Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Dave Diles was College Football Scores

One of the joys of following college football on Saturday is watching the scores of various games across the country. Sometimes you are shocked, others are only possible upsets.

Today, you have various outlets for score information, but back in the old days you went to one source. And Dave Diles was that source. He was the Walter Cronkite of college football scores.

Diles hosted the “Prudential College Football Scoreboard Show” on ABC for a number of years. I remember as kid looking forward to that show each week. Diles had a great voice and interesting tidbits along with his scores. I couldn’t believe there were so many college football games played across the country. And if it was Division I school or even smaller, Diles had the score. Even Ivy League games like Harvard-Yale.

College football was a lot simpler back then. Television offered few choices and few games. The television screen wasn’t one giant information outlet with constant visual simulation. You had to really want and find the scores.

That’s why I turned to Diles. And many other people did the same. Diles died last year and although he was long gone as a score host before then, his passing also included the close of an era.

When I think of it, a smile comes across my face.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

As a kid, I always looked forward to Dave Diles' show and giving the Slippery Rock score.

Paul Delger said...

Yes, I remember that too. It was cool. Thanks for writing

Unknown said...

I remember being 8 or 9 years old watching Diles on a small B&W TV in the late 60's and wondering about majestic faraway (from NJ) universities like Baylor, Bowling Green, Vanderbilt and Wake Forest to name a few.

Paul Delger said...

Mark, Life was pretty simple back in those days. How interesting is it that they use black-and-white for effect now.

Anonymous said...

I used to look forward to the scoreboard show, sitting in the front room with my dad. Dad was huge Nebraska fan and back in the early 70's would relish the whoopin they would put on another team. I had a lot of good memories from those days...much simpler.