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Radio/TV
© St. Petersburg Times, published January 25, 2003
Go ahead and call Bucs radio voice Gene Deckerhoff a homer. He doesn't care. He has no plans to be any quieter, any less excited the next time he shouts out his signature calls:
Touchdoooooown, Taaaampa Bay!
Alstott up the gut!
Bucs win! Bucs win! Bucs win!
Deckerhoff plans on shouting all those to the heavens if he gets the chance Sunday when the Florida Sports Hall of Famer and eight-time Florida Sportscaster of the Year calls his first Super Bowl.
"It's probably going to get bigger and bigger as the week goes on here," Deckerhoff, also the voice of Florida State, said shortly after arriving Friday. "But I don't think I'll have stagefright when you put the microphone in front of me. We got our same crew and we've been to this press box before.
"But I certainly hope I don't lose my voice tonight like I did in 1999 and I was taking Chloraseptic lozenges to broadcast the FSU-Virginia Tech game."
If you like your games called purely from a Buccaneer fan's point of view rather than, say, from the observations of television broadcasters on Fox, ABC and CBS, then Deckerhoff is your man.
Criticized by some for talking too much about the Bucs, Deckerhoff confesses to throwing objectivity out the window a long time ago.
So when Joe Jurevicius breaks free against Philadelphia for the big catch, Deckerhoff hollers out, "You go, Joe."
"I used to be more objective in broadcasting but now I'm more subjective," Deckerhoff said. "I'm learning from Larry Munson, longtime voice of the Georgia Bulldogs."
That may make journalism professors cringe, but Deckerhoff and the entire crew of WQYK-AM 1010 and FM 99.5 wear their Bucs allegiance on their sleeves. At times, quite frankly, it can be grating, but it seems to work for Deckerhoff.
If you want yelling and screaming from your announcers, don't mind a little table banging and want to hear your Bucs referred to by first name Sunday, radio isn't such a bad alternative, even with the half-second delay.
"Munson, he was quoted in the (New Orleans) Times-Picayune at the Sugar Bowl this year and he said 20 years ago he stopped worrying about the other team," Deckerhoff said. "He said people don't listen to the Bulldog Radio Network to hear about John Doe that plays for Mississippi. They turn in to the Bulldog Network to hear about Billy Joe Bob, who's our middle linebacker and who's gonna knock somebody's helmet off. And that's why people listen to radio."
WHO DOES LISTEN?: WQYK is certain to get its biggest listening audience ever, but CBS Radio/Westwood One? Probably not, if Friday's news conference was any indication.
Although big names like Marv Albert, Boomer Esiason, Warren Moon, and Bonnie Bernstein were there, it drew all of two print journalists and a handful of disinterested TV cameras.
There's no competing with television when it comes to sport's biggest event, even if you can make a strong case, and they can, that Albert and Esiason are the best duo calling Monday night and Super Bowl games.
ALL-MADDEN ... BUS?: Although he left his yearly All-Madden Team back at Fox when he hopped networks, John Madden gives viewers a glimpse into his just-as-famous bus today on Season on the Bus: John Madden's Monday Night Football Experience on ABC from 2-3 p.m.
Cameras followed Madden, Al Michaels and Co. this season, and the special promises an "intimate look at America through John Madden's eyes."
Vernon Turner returns a punt 80 yards for a touchdown in 1994 against Detroit. Turner's touchdown return was the first in team history.
"I remember saying, 'There's history,' because it was historic. It was the first one. Of course, Karl (Williams) has done that about four times now."
Donald Igwebuike kicks a 28-yard field goal as time expires to give Bucs a 32-31 win over Chicago in 1989.
"We had always struggled against the Bears, and that win gave us a season sweep, I think for the first time."
The Bucs beat San Diego 25-17 in 1996, ending a 1-19 mark on the West Coast and a 10-game road losing streak.
"That game, more than any other, really started to turn things around for us."
The Bucs survive a last-second TD pass to beat Minnesota 20-17 in overtime in 1994
"I remember the overtime when the Vikings blew a punt (by Eric Guliford) and the Bucs recovered, and the next play Mike Husted kicked the winner (from 22 yards out)."
"We knocked out Steve Young, and then we knocked out Jerry Rice."
A 20-10 playoff win in 1997 against Detroit, the first since 1979.
"It was my first one. We didn't get to many of those (playoff games)."
Vinny Testaverde runs for 105 yards in a win over Minnesota in 1990.
"He had a (48)-yard run that is the longest ever by a Buc quarterback."