Scott Miller Inducted into the Georgia Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame
Scott Miller was inducted into the Georgia Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in January 2022. This career highlights video was played during the ceremony.
Scott Miller was inducted into the Georgia Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in January 2022. This career highlights video was played during the ceremony.
Miller Elected to the Georgia Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame
The Voice of the Cougars joins the likes of Skip Caray and Pete VanWieren.
By Josh Fuller
12/17/2021 www.csucougars.com
ATLANTA - Scott Miller, the voice of Columbus State University Athletics, has been elected to the Georgia Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame, as the organization announced the Class of 2022.
Now in his 46th year of calling Cougar action, Miller is a broadcasting icon, winning numerous awards for his play-by-action as well as in-studio work. Some of his honors include four GABBY awards and three Merit honors. He has been instrumental to both the Cougar Athletic Department and the CSU Department of Communication since WCUG 88.5 Cougar Radio became the radio home of Columbus State Athletics in 2020.
Miller has brought some of the most memorable Cougar moments to life, including when the Columbus State University baseball team captured the 2002 NCAA Division II national championship. Miller has been on the call for over 1,100 games since taking the reigns in the broadcast booth and table.
A member of the Columbus State Athletic Hall of Fame, Miller has presided over the organization for over two decades while being a longtime supporter of Cougar athletics. Also, he was inducted into the Chattahoochee Valley Sports Hall of Fame and was awarded the 2019 Herbert Greene Golden Cougar Award.
Each winter, the Georgia Association of Broadcasters hosts an annual luncheon honoring new Hall of Fame members and acknowledging recipients of the E. Lanier Finch Scholarship. This event brings together seasoned broadcasting veterans with aspiring broadcasters. It's a celebration of the amazing careers of those who have built the industry while looking ahead to the future with our scholarship recipients.
Since its inception, the GAB Hall of Fame has inducted 93 Broadcasters, honoring big name legends and small-town greats. Consideration for this honor is given to broadcasters with a minimum of 20 years in broadcasting with a tie to Georgia; went to school, lived, or worked in the state, a solid record of achievement including rating dominance and local/national awards, and a history of dedication to the communities they serve.
The class includes Miller, Doug Weathers, Ed Harbison and Joe Willie-Sousa. Past inductees include this year's emcee, Monica Pearson, and others such as Skip Caray, Judy Woodruff, Pete VanWieren, and Mike Roberts among numerous others.
Scott Miller Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
This career highlight video was used to introduce Scott Miller in the Chattahoochee Valley Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.
Radio play-by-play man Scott Miller selected to Chattahoochee Valley Hall of Fame
As a play-by-play man in Columbus since 1976, Scott Miller has painted the scene of many great moments for listeners throughout the Chattahoochee Valley. On Saturday, Miller himself will be the focus, with his induction into the Chattahoochee Valley Hall of Fame. “When I first got the word, I was extremely humbled and proud to be joining that group,” Miller said. “You look through there, and there are some great names. There are names you recognize nationally.”
BY JORDAN D. HILL
jhill@ledger-enquirer.com
January 29, 2018, 11:58 AM
As a play-by-play man in Columbus since 1976, Scott Miller has painted the scene of many great moments for listeners throughout the Chattahoochee Valley. On Saturday, Miller himself will be the focus, with his induction into the Chattahoochee Valley Hall of Fame.
“When I first got the word, I was extremely humbled and proud to be joining that group,” Miller said. “You look through there, and there are some great names. There are names you recognize nationally.”
Miller said he first found the urge to enter radio play-by-play as a student at Towers High School in Decatur, Georgia. He was outgoing in practicing his craft, eventually getting permission from the Atlanta Braves and the Atlanta Flames to sit in an empty booth and provide play-by-play into a tape recorder.
Miller took his passion to the Columbia School of Broadcasting in Atlanta, where he earned a journalism/radio broadcasting degree. From there, he worked in Blue Ridge, Atlanta, Marietta, Monroe, Griffin, and Athens.
It was his stop at WRFC in Athens that ultimately led him to Columbus. “The general manager there was hired by Chuck McClure Sr. to come down and run his stations here in Columbus,” Miller said. I was the morning man at WRFC in Athens. He got the job down here, and he hired me to come down here.”
In only his second year with McClure Broadcasting, Miller made a bold move. He approached Columbus College athletic director Sonny Clements and baseball coach Charles Ragsdale and inquired about providing play-by-play for the school’s athletic events.
Clements and Ragsdale okayed Miller’s request, which started a partnership that continues to this day.
“They took a chance on a kid who they didn’t know. I’ll forever be thankful for those two guys for being my Columbus State connection.”
Miller’s connections to the college weren’t limited there, either. He married his wife Peggy in 1979 after the two met during her time as a student at the school. Their daughter, Lauren, also attended CSU.
With his roots firmly established in Columbus, Miller rolled through the next three decades as the go-to voice on the radio. Along with his daily sports reports, he called a number of major sporting events in the area, including Columbus State’s baseball championship in 2002, Columbus High’s 14 baseball championships and football title games for Glenwood and Brookstone.
Among his other assignments, Miller also spent a season as Video Sports Network’s television play-by-play announcer for Auburn football and was the radio play-by-play announcer for Division III football’s national title game for seven years.
Moments like sharing a booth with Georgia head coach Vince Dooley or watching the CSU baseball team deliver walk-off after walk-offs linger in Miller’s mind, but they don’t have quite the same impact as hearing from athletes years after they finished competing.
“It’s really neat to reconnect with some of the players and hear them talk about those days and how much it meant to their parents and other family members to hear their games on the radio,” Miller said. “That’s really the cool part to me.”
Now in his 43rd year in Columbus, Miller stands as the city’s longest-tenured sports reporter in any medium. He has won the Georgia Association of Broadcasters’ Gabby Award for best play-by-play broadcast multiple times, took home the Columbus Citizen of the Year honors by the VFW in 1999, and was elected to the Columbus State University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2004.
Saturday will be a chance for Miller to reminiscence about some of the biggest games he’s called, but for the 63-year-old, it’s by no means a stopping point.
“When I first started, I was just a little older than the players. Now I’ve been doing it so long that I’m just a little older than the players’ grandparents,” Miller said. “God has blessed me to have good health and to keep going, so hopefully that will last for a long time.”
Jordan D. Hill: 770-894-9818, @lesports
His voice may be raspy, but Scott Miller will still look for his lucky spot.
Sixty-one games into a grueling season Scott Miller’s scratchy throat was in need of rest and relief. There was still baseball left to be played so Thursday night the 63-year-old play-by-play announcer sequestered himself in his hotel room while Columbus State University’s road-weary group went out in search of food, knowing they would end up in a chain restaurant where the grub tastes just like the place they ate last week.
Miller understands this better than most folks. He’s on a road trip that began in 1977, riding shotgun with four head coaches for 41 years and more than 2,000 baseball games. Players from the Cougars’ starting lineup that first season qualify for AARP and might be the third baseman’s grandpa. But with his favorite team two victories away from a second NCAA Division II World Series trophy, Miller was in a hotel room in Cary, N.C. nursing a voice that has never let him down.
Richard Hyatt
June 1, 2018
allongeorgia.com
Sixty-one games into a grueling season Scott Miller’s scratchy throat was in need of rest and relief. There was still baseball left to be played so Thursday night the 63-year-old play-by-play announcer sequestered himself in his hotel room while Columbus State University’s road-weary group went out in search of food, knowing they would end up in a chain restaurant where the grub tastes just like the place they ate last week.
Miller understands this better than most folks. He’s on a road trip that began in 1977, riding shotgun with four head coaches for 41 years and more than 2,000 baseball games. Players from the Cougars’ starting lineup that first season qualify for AARP and might be the third baseman’s grandpa. But with his favorite team two victories away from a second NCAA Division II World Series trophy, Miller was in a hotel room in Cary, N.C. nursing a voice that has never let him down.
Coach Greg Appleton and play-by-play man Scott Miller hope for a repeat of the 2002 College World Series. No one is happier that the veteran broadcaster is in North Carolina than Greg Appleton. The affable head coach of the Cougars is the only coach at the World Series who travels with his own play-by-play guy. At this point in his career, Miller is almost a novelty, but he’s a novelty appreciated by the coach and a roster of players who know very little about AM radio. “But they listen to his calls and they appreciate his calls,” said Appleton, who has headed the Cougars baseball program since 1997. “They think it’s pretty cool that we have our own announcer and that’s he’s on our side.”
Yes, he is on their side. For in a profession where sportscasters aren’t supposed to cheer in the press box and wear neutrality like a badge of honor, Miller is an unabashed “homer.” He has never ripped a double down the line or swished a three-ball from the top of the key but he thinks of himself as a Cougar whether the season is baseball or basketball.
Known as Uncle Scotty, he was a rock ‘n’ roll DJ when he came to Columbus in 1976. FM radio was emerging and fresh out of Athens, Ga., he became the morning man on WCGQ giving him a license to be as wild and goofy as the law would allow. 107Q had the big signal and big sound and Miller became the big man on the dial.
Other things were also on his mind. Columbus College (as it was known) was minutes away from the radio station and the school had a budding athletic program. What they didn’t have was a media presence. So without bothering to mention this to Chuck McClure, his boss and the owner of McClure Broadcasting, Scott made an appointment to visit campus and introduce himself to Sonny Clements and Charles Ragsdale — the basketball and baseball coach, respectively.
From those introductions grew a broadcast relationship that thrives after more than 40 years. And the deepest relationship he fostered would be with the late Herbert Green — CSU’s men’s basketball coach for 25 years. The coach and the announcer became roommates on road trips and Miller was the voice of Green’s 481 victories. “They were almost brothers,” Appleton says. “They thought the same. They liked the same things. They were together for the highs and lows and the good and the bad. Their friendship got them through those tough moments. Herbert was also a big baseball fan. He manned a grill and cooked hamburgers at our games and even took road trips with the team.”
In 2002, Green joined the Cougar baseball team in Montgomery, Ala. for the College World Series. He was their biggest cheerleader. Miller was behind the microphone and many believe it was his finest hour. His body of work is preserved on a CD and which Appleton says is his most cherished possession.“I still get nervous listening to it,” Appleton says.Every member of CSU’s championship team was presented a copy of that classic CD. “I’ll bet during baseball season those guys still get that CD out and listen to it,” the veteran baseball coach says.
There was drama and excitement and Scott Miller captured it all on radio, as announcers have been doing for decades. It is common for new listeners to comment on his talents and how he is too good for a market this size. Appleton believes he stayed because he wanted “to put family over career,” meaning wife Peggy and daughter Lauren.
His time has not always been joyful. In 2003, the Cougars were on a roll led by high-scoring backcourt star Jed Bedford. At a Sunday afternoon practice session at the Lumpkin Center, the team captain died on the court after draining a long jumper. Green was never the same and Miller reflected his friend’s lingering sadness.But the worst was yet to come for Miller, the university and the community. Retired from coaching, Green was director of the Columbus Sports Council. On a summer night in 2015, word sadly spread that the beloved coach had died of a heart attack.
His funeral service was held at the Lumpkin Center, the scene of many exciting moments. His remains laid in state near mid-court — not far from where Bedford’s body hit the floor with a thud.The primary eulogist that afternoon was Scott Miller. His poignant remarks had the rhythm of the play-by-play of an overtime thriller.The announcer’s trademark catchphrase — repeated during games he calls on News Radio 540 — urges listeners to “find their lucky spot” when victory is on the line. During his best friend’s eulogy, he talked about the Hall of Fame coach finding his ultimate lucky spot.
Everyone concerned knows Herbert Greene would have been in North Carolina this week to support the Cougars and Appleton in the College World Series. Miller took along a favorite portrait of Green that he has taken to every game so Green could cheer the Cougars.
Friday at 1 p.m, CSU plays Florida Southern University for a second straight day. The winner plays for the national championship on Saturday. Raspy voice or not, Miller will be behind the microphone as he has been for more than 2,000 other Cougar baseball games. He’ll grit his teeth, talk about that lucky spot and hope for a repeat of that previous World Series appearance 16 years ago.
After their long partnership, Gregg Appleton understands the value of what Scott Miller does when the game is on the line. The head coach smiles when he hears opposing fans say: “That radio guy you’ve got is really good.” Appleton has watched Miller do his job out in the sunshine under a makeshift tent using his cell phone and seen him perform in air-conditioned press boxes.
Despite the crappy food and bad hours, this is still his moment.“He still gets a charge out of the games,” Appleton says, “and he’s still good at what he does.”
allongeorgia.com/muscogee-sports/column-his-voice-may-be-raspy-but-scott-miller-will-still-look-for-his-lucky-spot
Scott Miller Receives Gabby Award From the Georgia Association of Broadcasters
Columbus State University Hall of Fame broadcaster Scott Miller received the Gabby Award, handed out by the Georgia Association of Broadcasters on Saturday night. The award, for the Best Play-By-Play Broadcast, was presented at the annual Gabby Awards held at the Jekyll Island Convention Center. It’s the fourth time in five years that Miller has been honored by the Georgia Association of Broadcasters.
Columbus State University Sports Information
October 30, 2018
JEKYLL ISLAND, Ga. – Columbus State University Hall of Fame broadcaster Scott Miller received the Gabby Award, handed out by the Georgia Association of Broadcasters on Saturday night. The award, for the Best Play-By-Play Broadcast, was presented at the annual Gabby Awards held at the Jekyll Island Convention Center. It’s the fourth time in five years that Miller has been honored by the Georgia Association of Broadcasters.
"I'm very honored to have won the Georgia Association of Broadcasters Gabby Award for Best Sports Play-By-Play Broadcast," stated Miller. "To win this award is certainly a thrill."
Inducted into the Columbus State Athletic Hall of Fame in 2004, Miller has called over 2,000 basketball and baseball games for the Cougars. He also serves as the President of the CSU Hall of Fame.
"We are very lucky to have a broadcaster with as much talent and dedication as Scott here at Columbus State," stated Director of Athletics Todd Reeser. "Scott has done so much for our university and department, and we are looking forward to everything he will do for CSU Athletics in the future."
"None of this would be possible without the great folks at Columbus State University," Miller continued. "For 42 years, they've allowed me to be the Voice of the Cougars, and I'm grateful for that every day. "It's easy to have a good broadcast when the Cougars supply the exciting action on the court and the field."
The fading art of sports announcing
He's the voice of Columbus State University. But to people who follow Cougar basketball and baseball games, he is Columbus State University. The institution has gone from college to university. They play in an arena instead of a gym. They've competed in various conferences and head coaches have come and gone. The constant is Scott Miller, imploring us to find our lucky spot when games are in jeopardy.
Richard Hyatt
June 10, 2014
Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
Scott Miller was a rock 'n' roll morning man at an outrageous FM station when he arrived in 1976. We knew him as Uncle Scotty, and we wondered what he would do next.He's older now, and his hair took an extended commercial break years ago. Sports fans know Scott as a gifted play-by-play man who deserves to be working in a bigger market.
He's the voice of Columbus State University. But to people who follow Cougar basketball and baseball games, he is Columbus State University.The institution has gone from college to university. They play in an arena instead of a gym. They've competed in various conferences and head coaches have come and gone. The constant is Scott Miller, imploring us to find our lucky spot when games are in jeopardy.
His is a fading art. Old school announcers painted a picture. They told us to picture our radio dial as the playing field and we did, in an era when radios had a dial. Scott is that way. He gets heartburn when CSU loses but never forgets that his job is to be our eyes and ears and, on occasion, our heart. Sometimes I fear we take Scott for granted. He sees it differently. "People who've been here a long time are comfortable hearing me. They know what to expect."
He started doing Cougar games one year after arriving from Athens, Ga."That was something I wanted to do eventually and when I started I thought this would be just a stop in the road. In broadcasting you had a short tenure somewhere, and then you moved on."
Not Scott. He never had a burning desire to change call letters. "When I started I was just a little older than the players. Now I'm just a little older than the players' grandparents," he laughs.
Last weekend, the Georgia Association of Broadcasters gave Scott Miller an award, for Best Play-By-Play broadcast. He was honored for his description of a CSU loss at Young Harris College. A trip to the conference tournament was on the line in a game that went into overtime. He shines in such moments. He pushes drama through the phone line and shares compelling moments like no other. Scott is low-key, sometimes to his detriment. This was the first time he had ever entered such a contest, and his family joined him when he received the Gabby Award.
It made him feel good to compete with the Big Boys, which is what he should have been doing all along.
Columbus State Athletics Announces Highest Individual Awards
The Voice of the Cougars since 1977, Scott Miller will be awarded the Herbert Greene Golden Cougar award. Defining the true meaning of Cougar spirit, Miller has helped grow the reach of Columbus State's footprint with his memorable calls. He has been a permanent figure in CSU history, creating lifelong bonds with current and former Cougar student-athletes, coaches, and administrators.
Josh Fuller
Columbus State University Sports Information Director
09/06/2019
COLUMBUS - Columbus State University Athletics is proud to announce the recipients for the three highest awards given out by the department. Dr. Linda Hadley, Scott Miller, and Dr. Glenn Stokes will be honored at the 2019 Columbus State Athletic Hall of Fame and Awards Banquet on October 19 for their lifelong support of CSU Athletics.
The Voice of the Cougars since 1977, Miller will be awarded the Herbert Greene Golden Cougar award. Defining the true meaning of Cougar spirit, Miller has helped grow the reach of Columbus State's footprint with his memorable calls. He has been a permanent figure in CSU history, creating lifelong bonds with current and former Cougar student-athletes, coaches, and administrators.
A member of the CSU and Chattahoochee Valley Sports Hall of Fame, Miller has won multiple Georgia Association of Broadcasters "GABBY AWARD" for best play-by-play broadcast. He was on the call for Columbus State's 2002 baseball national championship. His trademark call of "Grab Your Lucky Spot" has become a rallying cry for Cougar fans all across the nation.
The Herbert Greene Golden Cougar goes to an individual that continually shows their love, dedication, and passion for Columbus State Athletics. The award is named in honor of former athletic director and men's basketball coach, Herbert Greene, who always displayed his Cougar pride.
Great Scott
His listeners have long known his talent far exceeds his market size. For the most part, his audience has been small. But two weeks ago, when the Cougars journeyed to their first national championship in baseball. Scott Miller found himself with an audience literally halfway around the world. Justin Demant's mother listened to every nail-biting pitch from Australia via the Internet. Miller confessed that his palms were sweating so much in the late innings of the championship game that he couldn't hold his pen. But, like the players themselves, Miller delivered his best performance in the clutch. “That was his place and his time," said Herbert Greene, CU's athletic director and one of Miller's closest friends. "And he rose to the occasion."
Guerry Clegg
Columbus Ledger- Enquirer
June 22, 2002
Miller Tells Columbus State fans to “Grab a lucky spot.”
Scott Miller's voice might best be described as vanilla. Bland? Heavens no. Rather, rich with flavor and void of additives. Smooth to the point of soothing. Pleasantly familiar. For more than two decades, Miller's voice has flowed over Columbus radio airwaves like a mountain spring. He has done a little of everything — morning disc jockey, hard news, sports talk, but his passion and his strength have always been play-by-play broadcasting of Columbus State basketball and baseball.
His listeners have long known his talent far exceeds his market size. For the most part, his audience has been small. But two weeks ago, when the Cougars journeyed to their first national championship in baseball. Miller found himself with an audience literally halfway around the world. Justin Demant's mother listened to every nail-biting pitch from Australia via the Internet. Miller confessed that his palms were sweating so much in the late innings of the championship game that he couldn't hold his pen. But, like the players themselves, Miller delivered his best performance in the clutch. “That was his place and his time," said Herbert Greene, CU's athletic director and one of Miller's closest friends. "And he rose to the occasion." We're at a little disadvantage here. For all the advances in newspapers, we still haven’t figured out how to get sound into print.
Miller grew up in Atlanta listening to Larry Munson doing Georgia football and Milo Hamilton and Skip Caray calling Atlanta Braves games. Their influences are evident in his style. His unabashed love of Columbus State — he once volunteered as the Cougars' part-time sports information director — is much like Munson's passion for the Bulldogs. While Munson implores the Dogs to hunker down, Miller asks fans to "grab yourself a lucky spot." The catch-phrase was born years ago out of some anxious moment in a basketball game, to the best of his memory. During the Cougars' World Series run this year, a woman called him and said she went out to her car and listened to the final innings of the game, because that's where she was the day before during a rally. "The greatest compliment anyone can pay me," he said, Is when they say, 'You made me feel like I was there.'
From Hamilton, he learned the value of being solid technically. From Caray, he realized the importance of well-placed humor. He modestly claims he's not their equal. But he will say — only with some prodding ---- that he's confident he could work in a large market as a big-league announcer. Calling Braves games alongside Caray is still a dream of mine." A dream but not a goal. Miller never has been given to wanderlust. At 47, he's more content than ever living in Columbus. It's here where he met his wife, the former Peggy Henson. He has found a love greater than broadcasting — coaching his daughter Lauren's softball teams. One of the few times he has struggled with his composure on the air was this past basketball season when Lauren sang the national anthem. She will start high school in August.
Being program director WDAK requires more paperwork and administrative duties than he'd like. But his morning show satisfies his love of being on the air. "I stop and realize," he said, "there are probably a lot of other people in this business who'd love to be on this level doing what I do.”