jeffreymark

TEXAS RADIO LEGEND JACK DALE RIP

The voice of Texas Tech basketball, Jack Dale, passed away yesterday. Texas sports fans may not know much about Texas Tech but they know Jack Dale. No one, and I mean literally no one in the nation could call a basketball game like Dale. His signature voice often moved beyond mere generalities to pin point precision when describing the action on the court. With Dale at the mic one envisioned the position of every player, pass, and shot on the court. The listener also knew when a defensive rebound took place because he introduced the fact with the phrase "taken away by." 

Having grown up in a broadcasting family (Jack Dale replaced my dad as the basketball play-by-play man back in the 50's) I knew Jack Dale personally. He was a good man and a faithful Christian witness; not afraid to tell a group how his personal relationship with Christ infected his whole life. 

When I lived near Lexington Kentucky for three years I often attended Kentucky basketball. While traveling in the car one night with my native Kentuckian friend, he made the statement that announcer Cawood Ledford, the voice of the Wildcats, is the best out there. After listening to Cawood, outstanding as he was, this insulted Texan retorted, "We got one better than Cawood. He may not be as well known, yet he offers a more detailed description of the action on the court. His name is Jack Dale."  I meant it. I missed Dale's signature, "he jumps, shoots, AND scores," during my three years in Ky. And I, along with a legion of Red Raider fans sorely miss his familiar tone. I'm sure, however, if there is a game to be called in heaven Jack Dale is at the radio helm describing the action with enough round ball omniscience to impress even his Heavenly Father.  

BOB KNIGHT INTERESTED IN GEORGIA?

Forget his personal problems. Knight's age alone ought to handicap him. The game has left him. Bob Knight once said he recruited better talent at Texas Tech than at Indiana. If that's the case why did he consistently sport nothing better than an average team at Tech? Either the game left him behind or every other division I team improved the quality of recruits. The Lubbock AJ reports on this latest scuttlebutt:

ESPN and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution are reporting that Bob Knight is ready to take a job with the Georgia Bulldogs:

A source close to the legendary coach told the Atlanta Journal Constitution on Sunday that if Knight were offered the Bulldogs job, he would take it.
“He doesn’t want it to look as if he’s pursuing the job. He’d like to be offered it, and if offered, he’d take it,” the source said.

Here’s the original story from AJC’s Furman Bisher:

This is the man who won 902 games, most in college history, then decided it was time to find life outside Lubbock, Texas. Nothing wrong with Lubbock, but when he went to Texas Tech about six years ago, it was like setting up shop in a desert, as college basketball goes. When he suddenly quit about a year ago, he thought he’d had enough. Georgia offers another kind of chance in a highly visible conference.

WHY I DON'T LIKE BASKETBALL

I used to watch the NBA religiously as a kid. When it became a ghetto thug sport I lost interest. Looks like college basketball may be on its way to following in the NBA's footsteps. Watch below: