“Oh, it’s going to be awful. I’m an Irishman and I cry,” Starkey said as he approached his final Big Game broadcast Saturday.
Longtime Bay Area broadcaster Joe Starkey announced his 48th season as the voice of Cal Golden Bears football will be his last. BERKELEY — Joe Starkey’s radio call of The Play — the last-second, five-lateral kickoff return Cal used to win the 1982 Big Game — has become iconic, notable for his incredulous screech, “The band is out on the field!”
“Mostly terrified,” said Starkey, 80, who grew up a fan of play-by-play broadcasters. “I always had a sense of when a broadcaster had a really big moment, how important it was that he got it right. So I was terrified that I got it wrong.” He never mentioned Kevin Moen, who took the final lateral and dashed through the Stanford band into the end zone, plowing over trombone player Gary Tyrrell.
“The call of The Play is awesome,” Pawlawski said. “With Joe’s professionalism on top of it all, he’s trying to hold it together but you can also hear the passion in his voice.” It was, as Starkey often says during a highlight moment of a broadcast, a “bonanza” when he realized years later that Kevin Moen is the son of Don Moen, for whom Starkey worked in the early 1970s during his days as a recruiter for Union Bank in Los Angeles.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Op/Ed: Republicans win big in Indiana, but Hoosiers could lose big in the long run'If we want change, if we want better for our kids, then why the hell do we keep supporting this Republican supermajority who has voted against our own interests time and time again?'
Read more »
Greg Hansen: JdL-vs.-WSU storyline overshadows something better: A big game between Cats, CougarsFor Star subscribers: Not even future Super Bowl-winning QB Nick Foles had a first-season at Arizona anything close to what de Laura has delivered to Jedd Fisch in 2022.
Read more »
Joe Starkey on Cal-Stanford's 'The Play': 'I screwed it up'The 40th anniversary is upon us, but he still remembers thinking he 'screwed it up.'
Read more »
UVA cancels game against Coastal Carolina, no decision yet on season finale vs. Virginia TechThe University of Virginia has canceled its home football game Saturday against Coastal Carolina, the school announced Wednesday morning.
Read more »
New Xbox Game Pass Games Include 4th Highest-Rated Game This YearXbox Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers have not one, not two, not three, but four [...]
Read more »
Phil Kessel honored for 1,000th consecutive game as Arizona Coyotes drop game at VegasAlex Pietrangelo had a goal and two assists, and the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Arizona Coyotes 4-1 on Thursday night.
Read more »