Chris Schenkel Christopher Eugene " Chris " Schenkel ( August 21 , 1923 – September 11 , 2005 ) was an American sportscaster . Over the course of five decades he called play - by - play for numerous sports on television and radio , becoming known for his smooth delivery and baritone voice . Biography . Early life and career . Schenkel began his broadcasting career at radio station WBAA while studying for a premedical degree at Purdue University . He worked for a time at WLBC in Muncie , Indiana . After military service in World War II , he resumed sportcasting in Providence , Rhode Island . In 1952 , Schenkel was hired by the DuMont Television Network , for which he broadcast New York Giants football and hosted DuMont ' s " Boxing From Eastern Parkway " ( 1953 - 1954 ) and " Boxing From St . Nicholas Arena " ( 1954 - 1956 ) . In 1956 , he moved to CBS Sports , where he continued to call Giants games , along with boxing , the Triple Crown horse racing , and The Masters golf tournament , among other events . Along with Chuck Thompson , Schenkel called the 1958 NFL Championship Game for NBC . He was the voiceover talent for the very first NFL Films production ever made , the 1962 NFL Championship Game between the Green Bay Packers and the New York Giants . ABC Sports . ABC Sports hired Schenkel in 1965 , and there he broadcast college football , Major League Baseball , NBA basketball , golf and tennis tournaments , boxing , auto racing , and the Summer and Winter Olympic Games . He was best known for covering professional bowling , mainly for the Professional Bowlers Association ( also known as the Pro Bowlers Tour ) . He covered bowling from the early 1960s until 1997 , as it became one of ABC ' s signature sports for Saturday afternoons . His broadcast partners on the PBA telecasts included Billy Welu ( through 1974 ) and Nelson " Bo " Burton , Jr . ( 1975 – 97 ) . Schenkel and his broadcast team provided exciting and colorful coverage to a sport not typically considered attractive to a television audience . During his 36 years on The Professional Bowlers Tour , there were occasions when ABC sent Schenkel away to cover other assignments . Strangely , he was away on assignment for the first three of the PBA ' s televised 300 games . He would eventually witness a 300 game on January 31 , 1987 when Houstonian Pete McCordic bowled one in the first match of the Greater Los Angeles Open . Chris told McCordic it was a great moment for him , since he was away all the other times . Chris would witness and call five more televised 300 games . After McCordic ' s final strike , Chris yelled , " We have it ! We have it ! " Contrary to current popular belief , Chris Schenkel , not Jim McKay , anchored ABC ' s prime time coverage of the ill - fated 1972 Summer Olympics . When the terrorist attacks ( otherwise known as the Munich Massacre ) occurred , Schenkel was asleep after hosting the previous night ' s coverage live from Munich from 2 a . m . to 5 a . m . local time . McKay , who was on his way to the Stadium for track and field coverage , was told to return to the ABC studio to report on the situation unfolding at the Olympic Village . Schenkel returned to anchor Olympic coverage after the Games resumed . Honors . In 1971 , Statesboro , Georgia businessman Charlie Robbins honored Schenkel by developing in his name a scholarship for golf at Georgia Southern University and developed the " Chris Schenkel Intercollegiate Golf Tournament " , featuring some of the nation ' s top college golf teams . It ended after the 1989 event after it was discovered that the golf club hosting the tournament was all - white , but was revived in 1999 as the " E - Z - Go Schenkel Invitational " and is regarded as one of college golf ' s premier intercollegiate events in the East . Chris Schenkel also did play - by - play ( with Bud Wilkinson ) for the legendary Nebraska - Oklahoma " Game of the Century " on Thanksgiving Day 1971 , as well as the Sugar Bowl national championship showdown between Notre Dame and Alabama on New Year ' s Eve 1973 ( with Wilkinson and Howard Cosell , in a rare college football appearance ) . Schenkel was replaced by Keith Jackson as ABC ' s lead play - by - play man for college football telecasts in 1974 , but continued to call college football games for several more years . He was named National Sportscaster of the Year four times , and in 1992 received a lifetime achievement Emmy Award . Also in 1992 , the Pro Football Hall of Fame presented Schenkel with its Pete Rozelle Radio - Television Award . In 1999 , he received the Jim Thorpe Lifetime Achievement Award . In 1999 , the Professional Bowlers Association named the Player of the Year award after Schenkel . In a 2009 vote by its members , the American Sportscasters Association ranked Schenkel 25th on its list of the Top 50 Sportscasters of All - Time . In a 2010 podcast , comedian Chris Hardwick ( son of former pro - bowler Billy Hardwick ) claimed he was named after Schenkel . Personal . He was married to former dancer and model , Fran Page . Schenkel had three children , Christina , Teddy , and Johnny . He also has three grandchildren , Christopher , Michael , and Katie . In 1971 , Schenkel , a longtime friend of Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony Hulman , was a passenger in the pace car for that year ' s Indianapolis 500 race . Astronaut John Glenn and Hulman were also in the car when its driver , Indianapolis - area Dodge dealer Eldon Palmer , crashed the 1971 Dodge Challenger convertible into a camera platform at the beginning of the race . Someone had moved the flag Palmer had positioned as a braking reference point , leading to the incident that injured twenty - two people , mostly photographers . Schenkel was in the back seat and suffered a broken shoulder when a photographer tumbled into the car . The car ' s other occupants were not seriously injured . The moment of the crash was captured by Chicago Tribune photographer Frank Hanes and was widely distributed via various media outlets . Death . Schenkel died of emphysema in 2005 at the age of 82 . He is interred at Saint Johns United Church of Christ Cemetery in Bippus , Indiana . Other appearances . Schenkel appeared ( along with Bo Burton ) as the bowling announcers in the final match in the 1979 movie " Dreamer " . Schenkel appeared as himself in the 1996 film " Kingpin " . He played the role of play - by - play announcer in the final match between characters Ernie McCracken and Roy Munson . Another appearance was in the 1994 film " Greedy " . He played himself as an announcer of a bowling tournament early in the movie . Schenkel ' s voice can be heard on the " Daisy " ad . Schenkel also appeared in " Beer in a Bottle " industrial ads for Owens - Illinois .