Musburger

"You can cut a snake's head off, but he continues to live!" - Brent Musburger, 1997 Rose Bowl

A single sentence that haunts me to this day. I watched that Rose Bowl game, only interested in the outcome because, my team, the Florida Gators, stood to have a chance at the MNC of college football, only if Ohio State could somehow manage to beat Jake "the snake" Plummer and Arizona State. At that moment, his statement, while perplexing, indicated the Gators' chance of getting the title was small as ASU had just gone ahead with time dwindling in the game. After OSU answered to take the lead, it dawned on me how weird that exclamation was.

Did Musburger have inside information the Plummer was some alien species? Had he actually practiced that line ahead of time (a la Al Michaels in the 1980 Olympic Hockey game between the USA and USSR) in the event the Plummer would lead ASU to an important late game score? Was Brent a closet biology buff who wanted to show his prowess for knowing that dead snakes may not exactly be dead?

Ever since then, if Musburger is announcing a game, I find myself remembering that quote. Obsessive? Perhaps, but as obsessions go, it doesn't interfere with my day-to-day life.

One weird thing about Musburger is that he really evokes some primal responses in folks. a friend once referred to him as "Musfucker" when she didn't like his characterization of her team during a game. Needless to say, holiday cards were not sent to him that year either.