UT's Legendary Announcer, John Ward, has died.

TomFromBama · Jun 21, 2018

https://www.knoxnews.com/story/sports/college/university-of-tennessee/football/2018/06/20/john-ward-dies-voice-vols-obituary-tennessee-volunteers-football-basketball/720335002/

John Ward, legendary Tennessee Vols radio voice, has died
Blake Toppmeyer, Knoxville News Sentinel Published 9:12 p.m. ET June 20, 2018 | Updated 10:56 a.m. ET June 21, 2018

Sorry if this is off topic, but us old-timers remember him as a legendary voice - a contemporary of people like John Forney (or maybe a tad later - perhaps Paul Kennedy), Jack Cristil, Jim Hawthorne, etc.

Go Bama · Jun 21, 2018

“It’s football time in Tennessee!”

Nothing but respect for Mr Ward. He was very loved and will be sorely missed by Vol fans.

RIP

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UAH · Jun 21, 2018

Go Bama said:
“It’s football time in Tennessee!”

Nothing but respect for Mr Ward. He was very loved and will be sorely missed by Vol fans.

RIP

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Watson dives! Give him SIX! Big Orange!

BamaMoon · Jun 21, 2018

He was a good one. I feel for the Vol nation, who largely are made up of good folks alot like their neighbors to the south.

Too bad a few people messed up a classic rivalry from years ago between the two perennial SEC powers.

BTW, I always like the line "It's football time in Tennessee" because it meant that it was football time everywhere!!! Bring on September!!!

edwd58 · Jun 21, 2018

I never heard him call a game, I don't think Tennessee football made the airwaves here in rural central Alabama when I was growing up - even if it did, I never would have listened to a UT broadcast of a football game. I did listen to many a nighttime LSU game as they had/have a really strong AM station that I could pick up clearly. Same for the GA Bulldogs and baseball STL Cardinals.

UAH · Jun 21, 2018

edwd58 said:
I never heard him call a game, I don't think Tennessee football made the airwaves here in rural central Alabama when I was growing up - even if it did, I never would have listened to a UT broadcast of a football game. I did listen to many a nighttime LSU game as they had/have a really strong AM station that I could pick up clearly. Same for the GA Bulldogs and baseball STL Cardinals.

BTW he was great at basketball play by play as well. The Vols had some great teams with Ernie Grunfeld and Bernard King and even though Alabama had some very good teams at the time they could never quite overcome the Vols on the court. Living in Knoxville or very near the Tennessee state line it wasn't unusual to have the Vols broadcast be the nearest or only option.

Crimson1967 · Jun 22, 2018

I lived in Knoxville for eight years. I wasn’t a huge fan of his announcing style. I did hear him speak once and he seemed like a classy guy.

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drwho · Jun 22, 2018

As much as I HATE Tennessee football, Ward's "Give him six!" was great radio.

alabama mike1 · Jun 22, 2018

A legendary announcer in the SEC.

Relayer · Jun 22, 2018

IMHO, after our own beloved John Forney, Ward was the best there was.

TomFromBama · Jun 22, 2018

BamaMoon said:
He was a good one. I feel for the Vol nation, who largely are made up of good folks alot like their neighbors to the south.

Too bad a few people messed up a classic rivalry from years ago between the two perennial SEC powers.

BTW, I always like the line "It's football time in Tennessee" because it meant that it was football time everywhere!!! Bring on September!!!

Amen! That rivalry pretty much Defined the SEC for decades, and for much of the history of our Conference, the UA-UT winner held the "inside track" to an SEC title. It's a True SHAME what was done to this once great rivalry. Frankly, I don't know if it can EVER fully recover. And that's a darn shame, IMO.

drwho said:
As much as I HATE Tennessee football, Ward's "Give him six!" was great radio.

This ^^^ Ward was a classic voice.

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