Best sports call(s) of all time?

I got it. I finally got my 30th iteration of opening weekend for college football. People around the country tuned in for NC State playing WCU, UNC squeaking out a win against Minnesota, Ohio State trouncing Akron, and USC upsetting LSU, alongside many other storylines and upsets — looking at you Georgia State and Vanderbilt — to open up the 2024-25 version of collegiate ball.

While my version of Friday Night Lights looks different than ever before, I get football all weekend long now. Due to a small automotive snafu involving truck keys that got wet at Midway’s game on Friday night, I missed the early window of games on Saturday, but I was still able to be home for the late slates.

And, that got me thinking, which has led to this week’s version of Brandt’s Corner — who are the best announcers in sports, and what are the best sports calls of all time?

I know, you just had a flurry of announcers and calls rush in; some of them you think are the best, and I’m sure plenty more that you don’t care for. Harry Caray, Pat Summerall, John Madden, and Keith Jackson were probably at the top of some of your lists.

At the bottom were probably Joe Buck, Chris Collinsworth, and Tony Romo.

I haven’t even mentioned greats like Marv Albert, Dick Vitale, Gus Johnson, Bob Costas, or Vin Scully yet, either.

As far as calls go, some of the most iconic are “Down goes Frazier!”, “Auburn’s gonna win the football game!”, and the Miracle on Ice call from the Olympics — which sadly, for hockey fans, is my only mention of hockey here, because I don’t have near as much experience with hockey as I do other sports, and for that, I apologize.

I get chills when I listen to some of these. Even fictitious ones, like from Bob Uecker in the movie Major League, because who doesn’t like to hear an announcer talking about Ricky ‘Wild Thing’ Vaughn?

I’m going to show my bias here, from both my age and where I grew up. My all-time favorite announcer is Tom Hamilton, the voice of the Cleveland Guardians. I don’t follow baseball nearly as much as I used to, but in the late 90s and early 2000s, my grandpa and uncle did, so I didn’t have much choice.

“We’re underway at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario,” Tom “Hammy” Hamilton says at the beginning of every Cleveland baseball game, which was a staple of my childhood. His voice is something I will always think of, when I think of baseball.

“They’re fighting, they’re swinging, down goes Anderson! Down goes Anderson!” is no doubt his most iconic call to date, during Jose Ramirez and Tim Anderson’s fight last August.

On the football side of things, I’m partial to Gus Johnson. “You got barbecue back there? And you didn’t invite me? Hurt. My. Feelings.” is one of my favorites. It came on a play by Denzel Ward against Maryland. His energy — even for seemingly mundane plays — is unmatched at any level.

Auburn’s “Kick Six” and the “Minneapolis Miracle” are two of my favorite calls as well. “Auburn’s gonna win the football game!” easily has my vote for the best call in sports history. I get chills every time I listen to it. “Diggs, sideline, touchdown! Unbelievable! Vikings win it!” of the latter that I mentioned is easily the second best, especially because that was a playoff game.

But now, I’m curious. I know why some of these announcers and these calls are my favorites, but I want to know the opinions of others. Who are your favorite announcers, and what are the best sports calls of all time?

Fun fact of the week: The ‘Miracle on Ice’ game was not for the gold medal, as many people believe; instead, it was in the medal round of the Olympics, in a round-robin tournament.