MSU says goodbye, celebrates 'Voice of the Bulldogs' Jack Cristil

Contact: Leah Barbour

STARKVILLE, Miss.--The "Voice of the Bulldogs" will forever be wrapped in maroon and white memories.

The Mississippi State University Bulldog family gathered in the Humphrey Coliseum on Thursday [Sept. 11] to celebrate the life and play-by-play radio calls of Jacob Sanford "Jack" Cristil. He died Sunday [Sept. 7] at age 88.

For 58 years, from 1953 until 2011, Cristil was on the mic for the Mississippi State Radio Network's broadcast of football and basketball games. He called 636 football games, 60 percent of all those played in MSU history, and 1,538 basketball games, or 55 percent of all the games played.

Administrators, athletes, family and friends gathered to share memories of Cristil's life and his decades on the radio.

"He made millions of friends for our university and did as much to promote Mississippi State and its good name as anybody ever has," said MSU President Mark E. Keenum. "Jack was always a deeply caring, generous man."

Cristil's daughters, Kay Cristil Clouatre of Denham Springs, Louisiana, and Rebecca Cristil Nelson of Tupelo, thanked the MSU family for its support not only for their father, but also for them.

"It has been a whirlwind the past few days, but I cannot tell you how much Mississippi State has meant to us as a family," Clouatre said. "My home is not just in Tupelo: it will always be at Mississippi State University."

Nelson echoed her sister.

"Our Mississippi State family has been incredibly generous to us over the past few days, and it's just as it was when Daddy first came to the campus in 1953," Nelson said. "I thank you for loving my daddy."

Larry Templeton, longtime MSU athletic director from 1987 to 2008, knew Cristil for many years.

"There's heroes, and there's legends," Templeton said. "At Mississippi State, we have heroes by the hundred, but we only have one legend--he taught us to wrap it in maroon and white."

Cristil, Templeton emphasized, did things his way with honor. Music professor Michael R. Brown played the trumpet tribute "My Way," first popularized by Frank Sinatra.

Other dignitaries expressed condolences and shared memories of Cristil, including:

--Greg Carter, former MSU basketball player and Starkville High School head basketball coach: "I'll forever be indebted to Mr. Cristil; he made those basketball games come alive for my grandfather, and now, he's gotten to meet him. Many other MSU fans have gotten to meet him now that he's gone from us, and he's wrapping it up one more time in maroon and white."

--John Cohen, MSU head baseball coach: "For nearly 60 years, for more than half of Mississippi State football games, he painted a picture for us in maroon and white."

--Kermit Davis, former MSU basketball player and former head basketball coach: "I don't believe we've ever had another person at Mississippi State who was loved and appreciated like Jack Cristil… He was a guy that I respected as much as any person I've ever met at Mississippi State University, and he was good; he was a tremendous person."

--Jim Ellis, play-by-play announcer for the Mississippi State Radio Network: "Jack Cristil, forever the Voice of the Bulldogs--His gift of saying the right words at the right times has wrapped us all in maroon and white for decades."

--Rockey Felker, MSU assistant football coach, former head football coach and former player: "Think about all the good games and the bad games… the bad we're all familiar with, but Jack didn't have bad games."

--Sid Salter, chief communication officer at MSU and Cristil biographer: "There will never be another Jack Cristil. He was unique, original in a way that cannot be imitated… As to his enduring legacy as a broadcaster, as one of the last truly great broadcasters, it's simple--he told it like it was."

--Scott Stricklin, MSU athletic director: "It's fitting that we come together tonight in Jack Cristil's memory and his honor… He brought people together at radios as people listened to his accounts of ballgames."