MOBILE, AL (WNSP) — The Voice of the Crimson Tide joined the Opening Kickoff Friday morning.
Alabama announcer Eli Gold spoke with Mark and Lee about his broadcast career. Lee asked Gold what the No. 1 “defining moment” in his career would be.
“I don’t know,” Gold said. “There are so many. You know, that first win down at Jordan-Hare was big. Of course, I’ve been lucky enough to broadcast five national championship games and be on the winning side of all of those.
“The Terrence Cody block against Tennessee. The block that sealed the national championship. I always think back to that game in Jackson, Mississippi, when Alabama trailed 21-0 almost instantly to Ole Miss, and then ran off 62 points in a row.”
Gold also said fans’ frustration toward broadcasting doesn’t bother him any more.
“I quickly set people straight,” he said. “The great Verne (Lundquist) once told me, ‘the greatest compliment I can get when a telecast is over is when both fanbases are upset with me. The game is over. Alabama fans thought I was pulling against Alabama, and the LSU fans thought I was pulling against LSU.
“‘Which, tells me I was right down the middle and I satisfied my bosses, who are the folks worried about the game in all 50 states.'”
Gold said the visual comparisons between Lundquist and himself have been nothing but humorous. The two have a “genuine friendship.”
“A couple of weeks ago, he was driving from Tuscaloosa back to Atlanta,” Gold said. “They need gas in the rental car, so they stopped in Leeds at a little gas station right off Interstate 20. The proprietor came running up and said, ‘I can’t believe I’ve got Eli Gold at my gas station.'”
Gold said the interactions go both ways, too.
“I went into a Waffle House not long ago, and the waitress said, ‘Now tell me, how do they decide which games you do on television for CBS, and which games you do on radio for the Alabama folks?'” he said. “Long story made even longer, I wanted to give him a memento for his last trip into Tuscaloosa. What you get the guy? The man, God bless him, he’s made a lot of money.
“He has everything he needs.”
Gold got him a t-shirt with a picture of the two men, checkmark boxes, and text that read, “Who’s who?” Unfortunately, Gold said there were none going for sale.
“There was a grand total of a dozen that were made,” he said. “I kept two for myself, and I gave the other ten to the CBS crew.”
Listen to the full interview below. For more, check out Opening Kickoff with Mark and Lee weekday mornings from 6 to 9 a.m.
