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Jack Cristil

There’s an economy of words to Cristil’s call, and that’s due in part to the marching orders he received from Dudy Noble back in ‘53.

“When he hired me he said, ‘Boy’ — I found out later that if he didn’t know your name he called everybody ‘boy,’” Cristil said. “He said, ‘Boy, here’s what I want you to do. You tell that radio audience what the score is, who’s got the ball and how much time is left and you cut out the bullshit.’ So I’ve always tried to tell ‘em who’s got the ball, what the score is and how much time is left.”

As a reminder, Cristil taped a small piece of white paper to the ledge in front of his broadcast location and he wrote three simple words: Score. Time. Station ID.

“My whole philosophy is I’m a very poor substitute for a person being at the game,” Cristil said. “Consequently, if they take their time and whatever expense is involved to tune into the radio broadcast, then they’re entitled to hear that game and visualize as best they possibly can through your description. A lot of people get on me because I don’t lean enough for Mississippi State, but if the guy with the wrong color shirt makes a great play, he’s entitled to that information being dispensed to the audience. He is more or less doing his job and doing it very well. And if they were here to see that they would appreciate it. And that’s my philosophy.”