Tad Stryker: Play-By-Play Transition

Only once during Sharpe’s tenure as the voice of the Huskers (against New Mexico State in 2008, his first full year at Nebraska) did he have the luxury of calling a game that was not televised. Granted, some of those televised games were pay-per-view, and some were on somewhat obscure cable networks like Versus. He was never the only option, but with the legendary Keith Jackson having retired from ABC-TV, Sharpe was always the best option. I recall very few memorable lines by TV coverage of Nebraska games, but Sharpe’s call of the final minutes of the 2008 Colorado game and the Hail Mary / WesterKatch that beat Northwestern in 2013 will be forever etched in my mind. He made The Slide — the worst stretch of Nebraska football since the 1950s — much more tolerable.

Sharpe took over for Jim Rose, who bowed out unexpectedly late in 2007, Bill Callahan’s final season. Sharpe was there to provide seamless relief; it was as if he’d been broadcasting Husker football his entire life, he was so well prepared and professional. By the Gator Bowl win over Clemson after the 2008 regular season, I felt like I already knew him.

Sharpe ranks among the best, and thankfully, I got to hear most of them. I grew up on a farm in Custer County during an era when listening to Husker football was much more common than watching it on TV. If we were out doing farm chores, I had a radio on an extension cord positioned strategically and turned up as loud as I could get it. If we were hunting pheasants, the game was on in the pickup truck. If I was in the house watching another game on TV, I had the radio on in the background. Actually, flip that; for me, Husker radio was foreground and the televised game, be it Georgia-Florida or Texas-Oklahoma or whoever, was merely background. Living in central Nebraska, I heard games on KRVN-AM, which meant that for much of the time I was bonding with the Big Red, I heard it from Joe Patrick, who worked for WOW, which had an agreement with KRVN. I wasn’t able to pick up KFAB, so consequently, I never heard Lyell Bremser until 1983, his final year, when he was well past his prime.

Bremser started his play-by-play career during World War II, and took part in just three winning seasons until Bob Devaney showed up in Lincoln. Thanks to YouTube, I’ve heard Bremser make many of his epic calls, and agree with the sentiment of Husker Nation in rating him the best Husker play-by-play man of all time. I heard his successor, Kent Pavelka, proudly and passionately call the majority of Tom Osborne’s career in Lincoln, including his exultant “Bring that trophy back to Lincoln!” at the end of the 1995 Orange Bowl.

Considering that Pavelka got to call the best of Husker football history and Sharpe had to call some of the worst, I find it hard to rate one above the other. They are tied at No. 2 in my book. Don Gill and Tim Moreland, who worked for Lincoln stations KLIN and KFOR, respectively, were also excellent. Ray Scott covered the Big Red for a year, but I’ve got to think he did a much better job in the NFL than he did with college football. I’d rather not mention Warren Swain, but I guess I just did. Rose did a terrific job kicking off the Husker Sports Network’s first weeknight call-in show, and was possibly the best sideline announcer of them all, but he wasn’t cut out for the play-by-play role.

Possibly the most underrated Husker football voice of all time is Gary Sadlemyer of KFAB, who worked as color man with Pavelka and did a brilliant job. Besides providing a hilarious Barry Switzer imitation when the occasion called for it, Sadlemyer could always be counted upon to explain the nuances of Osborne’s blocking schemes and give a solid assessment of the offensive linemen responsible for them. In the last few years, I’ve come to increasingly appreciate Benning’s insights and humor as well.

Crooks, whose job title is Director of Broadcasting for the Husker Radio Network, appears to have the capacity to replace Sharpe, the willingness to put in the hours of study needed to grasp Husker football history as he replaces his Gator blue wardrobe with predominantly scarlet garb, and already possesses a wide perspective on college sports, which will serve him — and Husker Nation — well in his new post.