The CBS Sports hoops crew calls them the Sunshine Boys.

Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery are Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon.

"We're the old guys," Lund- quist said. "I don't really know if I'm Matthau or Lemmon.

"But we have fun and, more importantly, we get the job done."

Lundquist was reflecting on the college basketball aspect of his lengthy career, talking from his home office in Steamboat Springs, where he was watching skiers zoom down a mountain.

Three hours later, Lundquist was on a flight to New Orleans, where he joined Raftery, his "gym rat" analyst pal, for coverage of the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Next Sunday, they're scheduled to be in East Rutherford, N.J., for the East Regional final.

"We've worked together during six tournaments," Lundquist recalls. "Bill knows as much about college basketball as anyone on the scene. And some of the knowledge has rubbed off on me."

The "rubbed-off" comment was typical of the 66-year-old Lund- quist, who, after more than 45 years in the business, has built a sterling career as a low-profile, in-the-trenches broadcaster who never has been fully recognized for his multifaceted sports broadcasting talent.

That changed last month when his peers voted Lundquist into the National Sportscasters Hall of Fame.

"To say I'm honored is really an understatement," Lundquist said.

"I'm grouped with some of my longtime heroes — Jim McKay, Ray Scott, Curt Gowdy, Vin Scully, Keith Jackson.

"I mean, the company doesn't get any better than that."

Lundquist will be honored during an annual awards ceremony April 30 in Salisbury, N.C.

Maybe by that time he'll know who spearheaded the nomination.

"I haven't a clue," he said. "I do know you need a ton of votes to get in. But I don't know who initially started the ballot rolling."

The award culminates a career that began in 1961 in Austin, Texas, when Lundquist was an announcer for a station owned by Lyndon B. Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson.

He moved on to WFAA-TV and Radio in Dallas, working as station sports director and the radio voice of the Cowboys.

First joining CBS in 1983, Lundquist has risen to become the network's No. 1 college football play-by-play man, now teaming with Gary Danielson.

A 23-year fixture at the Masters, working mostly at the 16th green, Lundquist came up with one of the most memorable on-air sports quotes of 2005 when Tiger Woods chipped in for a birdie on the way to his fourth Masters victory.

The slow-rolling ball fell into the cup after hanging briefly on the lip. Lundquist then voiced the feeling of millions of viewers: "In your life have you ever seen anything like that?"

Lundquist, who signed a new three-year-deal with CBS in August, would like to call a Super Bowl game, although the odds of getting that assignment are slim.

Also on his wish list is a return to Olympics coverage — another assignment that probably won't happen, because NBC has a TV stranglehold on the Summer and Winter Games.

Lundquist was a key broadcaster in CBS' Winter Olympics coverage in 1992, '94 and '98 – events that fit into his Steamboat Springs lifestyle.

"I first came to Steamboat in 1971, when Billy Kidd taught me how to ski," Lundquist recalled.

"My wife, Nancy, and I began vacationing there a lot after that.

"We decided to leave Texas as a home base in the summer of '84 and were looking around for a permanent place to live.

"I recall driving over Rabbit Ears Pass at sunset . . . well . . . Steamboat's been our home ever since."

Of all the talents he'll join in the Hall of Fame, Lundquist relates most to McKay.

"I love the way he covered the Olympics — the honesty and simplicity he put into it. He whetted my appetite for Olympics coverage."

While McKay will not be available to introduce Lundquist during the ceremonies, the event will have an Olympics flavor.

Scott Hamilton, whom Lund- quist covered in figure skating competition, will do the honors.

Lundquist will spend his off time in Steamboat Springs this summer still covering an event dominated by strings — but not the basketball variety.

He serves on the board of directors of Strings in the Mountains, the town's summer chamber music festival.

And one of his heroes from the past is Felix Mendelssohn, who never hit a three-point shot or chipped in a birdie putt.

saundersd@RockyMountainNews.com

Back to Top