Jack Cristil

Jacob Sanford "Jack" Cristil (December 10, 1925 – September 7, 2014) was the long-time radio voice of Mississippi State University Bulldog men's basketball and football. Over his 58-year tenure (1953–2011), Cristil called 636 football games (or roughly 63% of all football games played by Mississippi State) and 1,538 basketball games (or roughly 55% of all basketball games played by Mississippi State).

Early life and career

Born in Memphis, Tennessee to Latvian and Russian Jewish immigrants, Cristil listened to radio stations from Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Chicago at a young age and knew then he wanted to be a radio broadcaster.

In 1947, Cristil studied Broadcast Journalism at the University of Minnesota before moving back home to Memphis. Shortly thereafter, Cristil began his radio play-by-play career calling Minor League Baseball in various places such as Jackson, Tennessee; Anniston, Alabama; and Memphis, Tennessee. He then moved to Clarksdale, Mississippi, to call Clarksdale High School football games.