Just imagine if Vin Scully would have called the Rose Bowl game

Published Jan. 1, 2014 9:00 p.m. ET

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Phil Kropoth

The 100th year of the Rose Bowl called for something special, not only for the game but for the host city, too.

That's why it made so much sense to invite Vin Scully to participate in the pregame festivities before Michigan State kicked off against Stanford.

Both were tremendous gestures of respect for a man whose every word Los Angelinos cling to during baseball season. But after all the pomp and circumstance, Scully should have been ushered off the field as fast as possible so he could get behind a microphone in the broadcast booth to call the game (which Michigan State won, 24-20).

Hey, a guy can dream, can'€™t he?

One of the things you may notice if you ever move to LA is the knee-jerk reaction people have here for inserting Scully's name into anything Dodgers-related. His name is truly synonymous with the team, and it wouldn't be crazy to say he's just as — if not more — famous and revered as the best ballplayers who have put on a uniform for this city.

Sure, Scully is a baseball guy first and foremost. He's been calling Dodgers games since 1950, dating back when they were so lovingly referred to as the Brooklyn Bums. Check him out in this 1962 poster that surfaced on Twitter Monday.

And it's not as if calling the Rose Bowl would have been his first time covering football. Back in college, he announced games on the gridiron for Fordham's radio station; and at the pro level, he called NFL games for CBS from 1975-1982.

Besides, Dodgers training camp games don'€™t get going until the tail end of February. Why shouldn't he have gotten his vocal chords warmed up a little earlier than usual?

Just imagine it for a second: Scully calling the final minutes Wednesday's game solo — as he's done for years for the Dodgers —€” as the Cardinal fell short on fourth-and-one to give the Spartans a 24-20 win; that deliberate, calming, and knowledgeable voice painting so vivid a picture in the listener's mind that there'€™d virtually be no need to even look at the TV.

Think I'm alone here? Probably not. But just for fun here'€™s a pair of tweets to back me up:

But, alas, getting Scully in the booth would probably have proven to be an almost impossible feat. Take, for instance, when ESPN asked him last year if he expected to be calling Dodgers playoff games broadcasted on FOX and TBS.

"€œI'm just going to be on radio,"€ he said. "I have no reason to be on TV. I don't deserve to be there. I'm not going to intrude on the fellas who have been working TV. No, no, I'm not going to go near TV."

Need more evidence of this man's humility? When KTLA asked him before the parade kicked into gear if he'd ever envisioned becoming grand marshal of the famous parade, Scully said, "When I first heard about it, I thought it was a mistake, I really did... And then I did some soul searching because I don't really think I've done anything to be in front of this gigantic, masterpiece of a parade... Maybe following the parade with a shovel and a broom, but not being in front of the parade, no."

You can watch the full video here.

If there's one thing Scully fans know it's never to take him for granted. In a way, we were lucky just to have him out on the field on Wedneday. And for scenes like these:

Scully rides on the parade route in style.

Scully performs the coin flip prior to the 100th Rose Bowl Game.

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