‘The Voice of the Terps’

The longtime radio play-by-play man, the so-called “voice” of a team, is one of the great staples of our sporting culture.  It seems, in order to be viewed as a legitimate program or franchise, your team must have one.

For the past 31 years, that man for the Terrapin football and basketball teams has been Johnny Holliday, the smooth-talking former radio disc jockey who tomorrow night will be inducted into the university’s Athletics Hall of Fame.

It’s an important honor. And though Holliday wondered if he was deserving of the induction — “All I have to do is just call the games. I don’t play,” he reasoned — the Miami native and former high school quarterback has become as identifiable with the Terps as Ralph Friedgen or Gary Williams, at least among longtime supporters.

Even in this age of live online broadcasts and instant Twitter updates, even if you’re from out-of-state or have never heard Holliday call a game because you’re always at the game, the importance of Holliday’s career here is obvious.

From the football team’s decade of futility in the ’90s to the 2002 men’s basketball National Championship and beyond, Holliday has been the self-described “eyes and ears of the fans that follow the program.”

He’s more personable than the TV announcer who will be in another city calling a different game the next week. Embodying that “Voice of the Terps,” title, has been Holliday’s main responsibility for three decades.

Try introducing yourself to him. He’ll talk to you as if he knows you in that same classic radio voice he displays live on the air. He’ll take the time to find out a little bit about you — where you’re from or what your major is — though based on his other obligations, which include  the Washington Nationals’ TV studio show on MASN, it’s evident time is something he doesn’t have a lot of.

“I just lucked my way into radio by accident. Everything is basically self-taught, so I think I have a lot to give back,” Holliday said. “I’m very grateful for the opportunities I’ve had. I never ever have put myself above anybody else — that’s all part of what you do. I can never see myself on a pinnacle or big-timing anybody.”

He’s also a pretty good announcer.

Holliday’s euphoric call, “The kids have done it,” as the clock ticked down on the Terps’ 2002 National Championship victory against Indiana was something you heard, and still frequently hear, in this area.

It was straight off the cuff, according to Holliday, and at that moment, it perfectly represented what Terp fans were feeling.

In many fans’ eyes, it was frustrating to watch a basketball program with the rich tradition of the Terps fail, year-in and year-out, to earn the championship banners rivals Duke and North Carolina already owned.

Holliday’s call: “The kids have done it,” which to those listening meant something along the lines of “our players finally got the job done,” symbolized the dramatic conclusion — and accompanying relief — that the quest was complete.

In February 2003, a day after a blizzard dumped more than two feet of snow on the region and forced the Athletics Department to postpone a scheduled contest between the No. 13 Terps and then-conference leading Wake Forest, Holliday was in his customary courtside seat, ready to call the delayed game.

Because it had been pushed back a day, there was no TV broadcast. If you wanted to know what was happening at Comcast Center and couldn’t make the icy trek down to College Park, Holliday was your only real option.

He made it seem like you were there. That’s Holliday’s skill: He’s able to put you right in the middle of games like that one, a 90-67 Terp victory that put Steve Blake and Drew Nicholas’ team into first place into the ACC. And he did it with a personal touch.

It’s that talent that will be honored tomorrow night. So if you get a chance, perhaps Saturday when the Terps play Clemson — the TV broadcast has been relegated to ESPNU — take a listen to Holliday, and see if you don’t feel like you know him already.

akraut@umdbk.com