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In Verne Lundquist's final Masters moment, the hour belonged to him

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In Verne Lundquist's final Masters moment, the hour belonged to him

Of course, you know the calls. Verne Lundquist provided the soundtrack for so many iconic sports moments, from Jack Nicklaus’ 17th-hole birdie putt at the 1986 Masters (“Yes, sir!”) to Christian Laettner’s jumper at the buzzer in the 1992 NCAA Tournament (“Yes!”) to Tiger Woods’ famed chip at No. 16 at the 2005 Masters (“In your life, have you seen anything like that?!”) to Auburn’s kick-six in the 2013 Iron Bowl (“An answered prayer!”). So many more, too.

But here is something you may not know: On the night of Nov. 22, 1963, Lundquist was just a 23-year-old weekend sportscaster on television and afternoon disc jockey at KTBC-AM-FM-TV, an Austin, Texas, radio-television station owned by Lyndon Johnson and his wife, Lady Bird. That evening, he volunteered to drive CBS News correspondent David Schoumacher and two other CBS staffers the 60 miles from Austin to Johnson City so they could interview friends, relatives and high school classmates of Johnson, who would soon become President of the United States. He never forgot that night. How could you?

But my favorite Verne story is how he met his wife, Nancy. It’s one he told me many years ago for a Sports Illustrated piece. Here it is, in his own words:

We met in a bar — and I hasten to add it was an upscale bar in Dallas. It was a place called Arthur’s. I walked in after I did the 10 o’clock news (at WFAA-TV in Dallas) and I just didn’t want to go home. Nancy and her date were at the bar and her date recognized me from local television and invited me over to have a drink. He introduced me to his date and her name was Nancy Miller. It was their first date, a blind date. So we sat and chatted and her date, Raymond Willie, said to me, “Listen, I know you are single. I’m going to fix you up with a friend of mine and we can all go to dinner.” He looked at Nancy and asked her, “What are you doing Thursday night?” She said, “Nothing.” He said, “Good, you’ll be my date and we’ll fix Verne up with this schoolteacher friend of mine and we’ll go to dinner.” Meanwhile, I’m looking at Nancy thinking she is the prettiest thing I have ever seen in my life. So, Raymond finally left to take care of his business and I asked Nancy, “So, how involved are you with Raymond?” She said, “Oh, this is our first date and it’s a blind date.” So I said, “Well, forget what he is talking about on Thursday night. What are you doing on Saturday night?” She said, “I think I am doing whatever you are doing.”

On Sunday afternoon, Lundquist signed off the air for the final time at CBS Sports after working his 40th Masters, a nice round number that he felt, at age 83, was the way to go out.

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“(CBS Sports chairman) Sean (McManus) and I had a conversation a couple of years ago about what would be the proper time to exit stage left, and he and I agreed that 40 had a nice round feel to it and that we would exit from the Masters and CBS at the end of the second week in April this year,” Lundquist said on a recent conference call. “I’ve got so many wonderful memories tied up with our visits to Augusta.”

It was an emotional week at Augusta for the CBS Sports staff because of the retirements of Lundquist and McManus, and Lundquist got so many flowers from various places over this weekend, including Augusta National, ESPN, The Washington Post, and Golf Digest. CBS Sports ran a tribute featuring Verne and Nancy standing on the hole where we often heard him — No. 16.

“They celebrated their 42nd wedding anniversary this week at the Masters,” host Jim Nantz said of the couple as CBS came out of the video tribute. “And we will be celebrating you for as long as there is a Masters Tournament, Verne Lundquist.”

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Lundquist already had a successful career before reaching the network level. He was the radio voice of the Dallas Cowboys from 1972-84 and the sports director for WFAA-TV in Dallas. The “SEC on CBS” job was the first as a lead broadcaster for Lundquist, who has worked for ABC Sports and Turner Sports in addition to CBS. McManus offered Lundquist the play-by-play role for SEC football in 2000, which soon became a big deal because of the SEC’s explosion nationally. It changed how sports fans saw him too.

“(CBS) lost the NFL to Fox in 1994, and I stayed at CBS for one year after that, and then a wonderful guy, the late Mike Pearl who was our executive producer of the Olympics, went to Turner Sports and invited me to come over there and I did for two years,” Lundquist said. “I’ll never forget we were in Nagano, Japan, and CBS had reacquired the rights to the NFL. Sean came up to me … before the men’s (figure skating) championships. We had about six or seven minutes to chat, and he tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘Are you ready to come home?’ That’s probably the greatest question I’ve ever received in my life. So I came back, and of course, got back in the Masters rotation. It’s been a great run. Hey, I’m 83 years old. I’ve been blessed to have a sensational professional life and a wonderful personal life. I wasn’t the first to say this, but thanks for the memories.”

In 2016, I traveled to Baton Rouge to watch Lundquist and the CBS SEC football group work in Lundquist’s last season. What I saw in person was how much the people around him cared for him. He was 76 at the time, and the crew looked after him as if he were a father figure.

“He’s the exact same Uncle Verne that I knew back in 1985, the first time I met him,” said Nantz. “Of course, I was very familiar with him before I joined the CBS team. We were assigned to a Christmas Day football game (the Blue-Gray Football Classic) in 1985. I was in my mid-20s, and I found myself working a show with Verne Lundquist. That’s really big. I was nervous about it. The night before the game, Verne and Nancy invited me to join them for dinner, which meant a lot. In a lot of ways, I think that kind of showed me what the CBS culture was about, how you act as a teammate. … Verne unknowingly was mentoring me even back then on how to be inclusive, be kind, be caring, treat people like family. It meant a lot.”

It was lovely to hear Lundquist’s call one last time as Ludvig Åberg, Max Homa, Collin Morikawa and Scottie Scheffler each hit No. 16 in the 6 p.m. ET hour. At 6:30 p.m., as Morikawa and Scheffler received large applause from the crowd walking No. 16, Nantz said, “And Verne, that crowd could just as well be standing for you.”

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There was Verne with one last birdie call when Scheffler took a 4-stroke lead.

“The hour belongs to Scottie Scheffler,” Lundquist said as the eventual Masters champion left the hole, but he really could have been talking about himself.


In the post-Caitlin Clark era, how can women’s college basketball keep TV momentum? Here’s my piece on it.


A trio of sports media podcasts that might interest you:

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• A conversation with ESPN’s vice president of brand strategy and content research Flora Kelly. Kelly explains her role at ESPN, how that informs the company, how her research team works, and the macro trends she sees in sports in 2024.

• A conversation with James Andrew Miller, the best-selling author of books on CAA, ESPN, “Saturday Night Live,” and HBO. Miller discusses ESPN’s Norby Williamson, who had his hand in almost all parts of ESPN’s content and business areas, from programming, production and news during his nearly four decades at ESPN.

• A conversation with Jon Lewis, the founder and editor of Sports Media Watch. Lewis discusses viewership for the women’s and men’s tournaments.


Some things I read over the last week that were interesting to me (Note: there are a lot of paywalls here):

• The best piece I have read this month — Forsaken: 14 years, 140 officers and a dark secret that consumed a small Ontario town. How the Lucas Shortreed case was solved. By Jon Wells of The Hamilton Spectator.

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• Kentucky accused of “complicity” as former swim coach allegedly committed sexual violence. By Katie Strang of The Athletic.

• A narco revolt takes a once-peaceful nation to the brink. By Samantha Schmidt and Arturo Torres of The Washington Post.

• Masters of the Green: The Black Caddies of Augusta National. By Latria Graham of Garden and Gun.

• O.J. Simpson’s Hall of Fame spot may be assured, but there’s no rule against some context. By Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports.

• What happens if a generation of sports fans is swallowed up by gambling? By Steve Buckley of The Athletic.

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• Inside Amazon’s Push to Crack Trader Joe’s — and Dominate Everything. By Dana Mattioli of The Wall Street Journal.

• To Build Muscle, It’s the Sets That Count. By Alex Hutchinson of Outside.

• America’s Next Soldiers Will Be Machines. By Jack Detsch of Foreign Policy.

• Fifty years later, Henry Aaron’s legacy lives on in Atlanta and beyond. By Michael Lee of The Washington Post.

• A Vigilante Hacker Took Down North Korea’s Internet. Now He’s Taking Off His Mask. By Andy Greenberg of Wired.

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• Test Your Exercise I.Q. The New York Times

• The Key Detail Missing From the Narrative About O.J. and Race. By Joel Anderson of Slate.

• Caitlin Clark delivered a winning segment on “Saturday Night Live.

• Did One Guy Just Stop a Huge Cyberattack? By Kevin Roose of The New York Times.

• How AI could transform baseball forever. By Josh Tyrangiel of The Washington Post.

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• What Happened to Damages That O.J. Simpson Owed to the Victims’ Families? By Anna Betts of The New York Times.

(Photo of Verne Lundquist at Augusta National Golf Club in 2012: Augusta National / Getty Images)

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Eagles grind out low-scoring victory over Packers to win third straight game

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Eagles grind out low-scoring victory over Packers to win third straight game

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It was another primetime slog for the NFL, but the Philadelphia Eagles don’t mind coming away with a 10-7 victory on “Monday Night Football.”

The Eagles improved to 7-2 on the season as they came off their bye week and earned a road victory. Meanwhile, the Packers have lost back-to-back home games to fall to 5-3-1.

It was the first time since the Houston Texans and New York Jets met on Dec. 23, 2023, that an NFL game was scoreless at halftime. And the final result was the same as the Denver Broncos-Las Vegas Raiders game on “Thursday Night Football,” which kicked off the Week 10 slate. 

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Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles looks to pass during an NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on Nov. 10, 2025 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Michael Owens/Getty Images)

The Eagles finally broke through on the opening drive of the second half, as Jalen Hurts connected with Dallas Goedert on multiple passes to reach the red zone. The drive stalled after a delay of game on third-and-long, leading to a 39-yard Jake Elliott field goal.

Given how the game was going, a 3-0 lead felt much larger than usual. But the Eagles eventually found the end zone in the fourth quarter after Saquon Barkley caught a short pass near the line of scrimmage on third-and-7.

NFL FANS SKEWER BRONCOS-RAIDERS GAME AMID LISTLESS OFFENSIVE PERFORMANCES

Barkley signaled to Hurts, knowing he had daylight if he could make one Packers defender miss. He hit a quick spin move, stayed in stride and sprinted down the left sideline. With A.J. Brown blocking in front, Barkley appeared to have a chance to score until his former New York Giants teammate Xavier McKinney brought him down after a 41-yard gain.

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Just one play later, Hurts dropped back and took his first deep shot of the game — and it paid off. DeVonta Smith timed his jump perfectly, hauling in a 36-yard touchdown pass over Packers safety Evan Williams to make it 10-0 after Elliott’s extra point.

The Packers, who had been shut out despite multiple trips into Eagles territory, knew they had to respond. Jordan Love led an 11-play drive capped by Josh Jacobs’ six-yard touchdown run, cutting the deficit to three.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love (10) is tackled by. Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Zack Baun (53) in the second half at Lambeau Field on Nov. 10, 2025. (Jeff Hanisch/Imagn Images)

With momentum on their side, the Packers got the stop they needed to give Love one final chance. Starting at their own 10-yard line, Green Bay faced a crucial fourth-and-1 at its own 44. Jacobs fumbled under pressure behind the line, and Philadelphia recovered. Even if Jacobs had converted, an illegal formation penalty would have negated the play.

The Eagles chose to go for it on fourth-and-6 after forcing the Packers to use their timeouts. Though Brown appeared to have a chance at a game-sealing touchdown, Hurts’ pass was underthrown, giving Green Bay a slim chance for a last-second drive.

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Love moved the offense just far enough to set up a 64-yard field goal attempt that would have been the longest ever made at Lambeau Field. But Brandon McManus missed badly, and the Eagles celebrated as frustrated murmurs echoed through the Green Bay crowd.

In the box score, Love — playing without tight end Tucker Kraft for the remainder of the season and losing receiver Romeo Doubs to injury midway through the game — finished 19-of-32 for 158 yards. Jacobs rushed for 75 yards on 21 carries.

DeVonta Smith of the Philadelphia Eagles catches a 36 yard touchdown pass against Evan Williams of the Green Bay Packers during the fourth quarter in the game at Lambeau Field on Nov. 10, 2025 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)

For the Eagles, Hurts went 15-of-26 for 183 yards and one touchdown while rushing for 27 yards. Barkley was limited to 60 rushing yards on 22 carries but contributed the 41-yard catch-and-run that set up the score. Smith led all receivers with four receptions for 69 yards and the lone touchdown.

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Luka Doncic underlines his 38-point night with monster dunk in Lakers’ win

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Luka Doncic underlines his 38-point night with monster dunk in Lakers’ win

For once, Luka Doncic had to serve the punishment. For not hitting any half-court shots during his pregame warmup, Doncic had to drop to the court and give his coaching staff push-ups.

The exercise seemingly powered him up for the two-handed dunk to come.

Doncic dazzled in the Lakers’ 121-111 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Monday at Spectrum Center, scoring 38 points with seven assists, six rebounds and one emphatic third-quarter dunk to help the Lakers flush the memories of a blowout loss in Atlanta.

“It was fun, not only because he got the dunk,” coach JJ Redick said, “but just him letting out some emotion.”

Doncic exorcised the demons of a 20-point loss to Atlanta on Saturday in which the Lakers (8-3) led for only 19 seconds and pulled the starters before the third quarter. He spent the majority of that game bickering with officials. He missed six three-pointers and had five turnovers.

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On Monday, Doncic was back to joking with Austin Reaves about who had the better deadball three-quarters-court heave after Reaves returned from a three-game absence with 24 points and seven assists.

“I was pushing him to get back,” said Doncic, who made a 70-foot shot after the whistle and wanted to make sure Reaves knew it was longer than his 50-footer. “I needed him back. … He’s an amazing player.”

Reaves, who was out because of a right groin strain, said he wanted to play against Atlanta but was held out for precautionary reasons. He played one minute and 25 seconds over his supposed 28-minute restriction Monday. Everything felt great, he said, except his jump shot.

When Doncic assisted him on a three-pointer with 8:01 remaining in the fourth, Reaves put his arms up and threw his head back in relief. He had missed his first seven three-point attempts and finished two for 10 from three-point range.

With Reaves’ return, the Lakers are one player closer to a healthy roster. LeBron James is scheduled to practice with the South Bay Lakers this week as he progresses through right sciatica.

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Rookie Adou Thiero (left knee surgery recovery) also is close to returning. Redick estimated the forward could make his NBA debut during the trip, which has three games remaining, starting Wednesday at Oklahoma City. The defending NBA champions are 10-1.

“They’re the No. 1 team right now,” forward Rui Hachimura said. “So we got to be ready for the war on Wednesday.”

Hachimura scored 21 points Monday with perfect three-for-three shooting from three-point range. In addition to seven steals from Marcus Smart, Hachimura quietly starred on defense, helping the Lakers hold the Hornets to 38 combined points in the second and third quarters.

Reaves announced his presence by throwing a lob to Deandre Ayton for the Lakers’ first basket. After Charlotte (3-7) blitzed the Lakers with eight three-pointers in the first quarter to take a 40-36 lead, Reaves answered by scoring seven of the Lakers’ first 10 points in the second. He gave the team a jolt of energy by racing for a transition layup to beat the halftime buzzer, giving the Lakers a two-point lead.

Lakers guard Austin Reaves shoots over Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges during the first half Monday.

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(Chris Carlson / Associated Press)

“He’s an All-Star-level player,” Redick said before the game. “He’s, along with Luka, an incredibly dynamic offensive player. I think our depth increases, the lineup optionality increases, so not having him in the lineup really, really hurts us.”

The Lakers went 2-1 in games without Reaves, but the blowout in Atlanta was so striking that Redick was left questioning the identity of his team. Redick waved the white flag by the middle of the third quarter after the starting unit let the deficit balloon to 25.

With Doncic and Reaves back, the Lakers wouldn’t repeat their third-quarter woes.

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The Lakers started the second half with an 11-4 run that forced the Hornets to call a timeout. Reaves then assisted on a three-pointer from Hachimura that pushed the lead into double digits. Doncic hit a step-back three to put the Lakers up by 12. Doncic’s assist to Hachimura extended the lead to 17.

A driving, two-handed dunk was the exclamation point, stunning the Charlotte crowd as Doncic hung on the rim and screamed for an and-one. Doncic can dunk, he insisted after the game.

“I just don’t want to all the time,” he added with a slight grin.

With two dunks this season — including a barely-there slam at home against Minnesota that his teammates don’t officially count — he already doubled his total from last season.

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“Finally,” Smart said. “The way he be getting by [defenders], he’s always acting. Might as well go and dunk it one time. I guess you gotta piss him off for that.”

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Chargers dismantle Steelers to win third straight game in dominant fashion

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Chargers dismantle Steelers to win third straight game in dominant fashion

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The Los Angeles Chargers put on a show for their home crowd, blowing out the Pittsburgh Steelers to collect a 25-10 win on “Sunday Night Football.”

Los Angeles moves to 7-3 on the year and 4-2 at home, while the Steelers fall to 5-4.

This game was a defensive battle on both sidelines throughout, but it was clear the Chargers were not going to let Aaron Rodgers get comfortable in his pocket. They left him just 16-of-31 for 161 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.

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Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers throws a pass against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the first quarter at SoFi Stadium on Nov. 9, 2025 in Inglewood, California. (Harry How/Getty Images)

Meanwhile, Justin Herbert was getting hit hard in his own pocket, as the Chargers are still working things out on the offensive line with Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater, their starting tackles, both out for the season. Herbert was sacked five times by the Steelers, including one by T.J. Watt as he comes just half-a-sack closer to tying his older brother, J.J. Watt’s, career total (114.5).

But Herbert was still the better quarterback in this game, as he threw for 220 yards, including a touchdown pass to his leading receiver, Ladd McConkey, with just 12 seconds to play in the first half.

STEELERS ADD SUPER BOWL CHAMPION WIDE RECEIVER TO TEAM

McConkey caught just four passes, but he finished the 107 yards after one of those went for 58 yards.

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That 58-yard catch-and-run by McConkey also set up an eventual touchdown run by Kimani Vidal, who certainly helped out Herbert a bit with successful run plays that kept the Steelers’ defense honest. Vidal finished with 95 yards on 25 carries.

Aaron Rodgers of the Pittsburgh Steelers is sacked by Khalil Mack #52 of the Los Angeles Chargers and fumbles the ball in the end zone for a safety during the first quarter at SoFi Stadium on Nov. 9, 2025 in Inglewood, California. (Harry How/Getty Images)

Rodgers was finally able to find the end zone late in the fourth quarter, as Roman Wilson took a slant 27 yards into the end zone to make it a 25-10 ball game. But Keenan Allen secured the onside kick attempt, and that ended any chance at a miracle for Pittsburgh.

Rodgers faced pressure throughout the night from the Chargers front, which included fumbling in his own end zone and luckily recovering the ball for only a safety instead of a fumble for a touchdown. 

With the loss for Pittsburgh, it’s an interesting look in the AFC North, as the Baltimore Ravens have now won three straight games after taking down the Minnesota Vikings on the road earlier on Sunday. They sit at 4-5, just one game behind the Steelers, and they will see each other for the first time on Dec. 7.

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Another interesting tidbit in this game was Allen, whose catch on the final Chargers drive gave him the most in Chargers history with 956. Legendary tight end Antonio Gates, who was on hand to watch Sunday night, was the man Allen passed with the reception.

Ladd McConkey of the Los Angeles Chargers celebrates a second quarter touchdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers at SoFi Stadium on Nov. 9, 2025 in Inglewood, California. (Harry How/Getty Images)

Looking more into the box score, Herbert was 20-for-33 for 220 yards while rushing for 19 yards on five carries. Quentin Johnston also had five receptions for 42 yards in the victory.

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