Hanging out with Uncle Verne

ATHENS, Ga. — Two stories best sum up the love affair Verne Lundquist has with SEC football.* His first SEC game for CBS was Florida at Tennessee in 2000. In that contest, Florida trailed 23-17 with the ball at its 9-yard line with only 2:14 left to play. Jesse Palmer drove the Gators down the field, and with 14 seconds left, he hit Jabar Gaffney on a short pass in the end zone for a touchdown. The ball quickly popped out of Gaffney’s hands but line judge Allama Matthews (a Vanderbilt grad) ruled it was a touchdown and the Gators won 24-23.

When the game was over Lundquist took off his head set and turned to then-broadcast partner Todd Blackledge.

“Are all of them like this?” Lundquist asked.

“…