Play-by-Play Man for Cal Football Enters His 32nd Season Behind The Microphone
BY Gerald Nicdao
Daily Cal Staff Writer
If Joe Starkey had not been the radio announcer for the Cal football team for the 1982 Big Game, the contest would arguably not have been remembered in the same light that the six-lateral pass play that ended with Kevin Moehn crashing into a Stanford trombonist is now. Starkey's famous call has aided in the myth of what is now simply known as "The Play," but the 25-20 Bears' victory over Stanford isn't the only bit of Cal history Starkey has witnessed. Entering his 32nd year as the voice of Bears football, Starkey has experienced the many ups-and-downs of Cal football. Before the five consecutive losing seasons under Tom Holmoe beginning in 1997, the Bears captured the Copper Bowl ('90), Alamo Bowl ('93) and Citrus Bowl, when they went 10-2 in 1991. Starkey sat down with the Daily Californian to talk about the upcoming football season and other moments in Cal history.
The Daily Californian: "The Play" is the most exciting moment you've ever witnessed. What was the most heartbreaking?
Joe Starkey: We led the Huskies by four touchdowns into the second half in 1993 and (former Cal quarterback) Dave Barr got injured and he couldn't get back into the game. This had been the week after we had been down 31-0 to Oregon and we rallied to win. Now, we have this giant lead on the Huskies and if we had beat them we would have been serious Rose Bowl contenders. This game looked like it was over, and they came back and they beat us and they took that right away. There have been some other horrible ones. The UCLA game last year, I thought that we couldn't lose that game. We had a big lead, and we still lost.
DC: Other than the 1982 Big Game, what has been the most thrilling game you've witnessed?
JS: That Oregon victory, in 1993, was sensational. The USC game of three years ago, which went three overtimes, was about as exciting a college football game that I have seen.
DC: That win against the Trojans really pushed the Bears to national prominence. Now Cal has all this hype around it this year. Can the team live up to it?
JS: Yes, absolutely. I think they are loaded. They are as deeply talented a team offensively, defensively, special teams, with the size and the speed that I have seen in my era of doing Cal football. If the quarterback position is solid, then the Bears have every chance to go to the Rose Bowl.
DC: A few players have garnered preseason accolades, but tailback Marshawn Lynch is being mentioned for the Heisman Trophy. What are his chances?
JS: The team has to go 10-2 or 11-1. He's not a Heisman candidate if they don't get that kind of record and don't get a BCS bowl. If they can do that, and if they can beat USC-particularly if he has a big day-Marshawn has a great chance of winning the Heisman.
DC: You're also the voice for the San Francisco 49ers. Two years ago, the team had the chance to pick Aaron Rodgers with the No. 1 overall pick, but they picked Alex Smith instead. Did the 49ers make a mistake, and did you want to see Rodgers in a 49ers uniform?
JS: Well, it's hard to say they have made a mistake. Personally, I was hoping they were going to grab Rodgers. I knew him. I knew how badly he wanted to play in San Francisco. I was hoping for his sake that he would be the guy the 49ers would pick. Now the fact that they didn't is sad. It's a professional game, and he'll probably have a great career in Green Bay.
DC: Do you think that there will ever be a moment that will be on par or even greater than "The Play"?
JS: Well, for fans, that was a great moment. What they want now is the great game. They want to go to the Rose Bowl. Obviously, we would love a national championship, which with Jeff Tedford as head coach is not impossible. But at the moment, I think people would be thrilled to death if we win the Pac-10 and go to the Rose Bowl.
No comments:
Post a Comment