TV legend Musburger ready to retire, and will be missed

Another TV sports legend ends his career this week, and peaking in at his last game might be worth the time.

Brent Musburger announced Wednesday that the Georgia-Kentucky men’s basketball game Tuesday (9 p.m., ESPN) would be his final assignment in a career on national TV that stretches to the 1970s.

Musburger, 77, first came to prominence with CBS Sports, handling some play-by-play duties before moving into the studio as host of the highly rated and trend-setting “NFL Today.” That’s where his familiar “You are looking live …” scene setter was created as the show -- which was the precursor to studio shows as we know them -- took viewers from game to game.

He spent 15 years with CBS Sports, working the NCAA Final Four, the NBA, the Masters, U.S. Open tennis, the Belmont Stakes, the College World Series and NASCAR races, among many assignments. He also worked MLB playoffs for CBS Radio.

In 1990, he was surprisingly fired on the eve of the NCAA men’s basketball championship game between Duke and UNLV. He worked the game, offered a more-than-kind on-air farewell with partner Billy Packer and joined ABC Sports a few months later.

One of his first prominent assignments came at the Little League World Series.

Then, as ABC was engulfed by ESPN, Musburger crafted a stellar second half of his career -- becoming the voice of the network’s top college football game each week and working seven BCS national championship games. He was versatile as a host or play-by-play man for the NBA (including the NBA Finals), golf, auto racing and more.

He was never afraid to share an opinion, which made him interesting -- even if it sometimes made him more of the show than necessary or prompted controversy in play-by-play situations. He always enjoyed offering a subtle reference or wink and nod to betting lines and odds during game, something that endeared him to some portion of viewers and might’ve seemed out of place to others.

Perhaps not surprisingly the Associated Press reported Musburger, who lives in Las Vegas, did have some retirement plans in place. He will help his family start a sports handicapping business and use some of the millions of airline miles he earned for work for some fun travel.

He also created a Twitter account (@brentmusburger) for the first time last week, portending more commentary from him in retirement. It grew to thousands of followers in the first few hours.

In part because of his opinions and certainly because of his longevity (a direct result of his talent), Musburger brought gravitas to events he worked. His voice allowed casual and die-hard fans alike to know what they were watching was a big game -- or at least the biggest game the network had offer.

His departure represents the latest in a list of high-profile TV sports retirements (Dick Enberg, Vin Scully) in the past few months. With the continued fragmentation of TV viewing habits, he might also be one of the last people that everyone seems to know. A few successors to that status remain, but they are getting fewer every year and every time a different network works a different deal with another conference or league.

Musburger will be missed for many reasons. His role as an on-air leader for the sports viewing community at big events ranks among the most important of those reasons.