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Veteran broadcaster to announce at Monon Classic
GREENCASTLE -- Veteran broadcaster Paul Maguire, whose résumé includes covering four Super Bowls (XXIII, XXX, XXII and XXVII), will be behind the microphone for the 2010 Monon Bell Classic. Maguire will provide color commentary for the November 13 contest between DePauw University and Wabash College, joining play-by-play announcer Kenny Rice on the national HDNet telecast. Kickoff is at 1:07 p.m. (EST) from Hollett Little Giant Stadium in Crawfordsville.
"This is my 40th year of announcing football games on television, and I don't think I've ever broadcast a game with this kind of tradition," says Maguire of the DePauw-Wabash rivalry, which dates back to 1890 and is separated by just one game after 116 contests. "The Monon Bell is historic. For the past year-and-a-half, Kenny (Rice, his broadcast partner on UFL games) and Darrell Ewalt (executive producer of sports for HDNet) have told me many times how special this game is. I can't wait to see it for myself, and am thrilled to be part of the telecast."
Maguire's broadcast career now spans nearly 40 years. It includes serving as a member of NBC's lead NFL broadcast team with Dick Enberg, providing color commentary for ESPN's NFL Sunday Night Football, and work as an analyst for college football on ABC.
He had an 11-year professional football career as a punter and linebacker for the San Diego Chargers (1960-63) and Buffalo Bills (1964-70), during which time he played in six American Football League championship games. He was a member of three AFL championship teams (1963-65), and was named to the Bills' Silver Anniversary All-Time Team as a punter in 1984. Maguire is one of only 20 players who were in the AFL for its entire 10 season existence. He is a member of the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame.
Kenny Rice will call his fifth Monon Bell Classic. He is a veteran sportscaster, having also worked with NBC, ESPN, and FSN at various times during his career. He has covered numerous college football, basketball, and baseball games and served as a boxing reporter at the 2004 Olympic Games and an equestrian reporter during the 2008 Olympics. Rice has also been a reporter for NBC's Football Night in America covering weekly NFL games. Rice has done play-by-play for HDNet since 2003.
The Little Giants of Wabash have a slim one game advantage in the all-time series, 54-53-9. DePauw leads in games played since the Monon Bell was introduced in 1932 as the winners' prize by a 37-35-6 count.