy.
I can remember making car trips from Bainbridge to Athens for UGA games and all the while on the dark roads on the way home spinning the radio dial to listen to what else was happening around the world of southern college football.
Sometimes the dial stopped on John Forney at Alabama and later it would hit Jim Fyffe at Auburn. Many times it stopped to check in on what Al Ciraldo had to say at Tech. I also listened to John Ward from Tennessee, Bob Fulton from South Carolina, and the gentleman at Clemson that passed away way, way too early.
No matter what school you were for you knew all of these people because so few games were on television. They told you what was going on, from their point of view, mostly like Munson did just as if you were sitting next to him at the game. I didn’t always appreciate it then because it was so common. But in the age of ESPN I finally started to really appreciate those guys, most especially Larry Munson.
My favorite call will always be the 1982 Auburn game on the Plains with “the whole conference praying against us” because we were trying to win a 3rd consecutive SEC title and get another shot at an MNC. Auburn was greatly improved that day and grew up a bit as a football program as they were about to start a resurgence there. But the Dawg defense held and the sugar started “falling from the sky.” I was hunkered down by a radio letting Munson tell me about it because it wasn’t on regular network television. That was the only way to know was to listen to what he saw with his eyes and relayed with his mouth ……and as we all knew it also came from his heart.
Growing up my dad owned a garage and it was a regular Saturday event, if we weren’t going to a game, to go to work with him. He would shut it down at noon and turn the radio on and fry fish for all the men that worked there. They would pass around their favorite libations and tell their favorite stories. Since many of these guys were grizzled Vietnam vets it turned into quite an education for me. Usually the kind that involved my dad saying as we drove home, “Don’t tell ya mamma.” Then we would let Munson paint the picture for us. Good, bad, or indifferent he was on our side.
I know there will be people that won’t understand why losing Munson hits many of us so hard. But for me Munson has been a link to some very special memories of my dad, long since gone. Others may have their own personal reasons too. So on this week of Thanksgiving I’d just like to be thankful that I grew up as I did and Munson was a small piece of that.
First thing I heard when I reported for duty this morning.
My First Sergeant, an LSU fan, called me in his office as I walked into the briefing room for morning formation. “You heard the bad news?” That was all he said. Not what you want to hear from a person in a position of authority first thing on a Monday morning. He went on to tell me about Munson passing. Being an LSU fan, he knew about Larry. I walked into the briefing room and sat down. Gotta be honest, I filed it away for later. I had a bear of a day at the office.
I got home and my wife and I spoke about it. I was doing just fine until I got to the last two paragraphs of Kyle’s fine post. I have always had a ton of respect for TKK and the site he runs so well. I have been coming here for years and will continue to do so as long as I am welcome. I was even cool when I read it the first time. It was when I read it to my wife that my voice cracked and I got choked up.
The man truly was the voice of our passion. I learned how to live and die with the boys on the field through Larry. I met him only once, and he was very, very nice to an awkward, awe-struck teenager. I am nowhere near as eloquent as T Kyle, but I can say this:
I can picture the Pearly Gates. St Peter has taken a break because only one Damn Good Dawg can properly welcome another. Lewis Grizzard and Catfish wait for Larry as he arrives. Larry is in some fine company for the Tech game this weekend. I can only imagine his relief as Lewis tells him: "No, seriously. God really does talk like us, and he loves the Dawgs.
TKyle, thanks again for your words. Larry, thanks for all the memories. Good winds, and God Speed. Go Dawgs.
GATA!
by AeroDawg on Nov 21, 2011 3:11 PM EST reply actions 3 recs
When you mentioned Catfish, this is what I thought of:
by vineyarddawg on Nov 21, 2011 4:00 PM EST up reply actions
I sure miss Lewis, and will miss Larry.
The obituary Lewis wrote for Catfish is a great one. Its hard to contemplate a world without Larry Munson, since I was a kid he was the soundtrack to Dawgs games, even since he retired, his voice is still in my head as I watch them play.
by DigitalDawg on Nov 21, 2011 5:36 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
Lewis and Larry
are probably the only two people on earth I have shed a tear for having not met either in person. I used to buy my Dad the latest Grizzard book every year for Christmas and then he would give it back to me after he was finished so I could read it as well. We still laugh about things in those books.
I heard Larry for the first time in 1978 listening to a game on the radio with my uncle (against Clemson I think….I was only 7 so it’s hard to remember), but I was hooked and have been a Dawg fan ever since. I was sad when Larry retired at the end of the ’08 season. Without him there will never be another “Hobnail Boot” or “Run Lindsey, Run” and that makes me even more sad.
There is one more DGD looking down on us today. I hope that he and Lewis enjoy the next few games.
RIP Munson
Memorial Services are TBD, but atter 12/4
also – donations to the Noah Harris Cheerleading Scholarship are requested in lieu of flowers.
http://www.georgiadogs.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/112111aap.html
Housemother & Editor at Dawg Sports
I can bake like a demon.
On this mournful day, on a radio show in Augusta, GA, I got to hear his Starbucks story and his hunting story.
The very day Mr. Munson left this earth to the great press box in the sky, the world got a surprise. In Athens, Coach Mark Richt was in his office. He was leaning against his desk, watching some film of Georgia’s defense. “We’re gonna have to get after Washington quick. He’s ready this time.” Suddenly, he saw what appeared to be snow falling. “Well, looks like snow came early”, he said.
Richt picked up the remote from his desk and paused the film. Surprised, Richt walked out of his office, and held out his hand. A couple pieces of the “snow” fell on his hand. He tasted the white flakes, and after a couple of seconds, realized what it was. He said it as if he expected it. “Sugar”, he said.
I’d like to create a short story about this day. The two paragraphs above are a good thing to put in. Would you like me to create this story? Please comment.
My dad taught me how to make meat for sloppy joes and my mom let me turn over hot dogs on the grill.
by ChopMaster on Jun 25, 2011 7:25 PM CDT
by justincredubil02 on Jun 28, 2011 9:50 PM EDT reply actions
"Here in the National League where we play REAL baseball, DH means double-header." -Me.
Dawg Sports -Georgia Bulldogs. When life gives you Gators, make Gatorade.
RIP Larry Munson. I hope there's a lot of hobnail boots for you to wear.
Please do.
Tributes to Larry Munson are more than welcome.
Manager, Dawg Sports, SB Nation's Georgia Bulldogs weblog.
Go 'Dawgs!
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