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'Ready, You're on the Air'

Silly Putty

Then there was the case of Crimson middle-guard Tom McConnell. Because of a typo, McConnell was listed on the Holy Cross press notes at 2345 pounds. Thus, when McConnell made a tackle late in the first half, the WCHC guy said, "...and that hit is made by 2345-pound Tom McConnell. Man, that lineman out there is big. He must really have been hitting the weights this summer--imagine that, Harvard has a defensive lineman who actually weighs more than one ton. What do you think?" he said, turning to his color man.

"I dunno--I guess it's no surprise that Harvard's off to such a great start this year. That McConnell kid really takes up a lot of room in the middle of the line."

At one point in the broadcast, the announcers repeated a stat from the Harvard radio announcers who were sitting on the other side of them. "That statistic comes from the Harvard radio team," the WCHC guy said. "They knew it because they came to this game well-prepared, and we didn't know it because, well, we didn't." WCHC--Listen... or Don't.

WCHC's crowning moment came late in the game, after Crimson cornerback Jim Smith made his second interception of the day. The announcers had had trouble all day confusing Smith (number 14) with Harvard receiver Neil Phillips (number 15). Phillips had been credited with a number of pass deflections, and Smith with a number of receptions. The announcers credited Phillips with Smith's first pick-off.

Anyway, the WCHC call went something like this on Smith's second interception: "Okay, there's a pass downfield and... it's picked off by Phillips. Phillips with the ball, and now he's running back downfield."

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But at this point the guy realized his error, and with perfect aplomb he said, "Oh, and Phillips laterals to Smith, and now he's running downfield..."

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