Jack Cristil,
Mr. Maroon & White!

by: Bo Bounds

Tupelo, MS – The Holiday season was just kicking in when we (Eric, Michael and I) jumped in the car to ‘dine’ with Mr. Maroon & White. It’s only fitting that Jack Cristil has wrapped up hundreds of games with that classic and heartfelt saying, while the name on the cover of this magazine is Maroon & White. We were told by a few people that he would never agree to meet and visit with us. All you need to do is tell Eric Hallberg or me that ‘we’ can’t do something and it’s “Katy bar the door’. We’ll figure out a way. So with Michael Wardlaw’s help, we set up an evening with Jack.

To say I was star struck would be an understatement. Ever since I can remember anything about Mississippi State sports, I’ve always been in awe of the man on the mic from MSU. Why? Well, just like many of you, my father told me about and introduced me to Jack Cristil at a very young age. Some of you have been listening to Jack since the 1950s. Radio was it. That was the only, and the ultimate platform. Televisions were not in abundance in homes across the country in the 1950s, and cable television as we know it today, was 40 years away. The country was not as mobile.

When I’m visiting with someone that is 60 and over, I love it when they tell me about listening to the games in their homes late at night. You hear about listening to the St. Louis Cardinals or a baseball team on the west coast late at night. I can’t get enough of those stories. Listening to Boo Ferris and the Red Sox play a West Coast team in the 1940’s. I bet that was exhilarating. Jack Cristil started when radio was all you had to make you feel like you were there. And Mr. Maroon & White has made us feel ‘like we were at the game’ for 5 decades.

He’s been in our living rooms, in our backyard around the grill, at the hunting camp or at the lake house for over 50 years. Jack has made us feel like we were in Baton Rouge, Lexington, Tuscaloosa, and of course, our beloved home turf in Starkville, MS, most of, if not all of our lives. When you think of Mississippi State athletics, you think of Jack Cristil and Bully. To me, he’s our human mascot.

Jack (he asked that we call him this at dinner – it was awkward) wished me Happy Birthday on the air when I was 11 years old. You would have thought President Reagan (who was in office at that time) had called to wish me a great day. He’s called the games with Bailey Howell on the court, D.D. Lewis on the gridiron, and Rockey Felker running for first downs.

My mind was racing as we sat down for dinner. I know Jack shoots straight with no bull, so I had done my homework. We started with Jackie Parker. As some of you know, I’ve become borderline obsessed with Mr. Parker. Jackie Parker was the Canadian Football League 1960’s Player of the decade. He scored 120 points in one season in 1952! “Jackie Parker was a heck of a player. He could run. He could make people miss. And I’ll tell you this – inside the 20 yard line there was nobody better. He had a nose for the end zone. He was going to find the end zone. And of course, that was before we called it the redzone,” said Cristil.

I told Jack how surprised I was that Jackie Parker had never come back to campus since leaving for the Canadian Football League in 1953 (I’ve heard conflicting stories). “Jackie’s done well in Canada. It wouldn’t surprise me. I don’t know if he’s come back. If he has, I didn’t know about it,” said Cristil.

We moved to the late 1950’s, I had to know what it was like to call those games in the old gym when the NBA Hall of Famer was running the show for those great Babe McCarthy teams. “Bailey was on a different level. Those teams were loaded with talent all over the floor,” said Mr. Maroon & White.

It was a memorable night for this lifelong Bulldog fan. I kept thinking throughout the meal and the conversation that this man is our history. And Jack, like so many, has been an outstanding ambassador for Mississippi State University.

M&W: Tell us about sneaking out to play in the NCAA Basketball Tournament in 1963.
Jack: We played at Michigan State the first time we were in it. A lot of things transpired behind the scenes. Jerry Simmons put the freshmen in the Maroon blazers and they went to the Columbus airport. Nobody was there to serve in injunction, law enforcement or the sheriff’s office. There was a bunch of legalities, which I didn’t understand then and I don’t understand now. Coach McCarthy and Dr. Martin had gone to Nashville out of the jurisdiction of the state. Anyway, they sent for the team and the entourage. We flew to Nashville and picked up Babe and Dr. Martin. Dr. Colvard stayed out of state for fear of his life, I guess. You had some very adamant people. People were killed in this state during this time. It was a tough time.

M&W:Were you nervous at the time?
Jack: I was so naïve it didn’t really bother me. I didn’t know anything about the law, the legislature or the power structure. I wanted to go because I had never been. I enjoyed being up there.

M&W: Were we hurt by the legislature and the Governor?
Jack: Well, we’ve always been the bastard at the family reunion. Ole Miss has always controlled the legislature and the political scene and they still do. We’ve made in roads the last 25 years. You don’t see a Governor coming off our campus.

M&W: Did you realize the magnitude of the situation when you got back from the trip?
Jack: No, it was years later when they integrated the schools. My children got involved in the 1960’s. Then I began to see what was transpiring. I was just trying to make a living. Those were some difficult times for a lot of people.

M&W: Mr. Howell has told me how much he would have liked to have had the opportunity to play for a National Championship.
Jack: People don’t realize we won the SEC in 1959, Bailey’s senior year and we declined. Auburn declined the next year and nobody says anything about that. We declined when we won back-to-back championships in 1961 and 1962.

M&W: What about the Loyola game?
Jack: We were down by four with about two minutes to play. They scored on a great play, and it was over after that. Basketball is a funny game – sort of like golf. You miss a putt by an inch, and you lose 100,000.

M&W: Do you play golf?
Jack: I’ve never played. I’m not old enough, yet. It’s an old man’s game. (Everybody at the table is laughing – including Jack).

M&W: Tell us about Jackie Parker.
Jack: Jackie was in his senior year the year I started. That was 1953.

M&W: Bo Reid (former center and All-SEC) says Jackie Parker is the best football player in our history.
Jack: The phenomenal thing about Jackie is – Mississippi State was never in the so called red-zone when they didn’t score that year. He or Tucker Frederickson from Auburn were the best two I ever saw. Could they play now – the way they played then? Who knows? They were great players.
At this point, our food is served to everybody but Eric (Hallberg). Eric tells us to go ahead. “I’m waiting on you,” said Jack, smiling as he takes a bite.

M&W: Did you get to cover and call the College World Series in 1971?
Jack: I went when Coach Gregory was the coach. We only played weekends then. When they started doing midweek games, I had to give it up.

M&W: Do you have a favorite sport?
Jack: I don’t know that I have a favorite sport. Whatever season it is. I’m not an ice hockey fan (he says, grinning).

M&W: Do you watch pro sports?
Jack: I’m not a big pro sports fan. Especially this day and age. Bunch of damn prima-donnas if you ask me.

M&W: Biggest games that you called?
Jack: Obviously, the Final Four has to be the biggest highlight – just because of what it is. I thought in Rupp Arena when we beat Connecticut and Cincinnati back to back that we beat the two best teams in America. Of course, the 1980 Bama game in Jackson. I was not around when we beat Army in 1935.

M&W: Did you ever get to visit with Shorty McWilliams?
Jack: I saw Shorty more in his later years. He and Bob Hartley were good friends. He would come by Bob’s house after games, and I would visit with him. I would see him in Meridian at Wideman’s. He was in that same backfield with Blanchard & Davis, that whole Army crowd.

M&W: You called the games when D.D. Lewis was SEC Defensive Player of the Year on a 1-9 team.
Jack: If a tackle was made, D.D. made it. He was a great player.

M&W: At this point Eric asked him about calling the Egg Bowl and if there was a difference in calling this game?
Jack: Well, first of all, with all due respect, it’s the Battle for the Golden Egg. The Jackson Clarion Ledger decided to call it the Egg Bowl. I’ll be damned if I go along with what they go by. Back to your question. There’s no difference. Same preparation. You do the same thing.

M&W: Tell us about what it was like to see the black players and the white players mesh together?
Jack: I think that was the one stabilizing factor. In fact, I saw Robert Bell the last game we played. He was a first-class athlete. Robert looks like he can still play. The buttons we printed up “Giv’em Hell Robert Bell” were great. Sports was instrumental in helping integration.

M&W: What are your thoughts on the coaches salaries today and the money from television that schools receive?
Jack: Any time you realize financial gain – you do so by sacrificing something. Division I schools have sacrificed their integrity for the almighty dollar. The very idea that television dictates when you play – whether it’s Thanksgiving night, or Monday night, or Tuesday night distresses me deeply. I’ve never given it much thought what coaches make. They don’t think about what radio announcers make. They’ve sacrificed everything they’ve worked for – for 100 years because of television.

M&W: How close were you and Mr. Hartley?
Jack: Very close. He was my mentor. When I came into Mississippi State, he was the first person I met. He taught me what to do and what not to do. How to meet people. How to represent the university. His wife Jean and my late wife, Mavis got along famously.

M&W: What would Mr. Hartley have thought about today’s sports world?
Jack: He would have adjusted beautifully to today’s sports world. He held no animosity.

M&W: Tell me about Carl Maddox.
Jack: Carl was a business man. Carl would not let you interview him with that thing (tape recorder). He would have you write down the questions and show them to him and he would pick which ones he would answer (we laughed).

M&W: Emory Bellard is well liked by Mississippi State people, but he’s also referred to as the “hard headed Frenchman”.

Jack: Emory believed in the wish-bone. He constantly worked on it. I’ll give you a classic example. We played Maryland at Maryland Emory’s first year. We were getting beat 37-0 in the fourth quarter. There were about 10 minutes left. We got the ball on our four yard line, and 17 plays and nine minutes later we scored. He was determined he was going to run the wishbone offense, but he had a sense of humor.

We were in Miami one year and the traffic stopped so we were just sitting there on the bus. The Cubans had just started coming into the country. Emory got up and grabbed that little microphone. He said, men look over there to your left. All you could see was a Taco Bell. Emory said, men these people have only been here for six months and they already own a damn telephone company, by God, you guys can do something too. He was talking about a Taco Bell!

He didn’t have much time for Jim or I. We used to do a taped session on Wednesday or Thursday night with him. Jim and I would go to his office and invariably he would be sitting there with a yellow legal pad doing the Xs and Os of the wishbone. We would stand there until he got through with whatever he was doing. Somewhere along the line Jim found out he had grandchildren and he asked Emory about them. He began to expound on this. From then on, every time we walked in; we asked him about his grandchildren. Then we could get the tape made and get out of there. But he was an easy guy to work with. A good guy to work with.

M&W: I ask about Rockey, Sherrill and Croom.
Jack: I’ve enjoyed working with all the coaches in football, basketball and baseball. You keep it professional.

M&W: When we get off to a good start like 1999 football, or the season lines up like it did in 1998, do you get caught up in it?
Jack: Well it makes your job a lot easier. You can get away with making mistakes that you can’t get away with any other time. People are happy – everybody is loose.

M&W: Back to the Final 4. Tell me about the run.
Jack: Oh yea, you get caught up in it. In Rupp Arena that weekend having Kentucky people cheering for you was something else. That was an unbelievable situation. It changes your whole perspective.

M&W: As we wrap it up, Jack gives us a little insight.
Jack: My favorite thing is someone will come up to the table when we’re eating out and say – I’ve been listening to you all my life. You make the games come alive. And then of course they say, I’m an Ole Miss fan.

Jack: I have a standard reply for this. And I can afford to say this. Well young fellow you’re young enough and you’ve got a lot of years in front of you – maybe you’ll outgrow it. (The table erupts in laughter)

I’ll never forget that night. The smile. The quick wit. The way he grinned talking about the Bulldogs. Jack staring at me while I was digging for information. He was completely at ease from the time he walked in the restaurant until we shook his hand in the parking lot. The one thing that kept popping into my mind as we were driving back to Starkville…one day I’ll get to tell my kids (21⁄2 year old little girl and 1 year old boy)….I dined with Jack.

Bo Bounds hosts a show from 7am-9am in Jackson, MS called Out of Bounds on Supersport 930AM. You can contact Bo @: bobounds@jam.rr.com.