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Was that a flag on the field?
Or was it a shoe?
Long-time CBS broadcaster Verne Lundquist is seemingly still trying to figure that out after doing the play-by-play for Saturday’s epic Florida-Tennessee matchup.
“What appears to be a flag is actually a shoe!” – Verne Lundquist. But..there really was a flag on the play. Use your eyes, Verne. #TENNvsUF
— Adam Brown (@afbrown89) September 26, 2015
Love him or hate him, listening to Lundquist call one of the SEC’s premier matchups has become a fall Saturday tradition in the South. But even his most staunch supporters would be embarrassed by the performance he turned in last week. It wasn’t pretty. PAST CRITICIZING THE BROADCASTERS: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 Here are some highlights of the issues he had, and some of the more entertaining fan criticisms to go along with them: Lundquist mistakenly called a completed pass an interception, which understandably irked some fans:
I was looking away from my TV when Verne Lundquist said intercepted I want to kill him — Drunk Vol Fan (@DrunkVolFan) September 26, 2015
Which led this guy to make the conclusion:
I’m convinced Verne lundquist is watching a different game than the rest of us.
— jonah johnson (@jonahjohnson70) September 26, 2015
Who is this Jalen Hurd guy?
Verne Lundquist just called Jalen hurd john ward, the former late great vols announcer. — Ryan Tidwell (@FacepalmFrank) September 26, 2015
That was far from the only name Verne missed on Saturday, including a butcher of Vols star LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin:
Somebody get Verne Lundquist a B-12 shot or something. He’s misidentified 1/2 a dozen players and blew Reeves-Maybin’s name earlier.
— M. Taylor Walls (@LesChampignons) September 26, 2015
Verne Lundquist is a joke. His name isn’t Jalen Meeves-Raybin. Idiot.
— Squints (@jvenable8) September 26, 2015
Remember these? Verne referenced them when the official was writing down information from a booth review:
Verne Lundquist with the “blue book essay” reference. Hello 1986! — Wolfwarts (@HowlzyPotter) September 26, 2015
Who knew Lundquist was a closet Usher fan?
“I used to hum that,” Verne Lundquist said of the song “Yeah” by Usher.
— Kenny Ducey (@KennyDucey) September 26, 2015
Even the folks in Verne’s corner are starting to see the writing on the wall for the 75-year-old:
I’ve always loved broadcaster Verne Lundquist but he’s starting to mis-speak as often as Lou Holtz did before they had to let him go — Gerald V. Ensley Jr. (@geraldensley) September 26, 2015
My opinion? Leave him out there for us all to enjoy as long as he’s willing to do this. As his partner Gary Danielson likes to say, he’s a national treasure. Even if the reasons for his entertainment value may have changed as the years go by.
Nick Cole is a former print journalist with several years of experience covering the SEC. Born and raised in SEC country, he has taken in the game-day experience at all 14 stadiums.
