Thursday, September 25, 2005

U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA)
Floor Statement on Larry Munson
Remarks as Delivered on the Senate Floor

Madam President, earlier today I spoke on the floor about the impending financial difficulties we are facing and the issues before us. I come back not to repeat those remarks at all but, rather, in this time of turmoil and stress, to recognize that all of us as Americans, and Georgians in my State, in times of difficulty turn to those institutions of faith and family that give them strength.

In Georgia, in the fall, there is another institution that gives us strength, the University of Georgia football, the Southeastern Conference, and a man named Larry Munson. On Monday of this week, Larry Munson, at the age of 86, announced his retirement, after 42 years as the voice of the Georgia Bulldogs.

He first started in Wyoming, moved to Tennessee, and in 1966, the Atlanta Braves brought him to Atlanta to be the first announcer when the franchise moved from Milwaukee. In 1966, Joel Eaves, the athletic director, asked him to come to Athens. He became an institution not just in Athens, not just in the Southeastern Conference but of announcers around the world.

He is in the company of Chris Schenkel, Frank Jackson, and those famous voices all of us have known in sports. But more than anything else, Larry Munson coined phrases that now are listed in dictionaries and history books for their uniqueness.

In 2001, when the University of Georgia upset Tennessee in Knoxville, TN, on the last play of the game, he talked about how his Bulldogs had stepped on and crushed the Tennessee faces just like they had on a hobnailed boot.

In 1982, when Georgia won the Southeastern Conference in Auburn, it was Larry Munson who declared that "sugar was falling from the skies" as Georgia got an invitation to go to the Sugar Bowl.

Probably the most memorable, in 1980, when Herschel Walker, then a freshman, scored his first touchdown of a storied career in college, Larry Munson replied, as he announced the run: My goodness, he is running over people. He ran right through people. And, oh, my goodness, he is only a freshman.

These and so many more have endeared Larry Munson to the people of Georgia, the Southeastern Conference, and collegiate gate football. So on this day in the Senate, as all of us seek comfort in those things we appreciate, love, and admire, I wish to express my appreciation to Larry Munson and the contributions he has made to athletics in our State and to the University of Georgia and wish him the very best in the years to come.

God bless you, Larry.