John Ferguson (sportscaster)

John Ferguson
John Ferguson
Born	December 16, 1920; Louisiana, USA
Died	December 17, 2005 (aged 85–86)
Alma mater	Louisiana Tech University
Occupation	Sports announcer

John Ferguson (December 16, 1920 - December 17, 2005) was an American sportscaster for the LSU Tigers basketball and football teams on radio and later television.^[1] He also called New Orleans Saints games, Cotton States League baseball games and the Southwest Conference football game of the week.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Biography

John Ferguson was born in 1919 in Louisiana.^[5] He began his career calling Cotton States League games in El Dorado, Arkansas in 1942.^[3] When World War II started, Ferguson enlisted in the army as an Army Air pilot completing 144 missions piloting cargo planes over the Himalayas between India and China, supplying B-29s for their bombing runs.^[1]

After World War II, Ferguson moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana and when WJBO-AM won the rights to LSU games they asked if he was available and he took the job.^[3] After the 1958 season, Ferguson took a break from calling LSU games to do the Southwest Conference football game of the week.^[3] Because of this, Ferguson was not the announcer for Billy Cannon's Halloween run versus Ole Miss in 1959. J.C. Politz was the LSU broadcaster from 1959 to 1960. In 1961, Ferguson returned to LSU and broadcast men's basketball and football games. For a time, Ferguson was also the play-by-play commentator for the New Orleans Saints.^[2] The 1983 season was his last year as radio broadcaster at LSU.^[6]^[7] In 1984, Ferguson transitioned over to TigerVision, LSU's pay-per-view television network for football games and Jim Hawthorne took over as radio broadcaster for LSU baseball, men's basketball and football.^[8] Also in 1984, Ferguson was awarded the Distinguished Service Award in Sports Journalism from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association.^[9] He retired in 1987.^[2]

Ferguson also served as the executive director of the Tiger Athletic Foundation.^[10] He died in 2005 at the age of 86 in Zachary, Louisiana^[2]^[11] and was interred at Port Hudson National Cemetery.^[12]

References

^ ^a ^b "John Ferguson, Former Voice of the Tigers". lsu.edu. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Ferguson, longtime voice of LSU sports, dies at 86". espn.com. 19 December 2005. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Barnhart, Tony (August 2008). Southern Fried Football (Revised) [The History, Passion, and Glory of the Great Southern Game]. Chicago, Illinois: Triumph Books. ISBN 978-1623684884. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
^ "Longtime Voice of LSU Sports Passes Away". cstv. Archived from the original on January 3, 2006. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
^ "LSU hires Georgia Southern announcer Chris Blair to replace the retiring Jim Hawthorne". nola.com. 21 June 2015. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
^ "Voice of LSU Jim Hawthorne to retire". USA Today. February 11, 2015. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
^ "In focus: Legendary Voices". lsusports.net. Archived from the original on 2018-07-06. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
^ "Voice of LSU Jim Hawthorne to retire". shreveporttimes.com. February 11, 2015. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
^ "Tompkins, Hawthorne headed to La. Sports Hall of Fame". thetowntalk.com. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
^ "Growth of LSU athletics supported by TAF, fundraising". The Daily Reveille. 14 March 2018. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
^ "John Ferguson, 86; Voice of LSU Sports for More Than 40 Years". Los Angeles Times. December 20, 2005. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
^ "John Ferguson Obituary", The Advocate

[John_Ferguson-LSU-1] "John Ferguson, Former Voice of the Tigers". lsu.edu. Retrieved 2018-07-07.

[Ferguson-ESPN_Reference-2] "Ferguson, longtime voice of LSU sports, dies at 86". espn.com. 19 December 2005. Retrieved 2018-07-07.

[Southern_Fried_Football-3] Barnhart, Tony (August 2008). Southern Fried Football (Revised) [The History, Passion, and Glory of the Great Southern Game]. Chicago, Illinois: Triumph Books. ISBN 978-1623684884. Retrieved 2018-07-07.

[4] "Longtime Voice of LSU Sports Passes Away". cstv. Archived from the original on January 3, 2006. Retrieved 13 August 2018.

[5] "LSU hires Georgia Southern announcer Chris Blair to replace the retiring Jim Hawthorne". nola.com. 21 June 2015. Retrieved 2018-07-07.

[USAT-6] "Voice of LSU Jim Hawthorne to retire". USA Today. February 11, 2015. Retrieved 2018-07-07.

[7] "In focus: Legendary Voices". lsusports.net. Archived from the original on 2018-07-06. Retrieved 2018-07-07.

[8] "Voice of LSU Jim Hawthorne to retire". shreveporttimes.com. February 11, 2015. Retrieved 2018-07-07.

[9] "Tompkins, Hawthorne headed to La. Sports Hall of Fame". thetowntalk.com. Retrieved 2018-07-07.

[10] "Growth of LSU athletics supported by TAF, fundraising". The Daily Reveille. 14 March 2018. Retrieved 2018-07-07.

[11] "John Ferguson, 86; Voice of LSU Sports for More Than 40 Years". Los Angeles Times. December 20, 2005. Retrieved 2018-07-07.

[12] "John Ferguson Obituary", The Advocate

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

v t e LSU Tigers men's basketball
Venues	State Field (1908–1924) Gym/Armory (1930–1937) John M. Parker Agricultural Coliseum (1937–1971) Pete Maravich Assembly Center (1972–present) LSU Basketball Practice Facility LSU Strength and Conditioning facility Martin J. Broussard Center for Athletic Training LSU Academic Center for Student-Athletes
Culture & lore	Traditions Mike the Tiger Bengal Brass One & Done
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

v t e LSU Tigers football
Venues	State Field (1893–1924) Tiger Stadium (1924–present) Charles McClendon Practice Facility LSU Football Operations Center LSU Indoor Practice Facility Martin J. Broussard Center for Athletic Training LSU Academic Center for Student-Athletes
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Alabama Arkansas Auburn Florida Mississippi State Ole Miss: Magnolia Bowl Texas A&M Tulane: Battle for the Rag
Culture & lore	History Mike the Tiger LSU Tiger Marching Band Songs of LSU Golden Girls and Colorguard LSU Cheerleaders Jersey No. 18 Chinese Bandits Cannon's Halloween run Earthquake Game Bluegrass Miracle 2011 "Game of the Century" Highest scoring Division I game 2019 "Game of the Century" Bengal Punch
People	Head coaches All-Americans LSU Hall of Fame inductees College Football Hall of Fame inductees NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
National championship seasons in bold

Authority control databases
International	VIAF WorldCat
National	United States Sweden Poland Israel

Biography

See also

References