Say what you want about Brent Musberger, but there's no one alive right now that I would rather have doing The Game on Saturday.

Nothing sends chills down my spine like the moment the ABC cameras switch to an aerial shot of either Michigan Stadium or The Shoe and Brent chimes in with his famous..."YOU...ARE...LOOKING LIIIIIVE" opening line.

That's the moment I've been waiting for since around 7:30 p.m. on November 18, 2006.

From there, it only gets better. Musberger is the antithesis of the modern-day football announcer, that is to say he's anything but boring and full of himself (cough Joe Buck cough).

Brent's never shy talking about anything from politics and TV shows to his penchant for throwing back a few brews after the game with the viewing audience. You know that just about everything he says is genuine, almost like he's just a long-time fan watching the game.

Then there's the voice. It's always brimming with excitement and Brent certainly has a flair for the dramatic. He can sense when the momentum's about to turn and when the big plays are about to take place, he reacts accordingly.

Of course, there are tons of people out there who will disagree with me. Most of them don't like Brent and claim he's biased against their team. This is an assertion I've seen on message boards of several different teams, especially Michigan's. Brent does go a little overboard in his reverence of the underdog and seems to root a bit for upsets sometimes, but most of his supposed "bias" can be chalked up to his tendency to ride the team that has the momentum on its side.

Fans like to be reassured and consoled a little bit when their teams start to falter, especially considering many of them have a lot of experience listening to local broadcasters who take the homer perspective, and they tend to get very frustrated when things don't go well and Musberger starts to praise the team that's inflicting the pain at the moment.

But what I like about Brent is that once the other team starts to play better, he reacts accordingly and goes crazy when they start to make their run, further adding to the tension and drama of the game.

Just how much do I enjoy listening to Musberger call a game? Well, perhaps my favorite sports call of all-time is his "HOOOOOLLLLY BUUUCCCKKKKEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYEEE" call in the OSU-Purdue game of 2002, and by now you all should know how much I hate Ohio State. He's just that good and he's part of the reason I can't wait for Saturday.

Long live Brent.

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Lloyds Apple said:

Dude, great and well-deserved article on Brent Musberger. In the Rose Bowl that pitted OSU vs. ASU, I could not stand Musberger with his, "Jake the Snake strikes again" call. But since then I've come to appreciate it whenever he calls a game. The dude is fun. Nobody better in the biz. But you are right, Keith Jackson is the man. BTW-it looks like you are leaving the shit talking to the podcast. Are you too good for that! What a bunch of crap. You are just like my other Michigan Frienemies.....you bastards! I also wanted to note I put this in the "kill the messenger" section. Even though you are praising him, I think it'll work. We had a "save the message" section too, but that sounds lame. Anyways, excellente!

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November 15, 2007
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joemama said:

	HOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLY BUUUCCCKKKEEEEEYYYYYEEEE sounds better then HOOOLLLY WOOOLLLLVVVEEERRRWWWIIIIIEEEEEENNNNNNEEEEE
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November 15, 2007
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wpeery said:

	Good article on Musberger Nick. I actually like him and I was with my dad and we saw him in the flesh in the lobby of a hotel in Charlottesville. He's one of the best in the business in my opinion. I'm a huge Ron Franklin fan and I love hearing him announce the play-by-by for the Iron Bowl(Alabama vs. Auburn). He's top notch.
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November 15, 2007
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ItOffishul77 said:

	DRAAAAGGGED DOWN....by EHHHHHHH-JAAAAAAY HAWWK. hooray buckeyes! just kidding, fuck em
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November 15, 2007
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JEH45 said:

	I like Brent also, and agree that Ron Franklin does great play by play.
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November 16, 2007
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ItOffishul77 said:

	save the message, haha save the last dance?
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November 16, 2007
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