STARKVILLE — Mississippi State lost its strongest voice Sunday.
Jack Cristil, who served as MSU’s play-by-play announcer for football and basketball for 58 years, passed away Sunday at the Sanctuary Hospice House of Tupelo. Cristil, who suffered from cancer and kidney disease, was 88.
“Jack Cristil connected with generations of Bulldog fans and remains an icon for all who love the maroon and white,” MSU Director of Athletics Scott Stricklin said. “No school’s broadcaster was as synonymous with their institution as Jack Cristil was with MSU. Jack’s passing leaves a large void, but I think all Mississippians appreciated his dedication and talent, and Jack will always be the Voice of the Bulldogs.”
Born Jacob Sanford Cristil in Memphis in 1925, Cristil’s association with MSU began in 1953, one month after the young broadcaster sent an audition tape to C.R. “Dudy” Noble, then MSU’s Athletic Director. A month later, Cristil found himself in the booth calling the action for the Bulldogs for the first time on Sept. 19, 1953. That game, a 34-6 MSU win, launched a career that featured Cristil on the call for 636 football games in the next 58 years. His final football game was a win, MSU’s 52-14 romp of Michigan in the 2011 Gator Bowl.
Concurrently with his football duties, Cristil was also the voice of MSU basketball. Taking over the microphone for Bulldog basketball games in 1957, Cristil would call more than 900 games, taking his career total past the 1,500 mark. He was also the voice for a number of historic MSU moments, including the Bulldogs’ 1996 victory against Cincinnati in the Elite Eight that sent the men’s basketball team to the school’s only Final Four appearance.
On the football side, Cristil’s work in MSU’s 6-3 victory against No. 1 Alabama is still played during MSU’s pregame introductions 34 years later.
“As a lifelong Bulldog, my heart is heavy at learning of the passing of legendary MSU broadcaster Jack Cristil,” MSU President Mark E. Keenum said. “Jack’s deep love of this university was always evident in his words and in his deeds. He was a tireless ambassador for Mississippi State and he brought great honor and distinction to our university as one of the most revered radio announcers in American history. I join every member of the Bulldog family in extending our sincere respects and deepest sympathies to his daughters, Kay and Rebecca, and to his grandchildren, Jake and Lindsey. Surely, Jack’s remarkable life and work is now forever wrapped in Maroon and White.”
Honors galore
Cristil, who was present in the broadcast booth for nearly 60 percent of all MSU football games ever played, was highly decorated during his career, which spanned six decades. His most recent honor was the Lindsey Nelson Award, given annually to the nation’s premier sports broadcaster.
He was honored with the prestigious College Football Foundation Chris Schenkel Award in 1997 for excellence in college sports broadcasting. Nelson and Schenkel were longtime national award-winning broadcasters. In 1992, Cristil received the Ronald Reagan Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Sportscasters and Sportswriters.
A member of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and the Mississippi State Sports Hall of Fame, Cristil was named the Mississippi Sportscaster of the year 21 times, and he was named the Southeastern Conference’s Broadcaster of the Year in 1988.
Prior to his lengthy MSU career, Cristil was a veteran of World War II and worked in advertising at WELO Radio and WTVA-TV in Tupelo, his adopted hometown for the final 59 years of his life.
“Jack Cristil was a courageous, tenacious man possessed of a great love for Mississippi State University,” said MSU Chief Communications Officer Sid Salter, who penned Cristil’s autobiography, which was published shortly after his retirement in 2011. “His tired body finally failed Jack, but his keen mind and that great staccato baritone voice never failed him. I count his friendship as a tremendous gift to me and to my family. We all loved him.”
Cristil is survived by daughters Kay Cristil Clouatre, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Rebecca Cristil Nelson (Andrew), of Tupelo; and grandchildren Jake Clouatre, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Lindsey Newhall of Tupelo. He is also survived by two sisters, Zelda Cristil Esgro, of St Louis, Missouri, and Miriam “Mimi” Cristil Lapides, of West Palm Beach, Florida, and a number of nieces and nephews.
Cristil was preceded in death by his wife of 33 years, Mavis Kelly Cristil, in 1988. He was also preceded in death by his parents, Mollie Kabakoff Cristil and Benjamin Herman Cristil, of Memphis, by a sister, Charlotte Cristil Hiller, and by brothers Harold Cristil and Stanley Cristil.
As of late Sunday night, funeral arrangements were incomplete. But in a release shortly after Cristil’s death, the university indicated a public memorial service on campus is planned.
On its official school website, www.hailstate.com, MSU posted a full tribute to Cristil late Sunday night. It included archived photos, a tribute video and links to dozens of his trademark calls. That list included the final 90 seconds of his second-to-last basketball game in 2011, the night he announced his pending retirement due to kidney disease.
“I have been privileged and blessed for the past 58 years to have had the opportunity to represent Mississippi State University as their broadcaster for football and basketball,” Cristil said. “All good things, as they say in the trade, have to come to an end sooner or later. And please accept my sincere, my genuine, my fondest and heartfelt thank you for all the kindnesses you have displayed to me over these past 58 years. It has been one genuine pleasure to be associated with such a magnificent university as this, with its administration, its faculty, its students and the Mississippi State family. The Mississippi State University family is second to none, and as family, I know you understand. Thank you very much, and may God’s rich blessings be upon you and your family. Thank you.”
Cristil’s last broadcast came on Feb. 26, 2011, in a game at Tennessee. MSU won 60-59, prompting Cristil to sign off for the last time with his trademark phrase, “You can wrap this one in maroon and white.”
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.