John Ward has passed away.

#26
#26
Greatest basketball announcer of all time anywhere! True Voice of the Vols. No one will ever come close. God bless him.
 
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#27
#27
Awful. Obviously growing up in Boston I didn’t get to hear a lot of his calls, but always understood what he meant to the program. I still have the old “Give Him Six” vhs that my dad bought me way back in the early 90’s.
 
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#30
#30
Damn. Just damn. Heartbroken.

[youtube]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oOXrjUGBIIM[/youtube]

Prayers to the Ward family. Godspeed!
 
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#34
#34
Wow. Memories flood back. One of my favorite things to do with my grandad was to turn the volume down and listen to John Ward instead.
 
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#35
#35
It's hard to explain to anyone under 30 but there was a time (even when we were very good) when most of our games were not on television... but that was okay because we had his voice. I remember hanging on his every word in the '82 Alabama game and feeling like I was there. An icon has left us.
 
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#36
#36
Sad I didn't get to experience more of him and his legendary voice. Born too late.

God rest his soul.
 
#37
#37
I wish he would’ve gotten another chance to see/call another NC. RIP to the goat, this sucks.
 
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#41
#41
A tremendous representative for the University of Tennessee, a great announcer, and a better man.


WGOD radio now boasts the best broadcast duo ever.
 

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#42
#42
This makes my heart hurt. Some of the best childhood memories I have are listening to John Ward call football and basketball games with my Dad including stopping Notre Dame 4 times on the goal line in '79.

He put you at the game and made you feel as though you were there. It felt like he was speaking to you directly. Though I did not know Mr. Ward I did have the pleasure of meeting him a couple of times when I was a child at Big Orange events in Memphis. Simply the best.
 
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#45
#45
wmcovol said:
Greatest basketball announcer of all time anywhere! True Voice of the Vols. No one will ever come close. God bless him.
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I don't think he's appreciated nearly enough for how good he was at basketball. His legacy is tied to the popularity of football, but he may be the best ever doing a basketball game. RIP to a good man.
 
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#46
#46
NorCalVol67 said:
This makes my heart hurt. Some of the best childhood memories I have are listening to John Ward call football and basketball games with my Dad including stopping Notre Dame 4 times on the goal line in '79.

He put you at the game and made you feel as though you were there. It felt like he was speaking to you directly. Though I did not know Mr. Ward I did have the pleasure of meeting him a couple of times when I was a child at Big Orange events in Memphis. Simply the best.
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Amazing how it also brings out memories of my Dad. We would sit in the living room and listen to basketball games with the lights out, letting him be our eyes. I was a kid, in the 1960s, back when Justis, Boerwinkle, England, Croft, Hahn, Widby and all those guys were playing.. Then when I was in school watching Bernie and Ernie.

I think he did basketball better than football honestly - understood the game. Loved when he yelled "BOTTOM"

Man this is a day I've been dreading. RIP John Ward.
 
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