Jack Cristil
Jack Cristil
Voice of the MSU Bulldogs, Revised Edition
Jack Cristil (1925-2014) was a Southeastern Conference icon and the Voice of Bulldog athletics for more than five decades. In this biography, Cristil’s remarkable life and career is shared with all Bulldog fans. Authored by Mississippi journalist Sid Salter with a foreword by distinguished Mississippi State University alum John Grisham, the book originally sold over 10,000 copies and raised over $170,000 for the Jacob S. “Jack” Cristil Scholarship in Journalism at MSU.
With a fifty-eight-year association with MSU, Cristil was the second-longest tenured college radio play-by-play announcer in the nation at the time of his 2011 retirement. During his legendary career as the Voice of the Bulldogs, Cristil called 636 football games since 1953. That’s roughly 60 percent of all the football games played in school history. He was in his 54th season as the men’s basketball play-by-play voice, having described the action of almost 55 percent of all the men’s basketball games. In all, Cristil shared with Bulldog fans across the Magnolia State and around the world more than 1,500 collegiate contests. Central to Cristil’s inspiring story was his upbringing in Memphis as the son of first-generation Russian-Jewish immigrants. This paperback edition is updated with new material covering Cristil’s death and memorial service, with additional post-retirement and memorial photos.
Jack Cristil has been such an important part in the fabric of the culture of the state of Mississippi, not just Mississippi State University, for an amazingly long run. He’s been the consummate professional, and I consider myself very lucky to have had the opportunity to work with him. He is a legend, and he will always be ‘The Voice of the Bulldogs.'
Jack Cristil isn’t just any broadcaster. He is an MSU icon. Cristil is the most beloved individual in the history of Mississippi State football—and all sports. Period.
Jack’s signature call of ‘Wrap it in Maroon and White' after a Bulldog victory and his skill at calling action on the field and court made him a legendary figure among sports fans and broadcasters far and wide. Jack has earned a spot in the collegiate sports history books and, more importantly, he will always have a special place in the hearts of all in the Bulldog family.
It’s been an honor and pleasure to have the opportunity to work with a legend such as Jack Cristil, the greatest sports announcer of all time. I consider Jack a close friend, and I will dearly miss our pregame and post-game conversations. There will never be another one like him.
Sid Salter is Chief Communications Officer at Mississippi State University. And, he has been a Mississippi syndicated political columnist for more than thirty years.
