An award-winning sportscaster chronicles his life and career, touching on such iconic sports moments as Jack Nicklaus' 1986 Masters victory, the attack on Nancy Kerrigan, and the Dallas Cowboys' victories of the 1970s. "Over the last fifty years, few voices have epitomized the sound of sports television quite like that of Verne Lundquist's. A fixture on air since the 1960s--first broadcasting University of Texas baseball and Dallas Cowboys football games on radio before eventually joining the legendary CBS Sports team--Verne has covered just about every sport there is, and in the process he's made some of the most enduring calls in the history of golf, football, figure skating--and everything in between. In [this book], Verne goes inside those calls and his remarkable career, telling the behind-the-scenes story of how he ended up with the best seats in the house, giving voice to history time and time again. From Christian Laettner's buzzer-beater in the 1992 NCAA tournament, to the saga of Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding at the 1994 Olympics, to the shocking finish of the Iron Bowl in 2013, to Jack Nicklaus's and Tiger Woods's unforgettable victories at the Masters, Verne's five decades as a sportscaster routinely put him in the midst of greatness. With his trademark humility and his goal to make the athlete the legend, instead of the call itself, Verne details his view of the plays that have captured our collective imagination for two generations, featuring an incredible cast of characters that includes names like Terry Bradshaw, Pat Summerall, John Madden, Scott Hamilton, and Tom Landry. What emerges is an invigorating portrait of the games that matter most, in life and on the field. A moving recollection of the moments that make sports worth watching, Play by Play reminds us all that sports are about more than games played--they're about the history that we share together and the voices that we remember long after the final whistle has blown."--Dust jacket.

Names and tunes -- Finding my direction -- Cowboy days -- California dreaming, Dallas realities -- New horizons -- Beyond borders -- Yes, sir: a new home at the Masters -- Let's invent us a football player -- The gang's all here -- Live from Lillehammer it's Verne and Scott Meet Tonya and Nancy -- Conference lines and passions -- The tournament and the shot(s) -- In your life: Tiger and other PGA tales -- Lasting memories of the SEC -- Matters of consequence.