The Best To Ever Do It - Verne Lundquist Announces He's Retiring After Calling His 40th Masters This Year
I know it's cliche to talk about how you can't believe guys are retiring, how you feel old, all that shit. But come on. Not Verne! The man is a legend any way you slice it. Who else could ask who the hell is Happy Gilmore while also delivering two of the most iconic calls in the history of golf?
Verne that's who. The man who delivered every Saturday with the best conference in college football. The man who was a voice in the NCAA Tournament. The man who will steal any damn girl he wants.
[Source] - So we sat and chatted and her date, Raymond Willie, said to me, “Listen, I know you are single. I’m going to fix you up with a friend of mind and we can all go to dinner.” He looked at Nancy and asked her, “What are you doing Thursday night?” She said, “Nothing.” He said, “Good, you’ll be my date and we’ll fix Verne up with this schoolteacher friend of mine and we’ll go to dinner.” Meanwhile, I’m looking at Nancy thinking she is the prettiest thing I have ever seen in my life. So, Raymond finally left to take care of his business and I asked Nancy, “So, how involved are you with Raymond? She said, “Oh, this is our first date and it’s a blind date.” So I said, “Well forget what he is talking about on Thursday night. What are you doing on Saturday night?” She said, “I think I am doing whatever you are doing.”
That's right. Uncle Verne will hit you with an iconic saying and then immediately steal your girl when you go to the bathroom. Nobody is safe around Verne.
My point being is it won't be the same without Verne on the call. It's already weird not hearing him during the 3:30 slate of college football. It's already weird not hearing him during big time NCAA Tournament games. It's also just a sign of the times. A sign that the guys we know, the comforting voices we hear for all the sporting events are soon to be gone from sports. Whether it was Keith Jackson, Dick Vitale, Verne Lundquist, Jim Nantz at the Final Four, whoever you might know and love, we're getting new voices all the time. I hate it. I'm a man who likes tradition. I'm simply a man who only knows Jim Nantz as the voice of the Final Four in my lifetime.
40 years at the most iconic golf event in the world. Fitting to go out on that number, but I still hate it. For my money, I'd draft him as the No. 1 play by play guy in a Dog Walk snake draft. It doesn't matter the sport, he's got the voice for it.
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Someone better hit an ace on 16 now. It's only right.