For decades Mississippi State fans were thrilled when they heard their legendary play-by-play voice, Jack Cristil, close a rivalry game against Ole Miss with his signature call, “You can wrap this one in maroon and white.”
Sometimes Cristil didn’t get to make that call.
It was on those occasions that sisters Kay Cristil and Rebecca Cristil-Nelson, Jack’s children, remember approaching their Tupelo home with nervous anticipation.
The fear was that it would be wrapped in two-ply white.
“Our worst fear after losing to Ole Miss was getting to the corner of Marquette Street and Lumpkin, looking up and seeing that our yard was rolled. That would be more hell for us to pay listening to Daddy, and God forbid that they rolled the yard and it rained. Then we really got an earful,” Kay said.
Jack Cristil’s career is being remembered this month at the Oren Dunn Museum at Ballard Park in Tupelo as it partners with Mississippi State’s Archives and Special Collections.
The exhibit runs through Sept. 29.
A reception honoring Cristil’s legacy will be held at the museum Thursday from 6-9 p.m.
Cristil, a Memphis native, began calling football games at MSU in 1953. He added basketball duties a few years later and was on the air with the Bulldogs for 58 years.
A longtime employee of Tupelo radio station WELO-AM, he also called Tupelo High School football and basketball from 1955-1985.
What might visitors learn about the well-documented Cristil from the exhibit?
“I want them to know two things,” Rebecca said. “One, he put Mavis Cristil on a pedestal, and that’s exactly where she belonged. Two, he loved Tupelo, Mississippi. He was offered many positions over the years that I’m sure would have paid more. He and Mama would sit down and talk about it, and every time it came back to, ‘But can that city give our family and our girls what they can get right here in Tupelo, Mississippi?’ The answer was always no. Nothing was going to do what Tupelo could do.”
Kay and Rebecca absorbed their father’s love for sports if not his occasional combustible temperament or disgust for blown calls and game officials he deemed unfit.
When there weren’t games to be covered, evenings at home were often spent watching television in the den with the girls lying on the floor and Jack and Mavis watching nearby.
“Daddy wasn’t going to watch Sonny and Cher, but me and Momma vetoed him. He’d say, ‘I’m going to the kitchen,’” Kay recalled.
Jack’s preferred shows were All In The Family, M*A*S*H, Gunsmoke and Barney Miller.
When there were games to be watched, it was often done with the sound muted because Jack chose not to listen to broadcasters who may not be doing things the right way.
His opinions for game officials carried into the den.
Mavis responded at one point by making Jack a referee’s outfit with shirt, cap, whistle and a flag to throw.
Yes, he wore it.
“We still have the whistle and lanyard,” Kay said.
While Jack loved his community, he also was proud of his Jewish faith. Active in the Temple B’Nai Israel, he was known to host groups there and answer questions.
Jack stressed punctuality for his family, and if departure time was announced at 8 a.m., Mavis had the girls in the car at 7:45.
Football season often meant long trips to Jackson and familiar routines.
“If we lost, Kay and I were taught not to say a word in the car, so those trips back to Tupelo were silent,” Rebecca said. “First, getting out of the stadium he was going to get mad because they never let him go the way he wanted to go. It was like, ‘We’ve done this 1,500 times, Jack. You’re going to have to turn left.’”
The trip would get better, though, if Jack could find Tennessee football on the radio.
John Ward, the voice of the Vols, was one of those rare broadcasters who wasn’t muted in the Cristil family.
“I would pray, ‘Please let Daddy pick up John Ward.’ If he found a Tennessee game he would be fine because (Ward) was doing it ‘right,’” she said.
Rebecca would eventually write to Ward and share these stories.
“I told him about those long trips on the Natchez Trace and how glad I was to hear his voice. I opened the letter by saying, ‘You’re my second-favorite broadcaster.’”
The first spot was already taken.
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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 44 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
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