Hooks & Runs · A podcast about baseball, music and culture.

272 - The Spirit of Radio w/ Dave South

·51 min·3 clips

Dave South says Jackie Robinson made the Brooklyn Dodgers his team for life.

Craig and Rex talk with Dave South, the longtime voice of Texas A&M Aggie Athletics. South's 50-year sports-radio career, including 35 years as the voice of Aggie Athletics, gives the conversation its weight from the start. He retired in 2018. The discussion also reaches his 2019 book, You Saw Me on the Radio, Recollections and Favorite Calls as the Voice of Aggie Athletics, published by Texas A&M University Press and later released in paperback this summer. South explains how the title came from a coach's-night encounter in San Antonio. A woman recognized the voice but would not believe the man in front of her was really Dave South. That small story sets the mood for the rest of the episode. The hosts and South move from the book into the feel of Kyle Field over time. South remembers being able to see the campus, the streets, and even the baseball field depending on where he sat. He compares that with the more enclosed feel of the stadium now. The memory leads to a dry note about preferring the couch for some games. From there, the conversation turns toward family. South's son first considered college, then chose the Marine Corps for five years before later becoming an engineer. He now serves as chief engineer at the radio and television station on the A&M campus. That job connects neatly back to the broadcast world South spent his life in. The son also works at the stadium every Saturday. He sets up the video booth feed for SEC officials reviewing plays and sends them every available camera angle. South notes that the officials audit the feed to make sure each angle is shown. The episode closes with playoff hopes, bye-week skepticism, and a Thanksgiving goodbye. It leaves listeners with a solid slice of Aggie lore, radio craft, and the practical work behind a big college football operation.

As heard by us

Dave South's stories land best when the booth, the book, and Kyle Field details stay in focus.

Craig and Rex spend the episode with Dave South, the longtime voice of Texas A&M Aggie Athletics, and the material is strongest when it stays close to the numbers: 50 years in the business, 35 in the booth, and the 2019 book You Saw Me on the Radio.

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Why you'd press play

A title-story origin, a Kyle Field memory, and one Aggie replay-booth detour with Dave South.

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