J.C. Politz (1924-2006) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

sportscaster best known for calling games for the Southern Jaguars football team,

LSU Tigers The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers (also known as the Fighting Tigers) are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in Division I of the National Collegiat ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

teams and

St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) From 1960 to 1987, the professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals played in St. Louis, Missouri, as the St. Louis Cardinals. The team moved from Chicago to St. Louis in 1960, and played their first home game ther ...

. He also called games for the

Tulane Green Wave The Tulane Green Wave are the athletic teams that represent Tulane University, located in New Orleans, Louisiana. Tulane competes in NCAA Division I as a member of the American Athletic Conference (The American). There are 14 Green Wave interc ...

Southeastern Louisiana Lions The Southeastern Louisiana Lions and Lady Lions are composed of 14 teams representing Southeastern Louisiana University in intercollegiate athletics, competing in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and are members of the ...

, Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles,

New Mexico Lobos The New Mexico Lobos are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of New Mexico, located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque. The university participates in the NCAA Division I in the Mountain West Conference (MW) since 1999 ...

and

New Orleans Privateers The New Orleans Privateers are the intercollegiate athletic teams of the University of New Orleans (also known locally as UNO), located in the Lake Terrace/Lake Oaks neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The Privateers compete i ...

Biography

J.C. Politz was born on December 2, 1924, in

Napoleonville, Louisiana Napoleonville, is a village and the parish seat of Assumption Parish, in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The population was 660 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Pierre Part Micropolitan Statistical Area. The village is best known as the loc ...

. He was a gunner on a B-24 flying over Europe in World War II. After the war, he attended

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

and graduated in 1953. He worked at several radio stations and

WBRZ-TV WBRZ-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States, affiliated with ABC. The station is owned by the Manship family, who formerly published the Baton Rouge daily newspaper, ''The Advocate'', and is one of a han ...

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

. His first job calling games was with the Southern Jaguars in the mid-1950s. After the 1958 season, John Ferguson left LSU and Politz was hired for the 1959 football season to broadcast LSU football and men's basketball. During the 1959 football season, Politz called what could arguably be one of the more memorable plays in college football history. He was the radio announcer during

Billy Cannon's Halloween run During a college football game on Halloween night in 1959, Billy Cannon of Louisiana State University (LSU) returned a punt 89 yards for a touchdown against the Ole Miss Rebels. The return occurred late in the fourth quarter and provided the only ...

versus

Ole Miss OLE, Ole or Olé may refer to: * Olé, a cheering expression used in Spain * Ole (name), a male given name, includes a list of people named Ole * Overhead lines equipment, used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains Co ...

. Politz remained at LSU through the 1960 season before John Ferguson returned for 1961. After leaving LSU, Politz spent three years calling St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) football games for

KMOX KMOX (1120 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio station in St. Louis, Missouri, owned by Audacy, Inc. The station is a 50,000 watt List of North American broadcast station classes, Class A clear-channel station with a omnidirectional ante ...

-AM before returning to Baton Rouge. He called games for the Tulane Green Wave, Southeastern Louisiana Lions, Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles, New Mexico Lobos and New Orleans Privateers. He returned to Southern University in the 1990s and called his final game on November 30, 2002, in the

Bayou Classic The Bayou Classic is an annual college football classic rivalry game between the Grambling State University Tigers and the Southern University Jaguars, first held under that name in 1974 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, although the series ...

. Politz died in 2006 at the age of 81 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Politz, J.C. 1924 births 2006 deaths NFL announcers American radio sports announcers College basketball announcers in the United States College football announcers Louisiana State University alumni LSU Tigers men's basketball announcers LSU Tigers football announcers St. Louis Cardinals (football) announcers Southern Jaguars football

Biography

See also

References