Publisher's Synopsis
Quite simply, Go to the Games with Humble: Kern Tips and the Golden Age of SWC radio is a one-of-a-kind book. For the first time, the history of the Humble Oil and Refining Company's radio broadcasts of Southwest Conference football games is chronicled with behind-the-scenes stories, rare photos, comprehensive lists of the announcers and the games they called, an actual script of a broadcast, and a timeline of memorable moments. Long before the advent of ESPN and the explosion of cable TV sports and, eventually, the Longhorn Network, college football fans tuned in to their radios to follow the SWC teams. Humble, with its broadcast origins dating back to 1934, offered unbiased play-by-play action of all conference teams through the growing number of radio stations on its network. Humble/Enco/Exxon sponsored SWC football radio broadcasts for 44 consecutive years, from 1934 to 1977. Over the years, many famous names occupied the Humble broadcast booth, including top play-by-play man Kern Tips, the Voice of the Southwest Conference, and his sidekick, Alec Chesser. Following Tips's death, Connie Alexander ably assumed the role of top announcer, accompanied on a frequent basis by color announcers Stan McKenzie and Dave Smith. Other broadcasters familiar to longtime SWC football fans included the likes of Frank Fallon, Jack Dale, Glenn Brown, and Gene Elston. Through extensive research and interviews by longtime Texas writer Alan Burton, Go to the Games with Humble offers readers the chance to relive the golden days of radio. This is a must-read for all football fans in the Southwest. Happy Reading!
