Jim Phillips Tribute:
A Tribute to the Voice of the Tigers
Jim Phillips was one of the guys who got it.
He understood, just as USC’s Bob Fulton and Georgia’s Larry Munson did, that college football on the radio was a drama, and it was the broadcaster’s job to be our eyes when we had no eyes.
You remember those old pictures of World War Two-era families gathered around a radio, listening as Roosevelt decried a day “that will live in infamy.” Jim Phillips could have been one of the kids kneeling in front of that radio, horrified and at the same time thrilled with the history pouring out of tinny speakers into his eager ears.
What Evil Lurks
Jim was born in 1934. He was seven when the world changed in December, 1941. And when the horrors of war were too much for a young boy to bear, he probably listened with rapture to the great serial radio dramas of the time, like The Shadow (“What evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows.”).
Jim eventually came to know that athletic contests were serial radio dramas, too. Week after week, the country tuned in to epic battles between young men they would never see on television, because there was none. It was the radio broadcaster, the play-by-play guy, who created a television of the mind. And upon that screen he cast wondrous images that were no less vivid than a Sony Trinitron. Somehow, they were better.
Following the Orange Road
The magical world of radio broadcasting captivated Jim. And so he began his broadcast career at the age of 19 at a small Ohio radio station. It would be more than a decade before he broadcast athletics full time, and that was at Kent State in 1966. Frank Howard brought him to Clemson in 1968, which was the same year he was hired as sports director of what was then WFBC-TV, channel 4, in Greenville.
I grew up watching Jim anchor the sports segment each night on channel 4. Being a good Gamecock, I looked with suspicion upon a man who buttered his bread on both sides as Jim did. I knew in my heart that as a Clemson broadcaster, he must hold a secret loathing for all things garnet. I grew to despise him. There would come a time when I would repent utterly of this, but that’s for later.
That 70s Show
Growing up a child of the seventies, the world was somewhat more complicated for my generation than that of our parents. We did, in fact, have television. As of 1965 it even came in color. However, the only options available to us in the Upstate were channels 4, 7, and 13. Well, counting the UHF band, we could go to the public television station for Sesame Street, Mister Rogers and The Electric Company. And if you had one of those fancy housetop antennas, you could even pick up some station in Atlanta called WTBS. That was as good as television got – no remote, no cable, and certainly no ESPN GamePlan.
As for college athletics, it wasn’t really ready for prime time. Today we’re spoiled on seeing the Gamecocks practically every week via network, cable or pay-per-view. It wasn’t always that way. In the seventies, to get to see on TV the athletes you’d come to know through newspapers and radio and, if you were lucky (I wasn’t), in person at a game – that was a rarity.
Being There
And so we depended on Jim Phillips, and Bob Fulton, and Larry Munson. We counted on them to bring us into the thick of things and to make us believe we were missing nothing. They knew their audience hung on every word, and they knew they darn well better not beat around the bush.
When George Rogers broke one of his many long runs, Bob Fulton knew that I needed to be with Big George, every step of the way. And he accommodated in his play call: “Rogers is across the 35, the 40, 45, 50, 45, 40…”. It may have left him as breathless as George, but he made sure that the three of us went all the way to the end zone together.
The triumvirate of Phillips, Fulton and Munson got the whole radio thing because they grew up with it, learned the dynamics of it, and never underestimated its impact upon us. And as other announcers came and went at other schools, these three stayed. And stayed. And stayed. Their presence was a gift to us in South Carolina and Georgia. We thought it would never end. We were wrong.
And So the World Turns
Today, their successors are a different sort. The young guys coming along now have always known the medium of television. Many of them are former athletes, not broadcasters. The drama of radio is an art that may be lost on them. They can lay down the X’s and O’s, but can they make us experience the rush, the crunch of helmet on helmet, the unique scent of an autumn Carolina day?
Their voices are bland and mostly drowned out by the buzz of two televisions tuned to competing games (thanks to Picture-in-Picture) and the computer dialed into a separate Internet radio broadcast. The single-threadedness of our parents and grandparents has been superceded by a multi-tasking that is both better and far worse.
With the passing of Jim Phillips and the retirement of Bob Fulton, we have only Larry Munson left. He is 80 and has already contemplated retirement. When he is gone, the changing of the guard will be complete. And we will not see the likes of these three men again.
From Here to Eternity
USC/Clemson, 1994. It was the final regular season game broadcast by Bob Fulton, who had earlier announced his retirement. With Jim Phillips leading the way, Clemson honored Fulton in a halftime ceremony for distinguished service to the game, the state and his university. It was a great moment, and also an unexpected one because it didn’t happen in Columbia. It happened at Clemson. Because of it, both Jim and Bob missed one of the most exciting plays in the history of the rivalry – the west-to-east lateral from Brandon Bennett to Reggie Richardson to kick off the second half. But as exciting as that play was, it was overshadowed by the extraordinary moment between the two greatest sports broadcasters that the state of South Carolina will ever see.
From that day forward, I never looked at Jim Phillips as the enemy again. I understood that he was a man doing his job, and he did it with honor and with loyalty and with passion. Those are virtues we all can understand, no matter what colors we wear on Saturday.
For Bob Fulton, the 1994 Clemson game would not be the last unexpected moment involving Jim Phillips. That would come in an early morning phone call from Jeff Phillips. He called Bob to tell him personally of Jim’s death because, he said, “Dad always loved you.”
Rest in peace, Jim Phillips. I hope heaven is a college football game with radio the only medium. And I hope God gives you the microphone.
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Clemson community remembers Phillips
Announcer died Tuesday at age 69
By Jon Solomon
Independent-Mail
September 9, 2003
CLEMSON — Jim Phillips, the transplanted radio broadcaster whose voice spoke to generations of Clemson University sports fans, died early Tuesday morning of an aortic aneurysm. He was 69.
Mr. Phillips was taken to Greenville Memorial Hospital on Monday evening, where he underwent surgery for seven hours before he died at 4 a.m., according to Clemson officials. He broadcast more than 2,000 Clemson sporting events over 36 years, making him the dean of Atlantic Coast Conference announcers.
"He is, he was, Clemson athletics," said senior associate athletics director Dwight Rainey, fighting back his emotions. "When you heard that voice, everybody knew automatically this was the voice of the Tigers. It’s quite a shock. He’ll be missed tremendously."
WCCP 104.9-FM, Clemson’s all-sports talk radio station, changed its normal programming to spend all of Tuesday remembering Mr. Phillips. Many fans who called into the station broke down crying and referred to the play-by-play announcer as a family member.
A Tiger paw flag was placed at half staff outside the IPTAY booster club office. The athletics department encouraged fans to honor Mr. Phillips at the legendary Howard’s Rock, which has been a fixture in Clemson’s Memorial Stadium only two years longer than Mr. Phillips.
"The games go on but they will never sound the same," read one note left at Howard’s Rock, amidst flowers and stuffed Tiger dolls. "You were as big a heroe (sic) to me as any of the names you called in the games."
A self-made radio man from Ohio, Mr. Phillips was the only ACC play-by-play announcer to broadcast four sports. He gracefully went from football in the fall to men’s and women’s basketball in the winter to baseball — his favorite sport — in the spring.
Mr. Phillips was inducted into the Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame in 1992 and was a five-time recipient of the South Carolina Broadcaster of the Year Award. In 1998, he received the Skeeter Francis Award from the Atlantic Coast Conference Sportswriters Association for his contributions to the league.
Two weeks ago, Mr. Phillips celebrated his 400th football broadcast. He worked the Clemson-Furman football game three days before his death and ended, as always, with his signature sign-off: "So long everybody."
"I live here now, I make my home here and I will die here," Mr. Phillips said in a 1992 interview published in a Clemson football program. "And I hope I will be broadcasting Clemson sports right up until my final days."
Born in Youngstown, Ohio, on April 23, 1934, Phillips attended Ashland College in Ohio, where he almost flunked out. He straightened out when his speech professor told him he had two choices: do something with his life, or become a bum.
Mr. Phillips never had considered broadcasting, but the professor helped land him a job as a staff announcer at WATG Radio in Ashland in 1953. He worked for three more stations in Ohio, working as a disc jockey in the day and moonlighting as a high school and small college broadcaster for $8 a game. By 1966, he was the voice of Kent State athletics.
"He was old school, a guy who starts at small local stations where it was community oriented and basically loved the job," said Jeff Bright, Mr. Phillips’ chief engineer on Clemson broadcasts the past four years. "He loved sports and that motivated him. That was a passion."
On a whim, Mr. Phillips answered a blind ad in 1968 and became sports director at WFBC-TV in Greenville, now WYFF-TV 4. An added responsibility was working as Clemson’s play-by-play man, and Mr. Phillips called the final two seasons under legendary football coach Frank Howard.
"I was really surprised when I got the job," Mr. Phillips said in 1992. "I didn’t know that much about Clemson in addition to not having many tapes. The only Frank Howard I knew played baseball for the Washington Senators."
Modern Clemson athletics became synonymous with Mr. Phillips. It was his voice that fans heard when Jerry Butler made his miraculous touchdown catch to defeat South Carolina in 1977, or when Greg Buckner dunked a basketball over North Carolina to win an ACC Tournament game in 1996.
One regret Mr. Phillips always carried was that he did not broadcast the Tigers’ national championship victory in football at the 1982 Orange Bowl. Mr. Phillips watched nervously from the press box without describing the action because NBC had an exclusive television and radio contract for the game.
To some Clemson players, just being mentioned on the radio by Mr. Phillips was cherished. Will Merritt, who joined the football broadcasting team this season, used to tape the radio calls of his football games between 1998 and 2001.
"The coolest thing that validated your career was the first time Jim Phillips ever said your name on the radio," Mr. Merritt said. "Sure, he may have never given the score. But he was Jim Phillips. There’s never been a time in my lifetime he wasn’t a father figure. That voice just told you everything would be OK, even if we were getting our teeth knocked out."
Clemson baseball coach Jack Leggett likened the sound of Mr. Phillips’ voice to a song that rekindled deep memories.
"If you hear that voice, it takes you to a certain play or a certain scenario or a certain venue, and you know it’s Clemson," Mr. Leggett said. "You hear that voice and it takes you back in time to a place you want to be."
To many coaches behind the scenes, Mr. Phillips was a comforting ear before turning the microphone on for an interview. Mr. Leggett said he always felt better after Mr. Phillips told him something positive from a previous day’s loss.
When men’s basketball coach Larry Shyatt realized last season that a winning record would probably not save his job, he turned to Mr. Phillips for guidance on a road trip at Maryland.
"I know my wife and I are fortunate that I got to see the fatherly side when we had some of those private talks," Mr. Shyatt said. "I don’t have a dad anymore, and I needed somebody. That’s an important part of Jim Phillips that I will always appreciate more than the broadcasts and the interviews."
In a part of the country where Southern broadcasters are the mainstream, the Yankee announcer from Ohio was heard longer than Mr. Howard coached. Mr. Phillips lasted through eight Clemson football coaches.
"He bled orange, there’s no doubt about it. He’ll be deeply missed," current football coach Tommy Bowden said. "I don’t think there’s any doubt right now he’s done found Frank Howard and already said, ‘Do you remember when?’ and I’m sure they’re already telling stories."
Gaining credibility and being accessible to people of all ages were important to Mr. Phillips.
"There was zero ego with Jim Phillips," said sports information director Tim Bourret, who was his basketball analyst for the past 23 years and provided football commentary from 1982 to ’88. "You’d go to other games in the ACC, and all the other broadcasters always made a point of coming up and talking to him before the game."
With his trademark magic markers by his side and scorecards posted to identify the players, Mr. Phillips often was the first person into the press box before games to do his homework. He was a perfectionist and bristled when mistakes were made.
"It had to be done the right way the first time," Mr. Merritt said. "And if it wasn’t, by gosh, you were going to hear about it. And I loved that about him. You didn’t have this air of uncertainty."
Mr. Bourret and Mr. Phillips created a routine that worked perfectly in basketball. Mr. Bourret could talk when the ball was in the backcourt, and it was Mr. Phillips’ microphone when the ball crossed halfcourt.
Baseball radio analyst Bob Mahony, Mr. Phillips’ partner for 13 years, learned early from Mr. Phillips not to become bogged down in describing too many details. Mr. Mahony also discovered it was not wise correcting Phillips on the air.
"He may have called a pitch one way and then I’ll say something else, and he’d correct me off the air and say, ‘Some people can’t see this so there’s no point in correcting me. I know I’m not going to get every pitch right,’" Mr. Mahony said.
Mr. Phillips’ friends acknowledge that he made his share of mistakes, sometimes confusing players and constantly forgetting to update the score. A producer had to constantly write "GIVE THE SCORE" on index cards during broadcasts.
In the specialized age today where most college announcers stick to one or two sports, Mr. Phillips juggled four for the past eight years. He started calling baseball games in 1991 and women’s basketball games in 1995.
"His voice led credibility to everything we were doing," said former Clemson athletics director Bobby Robinson. "Hearing Jim’s voice on baseball and women’s basketball games sort of legitimized those sports to our fans. There was a comfort level and respect between Jim and the fans. You don’t do that in five or 10 years. He did that through time."
IPTAY executive director George Bennett, a close friend of Mr. Phillips, said the broadcaster bought a cemetery plot a month ago.
"I was going to pursue him being buried on Cemetery Hill as a Clemson employee," Bennett said. "We’ll respect Jim’s wishes."
Mr. Phillips is survived by his wife, Ruth, son Jeff, daughter Terri, granddaughter Erica, and sister Janine Regan.
Visitation will be Thursday at 7 p.m. at the president’s box at Memorial Stadium on the Clemson campus. The funeral service is Friday at 2 p.m. at Abiding Peace Lutheran Church on 401 Batesville Road in Simpsonville.
BIO: Jim Phillips
Born: April 23, 1934, Youngstown, Ohio
College: Ashland (Ohio) College
Broadcasting jobs: Staff announcer, WATG Radio in Ashland, Ohio (1953); Kent State athletics announcer (1966-68); WFBC TV sports director in Greenville (1968-80); Greenville Braves baseball announcer (1984-90); Clemson University athletics announcer (1968-2003).
Broadcasting honors: Five-time South Carolina Broadcaster of the Year; Master Broadcaster Award (1992); Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame (1992); Skeeter Francis Award by Atlantic Coast Conference Sportswriters Association (1998).
The games: Broadcast over 2,000 Clemson sporting events. Reached his 1,000th men’s basketball game at the 2002 ACC Tournament. Called his 400th football game on Aug. 30 against Georgia.
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Jon Solomon can be reached at
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solomonjt©IndependentMail.com.
Phillips a member of the family, fans say
By Emily Huigens
Independent-Mail
September 9, 2003
He was as much a part of Clemson as orange and purple, and as admired as any star player.
For many Clemson fans, Jim Phillips was the one and only broadcaster who announced Clemson games over their radio.
"It really broke my heart knowing he was gone," 21-year-old T.J. Medlock said. "It was like he was a member of the family, having his voice in the house every Saturday."
Charles "Sack" Bagley worked with Mr. Phillips for his entire career at Clemson and was a close friend of the broadcaster.
Tearfully remembering his friend Tuesday, he said Mr. Phillips was a quintessential professional.
"The entire Clemson nation lost a voice today," he said, choking up.
At Howard’s Rock in Memorial Stadium, a steady stream of mourning students, alumni and fans placed flowers near the monument and signed a remembrance book for Mr. Phillips’ family.
Mr. Phillips’ first football game as Clemson radio announcer also was the first game for then defensive end George Ducworth, a 1971 Clemson graduate and former 10th circuit solicitor.
"Jim Phillips is just synonymous with Clemson football, and over the last 35 years has been the one constant with Clemson football and just about all Clemson athletics," he said.
Anderson Mayor Richard Shirley graduated from Presbyterian College but said he pulls for Clemson as well. He said he listened to Mr. Phillips’ broadcast of last weekend’s victory over Furman after leaving his alma mater’s game Saturday.
"I’ve just been sitting here wondering how they’ll replace him," he said Tuesday.
As a first-year student at Clemson in 1968, Anderson dentist Pete Mowlajki never heard a Clemson game that wasn’t announced by Mr. Phillips.
Anderson real estate agent Ken Allison worked at WFBC-TV, now WYFF-TV, under Mr. Phillips, and worked on the Clemson radio show with him as well. He said Mr. Phillips was a master of the basics of his profession.
"Jim knew that he was not the show. Some announcers think they are the show," he said. "He wanted to describe what was happening down there."
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Emily Huigens can be reached at
(864) 260-1260 or by e-mail at
huigensee©IndependentMail.com.
Friends remember Phillips
Broadcasters won't soon forget Clemson legend
By John Brasier
Independent-Mail
September 9, 2003
For more than four decades, Bob Fulton made his living with his voice, broadcasting every play of University of South Carolina games to fans throughout the state. He also spoke in front of big crowds at hundreds of banquets and fundraisers.
But on Friday afternoon, Fulton doesn’t trust his voice for more than a few minutes. He expects it to be extremely hard saying goodbye to Jim Phillips.
Phillips, the voice of Clemson sports for the past 36 years, died from an aneurysm of the aorta at about 4 a.m. Tuesday. He was 69. Fulton, a long-time friend, will speak at Phillips’ funeral.
"I’m not going to say much,’’ Fulton said from his home in Columbia. "That would be extremely difficult for me. He was special.’’
Expected to be enemies by many fans of both teams, Fulton and Phillips were friends at work and at play. They often dined together and traveled together for speaking engagements.
Fulton was one of the first non-family members to hear the bad news Tuesday when Phillips’ son Jeff called him about 8 a.m.
"Jim told me, ‘I wanted to call you because Jim loved you,’’’ the 83-year-old Fulton said.
Actually, the easy-going Phillips enjoyed friendships with many of the broadcasters he met during his long career, especially his colleagues throughout the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The ACC play-by-play fraternity spent much of Tuesday together on the telephone remembering Phillips, who had the longest tenure of any ACC broadcaster.
Phillips’ colleagues frequently mentioned friendliness, hard work, professionalism and storytelling when remembering him.
Maryland’s Johnny Holliday was grateful to Phillips for going out of his way to make him feel comfortable when he began at Maryland 25 years ago.
"The thing that sticks out most about him was that he wasn’t a broadcaster, he was a regular guy,’’ Holliday said. "He did not act big-time. He never took himself to be more than he was. That’s probably one of the reasons everybody loved him so much.’’
Georgia Tech’s Wes Durham, whose father Woody Durham has broadcast North Carolina games for 33 years, met Phillips as a young boy. He got to know him better during jobs with Radford and Tech.
"I got treated the same way every time,’’ Wes Durham said, recalling how friendly Phillips was to broadcasters from small schools.
"You get in this business and no matter how the wins and losses fall, in the end you remember more about the friends you make. We have lost one of the great friends in this business.’’
Phillips’ carried a major workload at Clemson. In addition to football and men’s basketball, he broadcast women’s basketball and baseball games. He broadcast all but one Clemson men’s basketball game since arriving from Ohio in 1968.
From 1968 through 1980, Phillips also served as sports director at WYFF-TV in Greenville. Many of his colleagues broadcast only football and men’s basketball.
"He probably broadcast more games than anybody in the ACC,’’ Holliday said. "He made us look like nothing and he was older than us.’’
"He was a hard worker,’’ Fulton said. "When you work as hard as he did, you have to love what you do.
"The guy really worked his buns off for the Clemson Tigers,’’ Woody Durham said. "Somebody will have to step in and fill that void.’’
Phillips, inducted into the Clemson Hall of Fame in 1992, was also respected for his skills. Though it was obvious to listeners that he was rooting for Clemson, Phillips tried to stay as objective as possible when describing the action.
Colleagues said Phillips’ intent was to make listeners feel like they were experiencing the game first-hand, not to overshadow the game with outrageous commentary or trite "signature calls.’’
"To me, he was a sportscaster’s sportscaster,’’ Duke’s Bob Harris said. "Every play wasn’t the greatest play since sliced bread. He made sure he put you in the stadium. He made you feel like you were there.’’
Wes Durham said he knew non-Clemson fans that enjoyed Phillips’ broadcasts.
"You knew whom he wanted to win,’’ Wes Durham said. "But he delivered a concise and fair broadcast for whoever was listening.’’
North Carolina State broadcaster Gary Hahn recalled that if a fellow broadcaster was in need of anything from equipment to advise, Phillips was always there to help.
"I don’t know anyone in the ACC more willing to step out and help someone,’’ Hahn said.
Phillips’ storytelling and joke telling skills were legendary to his ACC colleagues.
Harris said Phillips often launched into stories before saying "hello.’’
"He was all the time talking, joking and telling stories,’’ the Duke broadcaster said.
Woody Durham referred to Phillips as "Onie’’ after a man depicted in one of Phillips’ jokes. Though he admits he has several Phillips stories, the North Carolina broadcaster said he would have a hard time recalling one that was suitable to be shared publicly.
"He was just a good guy,’’ Woody Durham said. "That is how I will remember him. He was just a good guy and an outstanding announcer.’’
Wes Durham said Phillips’ ACC colleagues hope to honor him soon. He said one possible way would be for play-by-play broadcasters at other ACC schools to fill in on Clemson broadcasts the rest of the season.
"We’d like to do something,’’ the Tech broadcaster said.
That sentiment is shared by many sports fans throughout South Carolina. To many Palmetto State residents, Phillips was Clemson University.
"He left a legacy. Not only as a broadcaster, but as a member of families,’’ Fulton said.
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John Brasier is sports editor of the Independent-Mail.
Write him at P.O. Box 2507, Anderson, S.C. 29622.
E-mail him at
brasierjd©andersonsc.comRemembering a loving man
Posted Tuesday, September 9, 2003 - 6:47 pm
By Adam Davis
CLEMSON BUREAU
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CLEMSON — As difficult as Sept. 9, 2003, was and always will be for Jeff Phillips, he said it also was a rewarding day.
Jeff Phillips' father was Jim Phillips, who passed away early Tuesday morning of an abdominal aortic aneurysm. Jim Phillips, who was 69, spent the last 35 years as radio voice of the Clemson University Tigers.
Late Tuesday afternoon, Jeff Phillips said he was "very appreciative and overwhelmed" by the outpouring of support for his late father from the Clemson family.
"It's just been ... very rewarding in a way, because it's really shown people how much he was appreciated, respected and loved by all of the people who have shown their concerns and well-wishes," Phillips said.
Members of Jim Phillips' two families — his own and Clemson's — remembered Phillips fondly Tuesday as someone who loved his family, loved his job, and loved his school. Phillips broadcast games in football, men's basketball, women's basketball and baseball, making him the only Atlantic Coast Conference announcer to cover four sports.
Jeff Phillips said he hopes people will remember his father as a broadcaster who was fair yet showed great enthusiasm for Clemson. But when asked what he most wanted people to know about his father, Phillips responded, "how much he loved his family, how that was the center of his life."
"He was passionate about his God, he was passionate about his family, and he was passionate about Clemson University, in that order," Jeff Phillips said. "But his sister and the immediate family were the most important things in his life."
Bob Mahoney, an associate executive secretary of IPTAY, broadcast baseball games with Phillips for the last 12 years. Mahoney said Phillips often talked about Jeff and his daughter, Terri, and that he always bragged about his granddaughter, Erica.
The way George Bennett, the executive secretary of IPTAY, described it, Phillips will not be replaced — Clemson simply will find someone to sit in his chair. For Saturday's football game against Middle Tennessee State, that person will be assistant athletic director for sports information Tim Bourret, who was requested by the Phillips family.
Bourret, who broadcast men's basketball with Phillips for 23 years, said it was "a huge honor" to be given that spot. He described Phillips as someone who "bled Clemson orange," yet was never a "homer" during the broadcast.
Away from the microphone, "He was a lot of fun to be around," Bourret said. "He was a person who really got along with people of all ages. He could sit and have a conversation with Dr. (R.C.) Edwards or Banks McFadden, but he also was a friend to my students in my office."
Bennett recalled how Phillips loved country music. Bennett worked in Nashville, Tenn., for several years, and he said Phillips often would visit and request tickets to the Grand Ole Opry.
"He loved Little Jimmy Dickens, and I told him, 'The only reason you like Jimmy Dickens is because you're taller than he is,' " Bennett said with a laugh.
But Bennett turned serious when describing Phillips' devotion to Clemson.
"He was Clemson," Bennett said. "I just think he was really fair with everybody. I always thought he was well-prepared, and he was just a joy to be around, and a real good friend."
Wednesday, September
A precious voice, a million memories
Posted Tuesday, September 9, 2003 - 7:01 pm
By Bart Wright
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We were out to lunch in downtown Greenville over the summer when it occurred to me what a mistake I had made.
When you want a long chat with Jim Phillips, you don't go out to lunch in Greenville. That would probably hold true in Columbia, Charleston, Rock Hill, Greenwood, Hilton Head, Myrtle Beach and anywhere else they broadcast Clemson sports on the radio.
Bart Wright
In the middle of a story about Charley Pell, a striking young woman approached our table and said hello with an excited look on her face like she just ran into some soap opera heart throb. Phillips stood up, and she practically jumped into his arms, mentioning her name and saying she was the daughter of some longtime friend of the Clemson announcer.
"You don't know how much we miss you," she said, explaining that she and her husband now live near Palm Beach, Fla., and are mostly deprived of being able to listen to Phillips call games. "I never knew what a part of our lives you were," she said.
They talked for a few minutes, she kissed him on the cheek, waved goodbye. She and her husband had been visiting relatives for the week and were headed back to Florida. I told Phillips I was surprised he hadn't recognized such an attractive woman.
He said he hadn't seen her since was about 10 years old.
"If she looked like that," Phillips said, laughing through his smile, "I would have remembered her."
It went like that throughout our meal and chat.
A retired couple Phillips had never met came by, introduced themselves and said how much they appreciate listening to his broadcasts. They walked by our table, heard his voice and immediately knew who he was.
Next to us, a table of six young guys in fancy suits interrupted Phillips in mid-sentence and told him how much he meant to them. One of the guys said he had never seen Phillips but recognized his voice and wanted to know if there was any truth to the rumor that this would be Phillips' last year.
"You better check your sources," Phillips barked, "I ain't done yet."
All the attention stretched out our meal longer than I had anticipated, but that was my fault for taking him to lunch in South Carolina. I told him next time we'll have to go out of state to find a place where we won't be interrupted.
"We'll go out on the road sometime," he said. "Once you get out of this state, they never heard of me."
That was Jim Phillips. Smiling, pleasant, self-deprecating to a fault, with the kind of pipes you would order from central casting for a broadcaster's voice in a movie. It isn't every day you run into a modest broadcaster, it isn't every day you run into a person like Jim Phillips.
He worked Clemson games for 36 years, worked 50 years in broadcasting sports from his start doing high school games in Ohio. He called 401 Clemson football games, called them straight, called them as he saw them, right up until the Furman game 48 hours or so before his heart gave out and he died.
He was selfish, he told me. He said he always wanted Clemson to win because it made his job more enjoyable. He also said he would never sugarcoat a loss because the broadcasters he respected the most were the ones who let you know when the team was playing bad and when it was playing well.
I asked him what he considered the biggest compliment he could get in his line of work and he nodded to the parade of people that had been coming by the table.
"People like them," he said. "When they tell you they can tell how the game's going by the tone of my voice, that's good enough for me."
For the young mother in Florida he remembered as a 10-year-old, to the elderly gentleman and his wife, to the rising young executives intent on climbing the corporate ladder, Jim Phillips' voice was the soundtrack of Clemson sports. He was all they knew. For most of them, he was all they had ever known when it came to Clemson.
And they liked it that way.
I asked him if had ever been tempted by offers to go somewhere else, maybe a bigger school or a bigger market.
He said, "Nobody ever tried to get me to leave and I never wanted to go anywhere else."
He was a perfect fit for the small school in the South Carolina hills, his voice a soothing, reassuring lure that told everyone the Tigers were at battle once again. For people in this part of world under the age of 50, the sound of Jim Phillips' voice was a simple and deep pleasure that wrapped itself around Clemson to the extent that you didn't know where one ended and the other began.
It was the sound of an intimate friend you never met who shared your hopes and dreams.
It was the sound they never knew in Kansas or California or New York, a sound you could never describe in the way you can never describe the color orange to a blind person.
A sound of a thousand moments, a million memories, beloved, gone silent.
Tigers remember Phillips' loyalty
Posted Tuesday, September 9, 2003 - 7:20 pm
By Duane Rankin
CLEMSON BUREAU
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CLEMSON — Most people only heard Jim Phillips' humor and honesty during the 36 years he broadcast Clemson University football games. J.J. Howard, a senior defensive end, experienced it.
Howard, 22, recalls complaining about not playing earlier in his career and having Phillips tell him he wasn't good enough to play. Laughing as he told the story, Howard said, "He said it with a smile, so it didn't hurt as bad."
Phillips, 69, died early Tuesday morning of an abdominal aortic aneurysm.
"When you do something for a university for 36 years, you're just as much as a part of it as any player or coach," Howard said. "He's an integral part of Clemson tradition."
Clemson players will wear the initials "J.P." on their helmets for Saturday's home game against Middle Tennessee State.
Clemson coach Tommy Bowden said Phillips' name is synonymous with college football in the South.
"He bled orange," Bowden said. "No doubt about it. He'll be deeply missed. I don't think there is any doubt right now he's found (former Clemson coach) Frank Howard and said, 'You remember when ... ?' I'm sure they're already telling stories."
Former Clemson offensive lineman Will Merritt, who worked with Phillips as a color commentator this season, reflected on Phillips' habit of not announcing the score during games. Merritt said Phillips regularly was handed an index card reminding him to give the score.
"It always cracks me up," Merritt said. "When you're driving down the road and you hadn't heard the score the last two minutes, you're going bananas. A lot of people flip the radio on right in the middle of a segment. They want the score."
Merritt said he admired Phillips.
"You're talking about a class act who did it the right way," Merritt said. "He's a guy who had loyalty that ran through his orange blood like you wouldn't believe."
Jack Leggett, the Tigers' baseball coach for the past 10 years, said Phillips was someone he "enjoyed seeing every day."
"If you had a rough couple of games, he always put a positive spin on it and always made you feel better about it," Leggett said. "He was always upbeat. He was with you win or lose."
Posted on September 10, 2003
'He came South and didn't go home'
By Eric Boynton | Staff Writer
eric.boynton©shj.com Danny Ford was in the process of laying tile inside the new grill house out back of his Pendleton home as the former Clemson football coach reflected on his relationship with Clemson broadcasting legend Jim Phillips, who died early Tuesday at age 69.
Ford laughed as he recalled continually messing up the time frame when being interviewed hours before a game for a spot that was to run just minutes prior. He also remembered when the pair would do a full week's worth of radio spots in 10 minutes and Ford could never keep the days straight.
Ford smiled when saying he'd heard that Phillips began attending practices. "He never came to our practices. I guess we ran it up the middle so much, he knew what we were going to do."
He will be missed
"Jim was always very professional. Many times he could have, and had every reason to, get on me or say something about the way I acted or the way we were playing or something, but he never did. He was a good person besides being a real fine announcer and host.
"We're going to miss him. I think you'd have to consider him as big a part of Clemson tradition and the athletic program as anybody who's played or coached. He was a real, real big part of Clemson. I don't know what they'll do now. He'll be hard to replace, working that long and being that dedicated.
"All you'll hear is he was the voice of the Tigers, but he was much more than that. I mean he was really a fine, fine gentleman, who loved his family. He was a whole lot more than just Clemson, although not many people knew Jim besides that.
If I know Jim as I think I know Jim, if he had his druthers, he'd have finished this last game and not leave them hanging like this. And he'd go move on after the ballgame. But we don't have those choices."
Making himself at home
"He's the true sense of a [censored] Yankee. He came South and didn't go home. I think Jim probably grew on people as Clemson grew. Of course I wasn't here, but I could just picture people saying, 'Who is this guy coming from Ohio doing football for coach (Frank) Howard?'
Before long, you know Clemson people, they're bad about adopting people anyway, especially if you do good. So I imagine they just adopted him as one of their own.
He'll be a hard man to replace. It's like coach Howard. People grew up and played for him, then their children played for him. You've got a lot of generations who all they know listening to sports on the radio is Jim Phillips. It's like losing somebody in the family every time a game comes on and it won't go away for a long time.
Jim was always first class. There were times he could have said something about, well, you guys messed up in the game. He never ever blamed anybody publicly. He might have his say privately (Ford laughs at the thought) and he might question an official's call, but I never heard him second-guess a coach.
He was probably a homer, but not just a cheerleader. He had to ask questions, of course, and I imagine he had a very difficult time balancing things at times.
To my knowledge, we never had a cross word. I never had any reason to go back and talk to him about how he called a game. I never heard him, never worried about him. I trusted him to do his job the best he could and what he saw, he saw. I never even thought about that he would be trying to say something to make us look bad."
Appreciating Phillips' style
"He knew when to smile, when to ask a question and when to keep quiet. He just knew the situations because he'd been there so many times.
When he did interviews, he tried to make it as painless as he could because there's nothing more painful for any coach after he gets his fanny beat than to have to go on the air and try to explain what happened and see the good side of a defeat. You want to go home, go to bed, wake up and hope it's a dream, but that isn't real life. You have to go be before the public."
Ford has some regrets
"I don't know that I ever told him thank you for the good job. That's the sad part. In a selfish way, just give me another week to go back and say some things I wish I'd said that I never said to him, but he knew it, of course."
Eric Boynton can be reached at 562-7272 or
eric.boynton©shj.com.
Posted on September 10, 2003
Phillips once called a game in his boxers
By Eric Boynton | Staff Writer
eric.boynton©shj.com CLEMSON -- IPTAY executive secretary George Bennett was very close to Jim Phillips and chose to combat his sadness with some humorous thoughts on the late Clemson broadcaster.
Bennett remembers walking into the Death Valley press box in the early 1970s, before it was air-conditioned, and getting quite a surprise from Phillips.
"It must have been 110 degrees that day and Jim had stripped down to his boxer shorts, sitting there with his behind showing, and did the rest of the game in his boxers," Bennett said.
Another time in the early '70s, Phillips was talked into wrestling a bear at Greenville Memorial Auditorium. At that time, many didn't know that Phillips wore a toupee.
"The first thing that bear did was make a big swipe and that toupee went flying," Bennett said. "Of course, that just really broke the crowd up. Jim used to laugh about it and say what he remembered most was how bad a breath that bear had."
Bennett left for Vanderbilt in 1979, which was a blessing for Phillips, a huge country music fan.
"Every time he came to Nashville, he'd call me up to go to the Grand Old Opry or such," Bennett said. "He was always talking about country music. Jimmy Dickens, he could sing every one of those songs."
KEEPING HEADS UP: Clemson
baseball coach Jack Leggett described Phillips' voice as like hearing favorite music that harkens you back to a specific time and place.
"You hear a song from the '70s and you know where you were, what you were doing and who you were with and the feeling comes back to you," Leggett said.
"The same thing is true with Jim Phillips. You hear that voice and it takes you to maybe a certain game, a certain play, scenario or venue. But you know it's Clemson."
AN HONOR TO BE ASKED: Clemson sports information director Tim Bourret was asked by the Phillips family to broadcast Saturday's Middle Tennessee State game.
"It means an awful lot," Bourret said. "It's going to be tough in the beginning, but once I get into the flow of the game it'll go all right. But it is a terrific honor."
Eric Boynton can be reached at 562-7272 or
eric.boynton©shj.com.
Posted on Wed, Sep. 10, 2003
Silence falls over Tigers sports
Announcer Jim Phillips dies of aneurysm after 36 years behind the microphone. He was 69
By KEN TYSIAC
Staff Writer
FILE
Clemson hired Jim Phillips in the summer of 1968 to do play-by-play.
Clemson -- The only play-by-play voice a generation of Clemson fans has known was silenced early Tuesday morning.
Jim Phillips, who was in his 36th year as the voice of the Tigers, died early Tuesday morning of an aortic aneurysm at Greenville Memorial Hospital. He had been rushed to the hospital Monday evening, where surgeons worked for seven hours before Phillips died at 4 a.m.
Phillips was 69.
"People in this state grew up listening to Jim Phillips," said George Bennett, the executive director of Clemson's IPTAY athletics booster group. "And it's going to be a real void when somebody takes over that microphone."
A giant orange Tiger paw banner waved silently in the wind at half staff in Phillips' honor Tuesday outside the IPTAY office on Clemson's campus. Friends and admirers placed flowers and miniature Tigers at Howard's Rock at Memorial Stadium.
Fans and friends signed a guest book at the Rock with messages for Phillips. John Thorne of Easley wrote that Phillips was a great friend to the Tigers and will always be known as "The Voice."
Will Merritt, a former Clemson football player who worked with Phillips on Clemson's football broadcasts this season, said Phillips was like a father figure for Clemson athletics. Like many fans, Merritt grew up associating Phillips' voice over the radio with all things Clemson.
"He was the man, the voice," Merritt said. "To me, it was a surreal moment every time I was around him. I'm just going to miss him. It's almost like a good, old buddy."
Phillips called his 400th Clemson football game on Aug. 30, when the Tigers played Georgia, and worked Clemson's game with Furman just three days before he died.
Even as he approached age 70 as the longest-tenured broadcaster in the ACC, Phillips maintained a huge work load. He was the only ACC play-by-play announcer to call his school's football, men's and women's basketball and baseball games.
"He did it, really, at our request," former Clemson athletics director Bobby Robinson said. "We asked him to do it, obviously, because he was good and he gave so much credibility to all those programs besides football and men's basketball. When they heard Jim Phillips, they knew it was Clemson."
Phillips' work ethic reflected his blue-collar upbringing. Born on April 23, 1934, in Youngstown, Ohio, he grew up in Ohio mining country and attended Ashland College in Ohio.
He spent two years in the Army as a medical corps orderly and worked in radio in Ohio for 12 years before answering a blind advertisement in Broadcast Magazine for a job in Greenville.
Clemson hired Phillips in the summer of 1968 to do play-by-play, and Phillips began working as sports director at WFBC-TV (now WYFF-TV) in Greenville as well. Phillips also was sports director at WFBC radio in Greenville for 25 years and was the voice of the Greenville Braves' Class AA baseball team from 1984-90.
Although Phillips at first was a stranger to the South, he fit in with his love of country music and was embraced quickly because of his folksy personality.
"He seemed to fit Clemson," said sports anchor Phil Kornblut of the South Carolina Radio Network, who grew up listening to Phillips. "He seemed to have that down-home approach to it, where he talked about the players by their first names, knew a lot about the players' background and family."
Kornblut said Phillips' play-by-play strength was creating a mental picture by describing each formation, the personnel on the field and the direction of the action. Phillips didn't have a signature "catch phrase" and preferred a low-key style unlike many of the "homer" broadcasters of today and yesterday.
Tim Bourret, Phillips' broadcast partner for men's basketball and Clemson's sports information director, said Phillips' meticulous preparation made him easy to work with. Hailing back to his days working high school football in Ohio, Phillips drew up his own roster cards before games, attended football practice regularly and conducted interviews for the Clemson network.
Phillips was one of the most honored broadcasters ever in South Carolina. He was a five-time recipient of the South Carolina Broadcaster of the Year Award, and the South Carolina Association of Broadcasters presented him with the Master Broadcaster Award, its highest honor, in 1992.
He was inducted into the Clemson athletics Hall of Fame in 1992, and in 1998 he became the first radio personality to receive the Skeeter Francis Award from the ACC Sportswriters Association for his contributions to ACC athletics.
Phillips' favorite and most famous call was the fourth-quarter touchdown pass from Steve Fuller to Jerry Butler that defeated South Carolina 31-27 and sent Clemson to the Gator Bowl in 1977 after an 18-year postseason drought.
It was the beginning of an era of Clemson football glory that Phillips cherished as he described it to the orange-loving faithful in his own exacting style.
"He was a perfectionist," Merritt said. "He was one of those guys who, it had to be done the right way the first time. And if it wasn't done the right way, by gosh, you were going to hear about it. There was going to be no ambiguity."
Phillips' family has asked Bourret to call play-by-play on Saturday in Phillips' honor. Although Bourret knows Clemson's players as well as anyone, he said he has a lot of homework to do to get to know the opponent the way Phillips did before a game.
Phillips is survived by his wife, Ruth; son Jeff; daughter Terri; granddaughter Erica and sister Janine Regan.
Posted on Wed, Sep. 10, 2003
Phillips was most at home behind the mic
ONE OF MY fondest memories of Jim Phillips is from Jan. 1, 1982, at the Orange Bowl, where Clemson took on Nebraska with the national championship on the line. I was there to cover the game for the now defunct Columbia Record.
But when I got to the pressbox, I discovered that even though I had the proper credentials I had not been assigned a seat. Phillips invited me to sit with him.
"I've got two chairs," Phillips said with a laugh. "I don't know why they gave me two. Everybody knows I'm not that big."
During the warmups, Phillips and I reminisced. I had started my newspaper career in sports about the same time he arrived at Clemson to be the radio voice of the Tigers, so our paths had crossed many times.
I reminded him of the September Saturday afternoon in the early 1970s when it got so hot and humid, Phillips stripped down to his underwear to call the Tigers' game against The Citadel.
"That's one of the good things about radio," Phillips said. "Nobody can see you."
On the Orange Bowl field, the Tigers and Cornhuskers ran into the stadium to get ready for the kickoff. Phillips squirmed as he watched. "This is tough," he said.
For the first time since he had been at Clemson, Phillips would not be doing the radio broadcast for the Tigers. Because the Orange Bowl had a national radio network, the two participating schools were prohibited from using their own announcing teams.
As the evening unfolded, I think I watched Phillips almost as much as I did the game. He was in pure agony. First, because he couldn't call the game, and, second, because the Tigers were locked in a tight game with the Cornhuskers.
Phillips couldn't sit still. He'd be up one minute pacing and then twisting in his chair the next. By the time, Clemson had wrapped up a 22-15 victory and the national championship, Phillips was exhausted.
A few years later when I chatted with Phillips on his 25th anniversary with Clemson, he recalled that night at the Orange Bowl.
"That was probably the worst experience I've had as a broadcaster," Phillips said. "Subconsciously, when you're doing a game, you feel if you maintain a positive attitude, you have some control over what's going on.
"I had no control that night. I bit my nails down to the quick. I felt useless. When it was over, and all you sportswriters had left the pressbox, there were only two people up there. Myself and some little girl from Clemson. I don't know who she was, but I ran down and grabbed her and yelled, 'They did it.' "
Phillips laughed at the memory. That's another thing I remember about Phillips -- he always seemed to have a big smile and a hearty laugh whenever you ran into him.
When he came to Clemson in 1968, Phillips always thought he would one day return to his native Ohio, where he had done play-by-play for Kent State.
But the years passed faster than he could count.
"One day I looked up and realized I had been at Clemson for 10 years. I had been through those 5-6 records and 2-9 records and then Charley (Pell) came along and things started cooking. I wasn't going to leave just when the Tigers were starting to do something.
"Then suddenly it was 15 years. Then 20, and I decided I was too old to move."
The last time I talked with Phillips was about five years ago, and he said the thrill of doing the games was still there after all those years. The adrenaline, he said, still pumped whenever he arrived at Clemson for a football game, especially on those crisp autumn Saturdays in October.
"I've always liked this place," Phillips said. "I'd like to stay here for the rest of my life."
Phillips said that only one thing had changed.
"I can toss it aside after the game is over. I finally found out that when the team loses, there's always another Saturday."
But what about that night at the Orange Bowl?
"Well," he said chuckling, "You never know if there will be another Orange Bowl."
Posted on Wed, Sep. 10, 2003
Voice of the Tigers left indelible mark with fans
BY RON MORRIS
Sports Columnist
CLEMSON -- WILL MERRITT WORKED the past two seasons with longtime Clemson radio play-by-play announcer Jim Phillips. But Merritt’s association with the 69-year-old announcer, who died Tuesday, goes back much farther.
Merritt says that his brother-in-law, Matt Reeves, audiotaped every Clemson football game that Phillips broadcast during Reeves’ playing days from 1992-95. The day after a game, Reeves would fast-forward the tape until he heard Phillips call out his name in some manner.
“As soon as Jim Phillips spoke your name on the radio,” says Merritt, who played four football seasons for the Tigers ending in 2001, “then all of a sudden you got some credibility, you were validated.
“That’s how important he was to so many people. I did the same thing. I used to listen to the re-broadcast. He’d say, ‘Well, Will Merritt with a pretty good block there.’
“Oh my gosh, you would swell up with pride. The voice of the Tigers just called you out.”
That’s the way it has been for Clemson players and fans for 36 years. Phillips provided play-by-play accounts of 401 Clemson football games, more than 1,000 Tigers men’s basketball games and hundreds upon hundreds of baseball and women’s basketball games.
He was the eyes for Clemson fans who could not attend games. He was a security blanket of sorts to all others. If fans heard his voice on the radio, then all was right in the world of Clemson athletics.
As is the case with most sports broadcasters, the fan rarely got to know Phillips outside the radio booth. Most didn’t know he stood about 5-foot-6. They didn’t know he had a terrific sense of humor and was a bit of a prankster. They didn’t know he was quite unassuming and that beyond his love for Clemson athletics, Phillips was a devoted Cleveland Indians baseball fan. He also was absolutely nuts about country western music.
Al Adams, an insurance agent in Forest City, N.C., who worked in various capacities at Clemson from 1972-81, recalls a sportswriters convention in Myrtle Beach in 1977 when Phillips coerced about 15 friends to attend the concert of a particular band that night. There were so few people in attendance, the Phillips gang engaged in personal chats with the band between sets.
Phillips was convinced the band would make it big someday. The band was Alabama.
For the longest time, Phillips reluctantly wore a toupee. It seems that when he was doing TV for Channel 4 in Greenville, the station required him to cover his baldness.
Tim Bourret, Clemson’s sports information director, remembers his first season as the color commentator with Phillips during Clemson men’s basketball games. On their initial road trip together, to El Paso, Texas, Bourret visited Phillips in his hotel room.
“I went to his room and knocked on his door. .æ.æ. I had never seen him without his toupee. He opened the door and I immediately looked up and said, ‘Oh, I’m sorry.æ.æ. I’m sorry, sir, I didn’t mean to disturb you.’”
Bourret didn’t recognize Phillips.
“So, I started down the hall. I was so embarrassed. I knocked on somebody’s room, and Jim came around the corner yelling, ‘Tim, Tim, it’s me. It’s Jim. Come here.’”
Once, Phillips got roped into a promotional gimmick at the old Greenville Memorial Auditorium. Phillips agreed to wrestle a bear.
“That big bear knocked his rug off on the floor and the crowd went crazy,” Adams says. “Old Jim didn’t care. He just picked the thing up, and there he was that night on Channel 4 with the rug back on.”
Without air conditioning and unable to open the doors because unwanted sound would enter the Memorial Stadium booth, Phillips suffered through the first half of Clemson’s football season-opener in 1972 against The Citadel.
By halftime, Phillips had sweated enough. He shed all of his clothes except for a pair of boxer shorts. And that’s the way he broadcast the rest of the game. The late Bob Bradley, the longtime Clemson sports information director, sent a photographer to the booth, and the athletics department still has the picture.
The photograph is one of the few tangible memories of Phillips that Clemson can keep in its files. The others will be stored in the mind’s eye of every Clemson fan who surely can recount a particular Phillips call of a game-winning touchdown or a spectacular drive to the basket.
“I don’t know if ever, or when, it will ever get filled by anybody,” Merritt says of the void left by Phillips’ death. “There’s got to be somebody come in and mix enthusiasm with loyalty and tradition.
“When I found out this morning, my orange blood turned cold. Jim meant as much to Clemson as Clemson meant to him.”
Posted on Wed, Sep. 10, 2003
Phillips represented a vanishing breed
JIM PHILLIPS BELONGED to one of the most exclusive fraternities in sports, one that could be ushered into extinction by changing times.
Phillips, whose voice represented Clemson to the world for 36 years, died Tuesday, and his passing creates a void that cannot be filled easily.
Following a Phillips or a Bob Fulton, who retired at South Carolina after the 1994 season, or the late Jim Fyffe, Auburn's voice for 22 years before his death this year, is the broadcasting industry's equal of replacing Dean Smith or Bear Bryant in the coaching ranks.
And with more and more schools dividing football and basketball duties, the days of the all-sports announcer could be vanishing.
The trend creates the risk of losing the identity that, say, the late Cawood Ledford provided for the University of Kentucky or Fulton brought to USC.
Whether their golden tones or Larry Munson's unabashed partisanship on Georgia games, the styles commanded attention and established loyalty. Those announcers developed a comfort level with their audiences, an ingredient that cannot be over-emphasized. "With the money involved in bidding for rights, you have to click with your audience, and Jim did," Woody Durham, North Carolina's veteran announcer, said. "When Jim came in, Clemson's broadcasting situation had been unstable, and I wondered why they were bringing in a guy from Ohio. But he and Clemson were always a perfect fit. The networks will help make sure you know" if the announcer's relationship with his audience sours.
'Awesome responsibility.' Changes in the approach to broadcasting, in a way, mirror the operations changes in athletics departments. Once the football coach ruled; today, the top administrator has been trained for the role and must operate like a CEO.
Of the 20 remaining football announcers in the ACC and SEC, eight have been in their positions for 20-plus years. The dean, Jack Cristil, is working his 51st season for Mississippi State.
Two, USC's Todd Ellis and Auburn's Rod Bramblett, are in their first seasons and face the challenge of earning the trust of their listeners.
How quickly that happens -- if it happens -- cannot be measured.
"Doing both sports in the ACC is a dream situation and it is flattering," said Bob Harris, in his 28th season at Duke. "But it is also an awesome responsibility. When I came here, Tom Butters (then Duke's director of athletics) told me, 'People don't know who I am, but they know you. You are (Duke's) conduit to the public.' "
Phillips bridged Clemson football history from Frank Howard to Tommy Bowden and the Tigers' basketball fortunes from Bobby Roberts to Larry Shyatt. In the process, he became synonymous with the university.
"There's so much more than just calling the games now," said Fulton, who called USC football and basketball for more than 40 years. "Maybe splitting (one announcer for football and one for basketball) like USC is doing is the way to go."
Harris, who works both football and basketball, noted the differences and wonders how he would respond to working only one sport.
"Nebraska split (to use different voices for different sports), and I had a friend who had to make that decision," Harris said. "He's working Drake games now."
'A pressure job.' Fulton, a close friend who will speak at Phillips' funeral, marveled at the Clemson announcer's workload that included football, men's and women's basketball and baseball.
"Despite what people think, (broadcasting) is a pressure job," Fulton said. "In addition to games, you have television shows with coaches and call-in radio shows. Plus, you have preparation for games.
"If you aren't prepared, believe me, people know."
In his early days of broadcasting, Fulton remembers calling a junior-college game on Thursday night, a high school game on Friday night, two college games on Saturday and re-creating a pro game on Sunday.
"But there are more demands now," he said. "I once did a football game here on Thanksgiving night, got three hours' sleep, then flew to Alaska for a basketball tournament.
"We flew from here to Atlanta to Seattle to Fairbanks. I told the cabbie I would give him an extra $10 to get me to the gym on time, and I got there five minutes before tip-off. I didn't know where I was."
But listeners knew who he was once he signed on and began to describe what unfolded on the court. His familiar voice brought the audience into the arena.
Phillips' death leaves Clemson with the challenge of replacing the trust built over 36 years and, Fulton said, "That will be a challenge."
Tuesday, September 9, 2003 7:47:38 PM EDT
To Jim: So Long, Good Buddy
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by Al Adams
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What do you say when a close friend passes away? He had seemingly been there forever. You just never thought one day he wouldn't be there.
This is where Tiger fans are today -- we, along with all those who love college athletics, mourning the passing of legendary Clemson radio announcer, Jim Phillips. Jim had been the Voice of the Tigers since 1968. His career had started harmlessly enough when he answered a blind ad in a media publication for a school who was looking for a new announcer. It turned out to be Clemson and this Ohio native jumped at the chance. We are all glad this Buckeye came south. He certainly brightened our lives.
You know the facts of Jim's career. He was 69 years old. He was a five time recipient of the South Carolina Brodcaster of the Year. He had just done his 400th Clemson football broadcast. He had announced over 2,000 Clemson sporting events -- football, basketball, baseball and women's basketball. He only missed one home men's basketball game since the opening of Littlejohn Coliseum in 1969.
Do you get the picture? You would be hard pressed to find folks who could remember who was the Voice of the Tigers before Jim.
But why is this loss so hard? Why does it hurt so much today losing Jim?
He loved his job -- he had enthusiasm -- he loved the Tigers and it showed. When you heard Jim Phillips broadcast a Tiger event, no matter what it was, you knew he was glad to be there and you left that broadcast with a good feeling about having heard him. Jim would throw himself into everything he did and it showed. You knew he loved it.
Someone posted today on Clemson's internet site a story about seeing Jim at the ACC basketball tournament in Greensboro in 1995 and asking him when he was going to hang it up. His response was simple . He said he had the best job in the world and why would he want to give it up. He planned to work right up to the point when he couldn't. That was a classic Phillips response. I can see him saying that and further, knowing he believed it. When he came to Clemson in 1968, he came to stay and he loved the Tigers. He made his way through a number of coaches, athletes and administrators. He showed them all the same thing -- his infectious love for Clemson University.
He also loved the folks in his profession. All Clemson folks are supposed to see South Carolina as the enemy. However, one of Jim's closest friends was Bob Fulton, the Voice of the South Carolina Gamecocks. Jim just plain liked each other and said it freely. It was Jim who headed up the effort to honor Bob Fulton on the occasion of Mr. Fulton's last broadcast of a South Carolina game at Clemson. They admired each other's work and were great friends.
Jim loved the Cleveland Indians. He loved baseball. Did you ever talk with him about the game today or his trip to Iowa to see the site where "Field of Dreams" was filmed. He also loved the college game. He loved his time as the Voice of the Greenville Braves. He was just in love with baseball. My last conversation with him -- last Saturday in the press box at Clemson -- was a discussion about baseball and in particular the horrible treatment of Ted Williams since the Splinter's passing. Jim could not believe the way things have come down for Ted Williams since his death. He also told me about a book he had just read called "Teammates". It was a rich accumulation of stories about Williams from several of his former Red Sox teammates including Dom DiMaggio. Jim just loved the book. His enthusiasm just beamed through.
Jim loved counrty music. In 1977 when I was Bob Bradley's assistant in the sports information office at Clemson, I drove Jim to the South Carolina Sportswriter's Convention in Myrtle Beach. It was sometime in April and Charley Pell had just been named the new head football coach of the Tigers. We played golf the first afternoon and during that round, Jim told me he was going to take me to a small place that night to hear a group of young guys that he really liked. He had heard them in Greenville several times and he said their music was really great. He told several others including Luther Gaillard of the Spartanburg Herald and Rudy Jones of the Greenville News. By the time we were leaving, we had a group of about 15 heading out to see this young group. As we were leaving the hotel, up walks Charley Pell and Jim told him to come on and go with us. To our surprise, Coach Pell jumped right in. Jim was a great saleman -- he had enthusiasm! We spent the night listening to this group of young artists. There were only about five other folks there that night and so our group of 15 really stuck out. When we walked in, the group playing recognized Charley Pell right off since the members of the band had gone to Jacksonville State when Coach Pell was the football coach there. They would sing four or five songs and then take a break and come over to our table and sit.
Jim was just beaming -- he was loving the night and the music and he must have given those guys $100 that night and told them to play this song or that. He was having a real blast. He told me on several occasions that this group was going to be good. They asked Coach Pell about a certain incoming freshman named Willie Underwood. Coach Pell responded by saying Willie was going to be a great player for the Tigers.
You see, Willie was from Ft. Payne, Alabama and so were these young, struggling artists. They were the country group, Alabama, and about four years later, they were the hottest things going on the country circuit. As a matter of fact, they are having a farewell tour as we speak and have done quite well. Jim Phillips told me back in 1977 they were going to be good.
By the way, Coach Pell was right about Willie Underwood as well. He only two intereceptions during his Clemson career but they were both in the 1980 game against George Rogers and the Gamecocks. One led to a Clemson touchdown and the other one he returned all the way for a touchdown.
Jim Phillips loved Clemson. He told me many times how proud he was that he was there when Coach Howard finished his run as the head Tiger. He was so honored to have been there for the last two seasons. Jim loved the Tiger football teams that Charley Pell put on the field in 1977 and 1978 and how they turned the program back in the right direction. He loved those bowl games and the fun around those big road games. One of his biggest disappointments was his not being allowed to broadcast the 1982 Orange Bowl when the Tigers won the national championship. It was a matter of national contracts in those days as the Tiger Radio Network was not allowed to broadcast. Where do you think Jim was that night? Right there in Miami, of course and that took some effort. The men's basketball team had played in a holiday tournament at Texas Tech and Jim had done both games there with Bill Foster's cagers and then flew to Miami to watch the football team. He wouldn't have missed it for the world!!
Jim loved the Tigers big win at Kentucky in the NIT in 1979. He loved Greg Buckner's dunk to beat North Carolina in the 1996 ACC Tournament in Greensboro. He loved the fight that Rick Barnes brought to the basketball team. He loved Jim Davis' Lady Tigers and their ACC Championships wins. Who was that who got in the team photo with Coach Davis and the ladies as they clutched the ACC championship trophy in the old Charlotte Coliseum? The one with the biggest smile was Jim Phillips..
Ask him about Bill Wilhelm and Jack Leggett and be ready to sit a while! Jim loved doing Tiger baseball. Bob Mahony was his sidekick and they made a great tandem. He loved the trips to the regionals and the College World Series. Baseball might have been his first love and he sure did enjoy broadcasting those Tiger games.
Do you get the picture? This was a man who loved many things in life including his family. To be around him you could feel his enthusiasm. He just loved what he was doing. He loved coming to work and the people around him loved him.
The reason the loss of Jim Phillips is so hard is you never knew anyone else. You see, most folks have never heard anyone but Jim Phillips broadcast a Clemson game. You grew up listening to Jim. You came to know Jeff Davis, Larry Nance, Steve Fuller and Perry Tuttle from listening to Jim. There have been a number of folks working with Jim. There have been different radio stations and different formats with the coaches shows. There have been a number of variables but the one constant for the past 36 seasons has been Jim. Through the good times and the bad, he was always there....always positive about Clemson and always spreading the gospel of the Tigers with that signature enthusiasm.
When you haven't know anyone else, it is really hard to say good bye. Losing Jim in such an instant makes it even tougher. He was there last Saturday and now he's gone. But, thanks to memories, we will hold on to him forever.
Jim closed all of his broadcasts with the same line -- this is Jim Phillips, so long everybody. This time it's our turn. Jim, so long good buddy. You were the best and we are going to miss you. But thanks for coming our way!
Sympathy Card for the Family of Jim Phillips, The Voice of the Tigers
Al Adams was an assistant sports information director at Clemson and founder of the Orange & White. He currently is a state farm agent in Forest City, NC.
ACC Commissioner John Swofford on the death of
Clemson Play-by-Play Announcer Jim Phillips
"All of us in the Atlantic Coast Conference are deeply saddened by
the news that Jim Phillips, the longtime 'Voice of the Tigers,'
passed away last evening."
"Having broadcast 401 Clemson football games and over 2,000 Clemson
athletic events in his career, Jim's voice was synonymous with Tiger
athletics. Jim Phillips has been a landmark in the Atlantic Coast
Conference for the past 36 years and his dedication to Clemson
University is one of the primary reasons for the school's enduring
popularity among the people of South Carolina and fans of the ACC."
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife, Ruth and the entire
Phillips family. We have all lost a very good friend."
Jim Phillips dies at 69
CLEMSON, S.C., Sept. 9 (UPI) -- Jim Phillips, the voice of Clemson athletics for 36 years, died early Tuesday morning of an aneurysm of the aorta.
He was 69.
Phillips was rushed to Greenville (S.C.) Memorial Hospital Monday evening. Surgeons performed seven hours of surgery before he passed early Tuesday morning.
Phillips, the dean of ACC broadcasters, called the Clemson/Furman football game last Saturday. He broadcast his first Tiger football game on Sept. 21, 1968, a 20-20 tie between Clemson and Wake Forest. He called his 400th Clemson football game on Aug. 30.
"Jim's voice was synonymous with Tiger athletics," said ACC Commissioner John Swofford. "Jim Phillips has been a landmark in the Atlantic Coast Conference for the past 36 years, and his dedication to Clemson athletics is one of the primary reasons for the school's enduring popularity among the people of South Carolina and fans of the ACC."
Phillips was inducted into the Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame in 1992 and attended the Hall of Fame induction banquet last Friday evening.
Over his career, he broadcast over 2,000 Clemson sporting events. In addition to his duties at Clemson, he was the sports director at WYFF-TV from 1968-80 and the sports director at WFBC Radio in Greenville for 25 years.
Friends, Fans Remember 'Voice of the Tigers' Jim Phillips
Funeral Arrangements Set For Longtime Tiger Broadcaster
POSTED: 8:31 a.m. EDT September 9, 2003
UPDATED: 5:30 p.m. EDT September 9, 2003
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The man known as the voice of the Clemson Tigers has died.
The Greenville County coroner's office confirmed Tuesday that Jim Phillips died Tuesday morning at Greenville Memorial Hospital. Coroner Parks Evans told WYFF News 4's Stacy Sager that Phillips suffered an abdominal aortic aneurysm Monday afternoon. Surgeons worked on Phillips for seven hours before he died. He was 69.
Phillips has been a play-by-play announcer at Clemson since 1968.
He was also News 4 sports director from 1968 to 1981.
He had been the voice of the Clemson Tigers for 36 years. Phillips broadcast the Furman-Clemson game Saturday evening.
He was the dean of broadcasters in the Atlantic Coast Conference. His first game Sept. 21, 1968, was a 20-20 tie with Wake Forest.
Video
See News 4 Coverage Of "Voice Of The Tigers' Jim Phillips
His broadcast of the Georgia-Clemson game Aug. 30 was his 400th football game. Phillips did play-by-play for more than 2,000 Clemson sporting events in his career.
Phillips did football, men's and women's basketball and baseball games. He also hosted Clemson football and basketball coach's shows.
He was a five-time recipient of the South Carolina Broadcaster of the Year award.
Phillips is survived by his wife Ruth, son Jeff, daughter Terri, grand daughter Erica and sister Janine Regan.
A memorial area has been set up at Howard's Rock at Memorial Stadium on the Clemson campus. Players will have the initials JP on their helmets for Saturday's game against Middle Tennesee State.
"If you mention Clemson football in modern history, you mention Jim Phillips," Clemson head football coach Tommy Bowden said. "He'll be deeply missed. And I don't think there's any doubt he's found Frank Howard and already said 'Do you remember when...?" and they're already telling stories."
"He would announce baseball with the same enthusiasm as football or you'd see him in the tunnel at women's basketball, excited about the upcoming game," Rob Heller said.
"All the athletes liked Jim because he treated every one of them--male, female, black, white, didn't matter where they came from, what sport they played, he treated them all with respect," Clemson announcer and News 4 meteorologist Dale Gilbert said.
Phillips' visitation will be Thursday, Sept. 11 from 7-9 p.m. at Memorial Stadium in the President's Box. His funeral will be Friday, Sept. 12 at 2 p.m. at Abiding Peace Lutheran Church on Batesville Road, with burial to follow at Woodlawn Memorial Park.
Cards and flowers may also be sent to the Clemson Athletic Department at Jervey Athletic Center, P.O. Box 31, Clemson, S.C. 29633.
Clemson University Release
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Peers remember Clemson's Jim Phillips
USC sports historian Tom Price on the career of Jim Phillips
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(Columbia) Sept. 9, 2003 - In a career behind the mike at Clemson games in four different sports that spanned three dozen years, Jim Phillips, touched not only the Clemson community, but also fans of the University of South Carolina's. Phillips died Tuesday morning after an aortic aneurysm Monday afternoon. He was 69.
USC sports historian Tom Price, who has also written several books about the Gamecocks, says, "I did work directly with him on one occasion, the 1977 the College World Series, where Bob Fulton and I were broadcasting the Carolina baseball games, and at that time Clemson had not been doing baseball. When both of the teams went to the College World Series, we set up a network to broadcast both schools, and Phillips came up to represent Clemson and worked with us on those broadcasts in Omaha."
Even though Clemson University and USC are bitter sports rival, Price he was friendly rivals with Phillips. He says they would share information with each other before games.
Former USC broadcaster Bob Fulton says, "This is difficult for people to understand, because I represented the biggest rival that Clemson had, but, see, that has nothing to do with your friendship. If you like some person, you like them. I don't care where he works."
Phillips broadcast more than 2000 total sporting events for Clemson including more 1000 men's basketball games and 401 football games.
Price says Phillips' versatility was unmatched, "He is the only one that I know that did four sports. He did football, men's basketball, women's basketball and baseball for Clemson and did them all well and did the coaches shows in football and basketball also. I have heard of occasions where he would do maybe a men's basketball game that was on television and played at noon and that night be 60 miles away or 80 miles away doing a women's basketball game."
Phillips' family says he will be laid to rest at 2:00pm Friday at Abiding Peace Lutheran Church in Simpsonville. A tribute is planned for Saturday's game, and the Tigers will wear the initials "JP" on their helmets when they take on Middle Tennessee State on Saturday.The university has set up a memorial area at Howard's Rock in Death Valley, where fans can sign a book expressing condolences.
updated 3:50pm by Chris Rees
Posted on Tue, Sep. 09, 2003
Phillips, voice of Clemson Tigers, dead at 69
PETE IACOBELLI
Associated Press
CLEMSON, S.C. - Jim Phillips, whose voice carried the fate of Clemson's sports teams on radio for 36 years, died early Tuesday morning.
Phillips, 69, died at 4 a.m. at Greenville Memorial Hospital following seven hours of surgery after his aorta burst, the school said. The school's loss could be seen outside Clemson's IPTAY booster office, where the team's orange Tiger paw flag flew at half staff.
Phillips had an eye, ear and voice for more than football. He was the only ACC play-by-play announcer to call baseball as well as men's and women's basketball. The dean of ACC broadcasters also handled the football and basketball coach's shows.
Phillips opened the season calling the Clemson-Georgia game, his 400th for the Tigers. He also called Saturday's Clemson-Furman game.
"He was the father figure of Clemson, right now," said Will Merritt, a former Clemson offensive lineman who took over as color analyst on the broadcasts this year. "I truly loved him every time I was around."
Phillips "has been a landmark in the Atlantic Coast Conference for the past 36 years," ACC Commissioner John Swofford said.
"I know he meant a whole lot to this university. He spent a long time at this university," said William Henry, a senior offensive lineman for the Tigers. "It really is a big loss."
The Clemson football team will wear the initials "JP" on their helmets during Saturday's game.
"There has been a lot of tradition and history at Clemson and he's definitely a big part of it," football coach Tommy Bowden said.
Clemson baseball coach Jack Leggett, who worked with Phillips for the past decade, said he'll miss the man who's voice each spring proclaimed "It's baseball time again."
Phillips always was upbeat and positive about the Clemson players and Tiger teams, regardless of the circumstances, Leggett said.
"I remember a couple of times we had some tough games back to back. I'd see him getting ready to do our interview and he'd be the one to try and get me going," Leggett said.
In Columbia, Bob Fulton called games for Clemson's archrival, the South Carolina Gamecocks. Clemson lost a great fan and "an excellent broadcaster," Fulton said. "He had a great love for the Tigers."
And Fulton lost a dear friend. "When people would see us together, talking or laughing or visiting a sports bar together, they could not understand," said Fulton, 83. Working for rivals "does not mean that you can't be close to somebody on the other side of the fence."
While they worked in different booths, "we never failed to congratulate the team or each other when the game was over," Fulton said.
When Fulton called his last South Carolina-Clemson game in 1994 at Clemson, Phillips masterfully surprised him with a plaque and a Clemson Jersey with his name and the number 43, representing his years on the broadcasting gig. "It choked me up. ... I've lost friends, but this one really hurts," Fulton said.
"He sure is going to be missed," said Danny Ford, the man who coached Clemson to a national championship in 1981.
"I don't know what in the world they're going to do about Saturday" when Clemson faces Middle Tennessee State at home, Ford said.
Phillips' family asked Tim Bourret, Clemson's sports information director, to call the game Saturday, Bourret said. "It will be a tribute to Jim," Bourret said. It's the first time since 1988 that Bourret will call a game.
Calling football is "the toughest" for a broadcaster, Fulton said. "You have so many people involved in the game," the game is fast and mud sometimes obscures players' numbers. "You face a lot of obstacles," he said.
But Phillips, a native of Youngstown, Ohio, mastered it. He was named South Carolina Broadcaster of the Year five times and won the master broadcaster award in 1992.
Phillips attended Ashland College in Ohio, starting his broadcasting career in 1953 on Ashland's WATG Radio.
He became the voice of Kent State in 1966. Clemson hired him two years later.
Phillips also was sports director for WYFF-TV in Greenville from 1968 to 1980 and was sports director of WFBC radio for 25 years. He called Greenville Braves games from 1984 to 1990.
Friday night, he was at Clemson's Hall of Fame induction banquet. He had been inducted into the hall in 1992.
IPTAY executive director George Bennett remembered Phillips as a country music fan who loved going to the Grand Ole Opry. "He was the kind of guy who would want to get there at 6 p.m. and stay until midnight," Bennett said.
Bennett said he would try to get Phillips a burial plot in Clemson's famed cemetery hill next to the stadium, but that he was told Phillips had purchased a cemetery plot in Greenville about a month ago.
He is survived by his wife, Ruth, a son and a daughter. Visitation will begin at 7 p.m., Thursday at Mackey Mortuary in Greenville. The funeral will be 2 p.m. Friday at Abiding Peace Lutheran Church in Simpsonville.
The school will recognize Phillips in at least two ways.
Clemson was opening the gate in front of Howard's rock at Memorial Stadium and fans would be allowed to leave flowers in tribute along the hill that the Tigers traditionally run down to begin home games. Also, a tribute is planned for Saturday's game, Bourret said.
Voice of the Tigers' Jim Phillips dies at 69
Posted Tuesday, September 9, 2003 - 9:47 am
By John Boyanoski
STAFF WRITER
jboyan©greenvillenews.comThe voice of Clemson, Jim Phillips, died Tuesday at age 69. CLEMSON UNIVERSITY PHOTO
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• Biographical information from Clemson University
Jim Phillips — the voice of the Clemson Tigers for more than 30 years — died this morning while in surgery for a ruptured aorta at Greenville Memorial Hospital.
Phillips, 69, went to St. Francis Women's Hospital at 7 p.m. because of lower back pain, said Parks Evans, Greenville County Coroner. Several radiology scans were done and it was found he had an abdominal aortic aneurysm.
Phillips was sent to Greenville Memorial for the surgery, Evans said. "It is very, very risky surgery," Evans said. "I couldn't say why he was moved other than Memorial was better prepared to handle that situation."
He died at 4:26 a.m, Evans said.
Phillips has been a play-by-play announcer at Clemson University since 1968.
Phillips did football, men's and women's basketball and baseball games.
The Clemson vs. Georgia two weeks ago was his 400th game, according to a Clemson press release. Over his career he broadcast over 2,000 Clemson sporting events.
Phillips also served as host of the Clemson football and basketball coach's shows for many years, including this season, according to the Clemson press release.
He was a five-time recipient of the South Carolina Broadcaster of the Year award, according to the Clemson press release.
In 1992, the South Carolina Association of Broadcasters awarded him the Master Broadcaster Award — the highest honor presented by that organization, according to the Clemson press release.
Phillips was inducted into the Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame in 1992 and attended the Hall of Fame induction banquet last Friday — the day before he announced his 401st game.
In 1998, he received the Skeeter Francis Award from the Atlantic Coast Conference Sportwriters Association for his contributions to ACC athletics, according to the Clemson press release. He was the first radio personality to receive the award.
In addition to his duties at Clemson, Phillips was the sports director at WYFF-TV from 1968-80 and the sports director at WFBC Radio in Greenville for 25 years, according to the Clemson press release. He was also the voice of the Greenville Braves from 1984-90.
Born in Youngstown, Ohio, Phillips attending Ashland College in Ohio. He began his broadcasting career in 1953 at WATG Radio in Ashland., according to the Clemson press release. He worked for three more stations in the Buckeye State before becoming the voice of Kent State athletics in 1966. He was then hired by football coach Frank Howard in the summer of 1968.
Phillips is survived by his wife Ruth, son Jeff, daughter Terri, granddaughter Erica and sister Janine Regan. Funeral arrangements will be announced later.
Biographical information from Clemson University
Posted Tuesday, September 9, 2003 - 10:52 am
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The dean of all broadcasters in the ACC, Phillips came to Clemson in 1968 and broadcast his first Tiger football game on September 21, 1968, a 20-20 tie between Clemson and Wake Forest. The Clemson vs. Georgia game of August 30, 2003 was his 400th Clemson football broadcast.
At 69-years-old, he was the only ACC play-by-play announcer to broadcast his school's football, basketball, baseball and women's basketball games. Over his career he broadcast over 2,000 Clemson sporting events.
Phillips also served as host of the Clemson football and basketball coach's shows for many years, including this season. He broadcast his 1000th Clemson men's basketball game at the 2002 ACC Tournament in Charlotte. He missed just one broadcast of a Clemson men's basketball game in Littlejohn Coliseum, a time period that dates to November of 1968.
Phillips was one of the most honored broadcasters in his field. He was a five-time recipient of the South Carolina Broadcaster of the Year award. In 1992 he was presented the Master Broadcaster Award by the South Carolina Association of Broadcasters, the highest honor presented by that organization.
Phillips was inducted into the Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame in 1992 and attended the Hall of Fame induction banquet this past Friday evening. In 1998 he received the Skeeter Francis Award from the Atlantic Coast Conference Sportwriters Association for his contributions to ACC athletics. He was the first radio personality to receive the award.
In addition to his duties at Clemson, Phillips was the sports director at WYFF TV from 1968-80 and the sports director at WFBC Radio in Greenville for 25 years. He was also the voice of the Greenville Braves from 1984-90.
Born in Youngstown, OH on April 23, 1934, Phillips attending Ashland College in Ohio. He began his broadcasting career in 1953 at WATG Radio in Ashland, OH as a staff announcer. He worked for three more stations in the Buckeye State before becoming the voice of Kent State athletics in 1966. He was then hired by Frank Howard in the summer of 1968.
Phillips is survived by his wife Ruth, son Jeff, daughter Terri, grand daughter Erica and sister Janine Regan. Funeral arrangements will be announced at a later date.
Tuesday, September 9, 2003 8:32:45 AM EDT
Clemson Legend Jim Phillips Passes Away
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Jim Phillips and Will Merritt prepare for the Georgia game.
Clemson, SC-Jim Phillips, the legendary voice of the Clemson Tigers for 36 years, died early Tuesday morning of an aneurysm of the aorta. He was 69 years old.
Phillips was rushed to Greenville Memorial Hospital Monday evening. Surgeons performed seven hours of surgery before he passed away at 4:00 AM. Phillips had broadcast the Clemson vs. Furman game just two days prior to his death.
The dean of all broadcasters in the ACC, Phillips came to Clemson in 1968 and broadcast his first Tiger football game on September 21, 1968, a 20-20 tie between Clemson and Wake Forest. The Clemson vs. Georgia game of August 30, 2003 was his 400th Clemson football broadcast.
At 69-years-old, he was the only ACC play-by-play announcer to broadcast his school's football, basketball, baseball and women's basketball games. Over his career he broadcast over 2,000 Clemson sporting events.
Phillips also served as host of the Clemson football and basketball coach's shows for many years, including this season. He broadcast his 1000th Clemson men's basketball game at the 2002 ACC Tournament in Charlotte. He missed just one broadcast of a Clemson men's basketball game in Littlejohn Coliseum, a time period that dates to November of 1968.
Phillips was one of the most honored broadcasters in his field. He was a five-time recipient of the South Carolina Broadcaster of the Year award. In 1992 he was presented the Master Broadcaster Award by the South
