WBRS Sports Blog

Here is more love for Gus Johnson courtesy of our guest blogger Ted, who calls his home A Price Above Bip Roberts. However lately he has been spending the night at our house a lot.

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"In his neighborhood," Gus Johnson told us of Louisville frosh guard Edgar Sosa right off the opening tip of their game with Texas A&M Saturday night, "if you're tough, they call you tigre - the tiger."

This piece of information would become central to understanding the brilliance of Johnson throughout what is ostensibly, and sadly, his final game for CBS this season. Rumor has it the four Regionals will be called by announcing duos of Nantz/Packer, Enberg/Bilas, Lundquist/Raftery, and Brown/Elmore. Last year, of course, Johnson/Elmore called Oakland, resulting in the seminal Gus moment - "A STEAL! STEAL BY FARMAR! FRESHMAN MOUTE!" etc.

See, as the latter Lexington second-round game progressed, Gus built himself to a boil with this "Tigre" stuff. Sosa drove the lane a couple of times - simple stuff, really - and Gus would drop his token "Got it!" with an occasional "Tigre" reference tossed in, casually. You knew, though - if you know Gus like we do at AA - that he was building to an unforgettable, climatic moment. And he was.

With about 7:00 left and the game knotted at 56-56 all, Sosa had the ball out behind the three point line. "Sosa... STOPS and STARTS..." said Johnson, his voice rising from beagle pup to rabid dog as he intoned each syllable. Sosa would kick the ball to the wing. The three attempt would be bricked, but Louisville would grab the rebound and kick it back to the frosh. He let one fly - Gus let us know with his voice rising to an almost incoherent mess with those exact words, "LETS IT FLY" - and then, the kicker.

The shot, of course, went in. Louisville 59, Texas A&M 56.

"TTTTTTTIIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEE!"

Johnson let it rip, almost primally, and I imagine Dan Bonner let out a little yelp. Johnson punctuated it - he always does - with a little "EDGAR SOSA! THE BRONX, NEW YORK! RICE HIGH SCHOOL!" - but the moment had already reached mythical levels. Sosa is now, and will always be, The Tiger. He could go pro this June, have a middling pro career with the Grizzlies as a second rounder always coming off the bench, and I'd always refer to him as "The Tiger," despite my friends mocking me. I still call Moute "a freshman," even though he's not. I just can't get Gus screaming "FRESHMAN MOUTE!" out of my head.

That's the true magic of Johnson, which was on display in the earlier game, the "Battle for the Buckeye State" (as Johnson called it at least three times, in between telling us how close Thad Matta and Sean Miller are - "They're BEST friends") between Xavier and Ohio State. Xavier had the lead because of Drew Lavender and others - his fall away three to give them a 11 point lead resulted in some screeching and indiscernible words, and led me to wonder whether Dan Bonner continually keeps popping the top on Red Bulls at the desk. When Ohio State made their run, Gus built to a climax, which came - naturally - with the Ron Lewis three ball to tie.

After screaming something no one will ever be able to decipher, Johnson said, in a low, eerie voice, "We're going to OVER TIME," then came back in a voice similar to Dirk the Clown and said, "IN LEXINGTON!" Then, he began laughing - a psuedo manic, "I might kill Steve Tasker in his sleep at the hotel this fall" kind of way. "HA HA!" he said. "College basketball! HA HA! CBS Sports! HA HA! This is March Madness!" They went to commercial.

If that's not used on every single CBS college hoops promo for the next three years - if it doesn't replace "By George, do you believe in miracles!" by this Thursday - it's a crime, and frankly, Sean McManus should be fired.

There you have it: the broadcaster for the ages at an arena for the ages, calling a few second-round games for the ages (er, at least this year). Enjoy James Brown, everybody. If him and Elmore go West, and a Kansas vs. UCLA Regional Final is as good as it might be, pour one out for your homie G. Johnson. He should be calling it. Because, honestly, someone back in the hood probably has a nickname for Darren Collison, and to hear it bellowed at 100 decibels during a second overtime of a game with a trip to the Final Four on the line? Priceless.