Courtesy the Kansas City Star

(September 20, 2010) If you've listened to Ron Franklin call a college football game for ABC or ESPN, you may have noticed he offers a unique brand of relish with his play-by-play when working a game involving Texas schools.

When Franklin and analyst Ed Cunningham call Saturday night's Texas Tech-Texas game for ABC, be prepared to learn where just about every player mentioned went to high school. I don't know how folks around the country feel about knowing that Texas freshman Jackson Jeffcoat went to Plano West or Tech sophomore Seth Doege attended Wolfforth Frenship, but it has to add to Texas viewers' game experience.

To be honest, I didn't know Doege grew up about 15 minutes from Tech until Franklin brought it up in a telephone conversation this week.

"I've always thought that is the nicest thing I can do for a kid and the audience," Franklin said. "It helps humanize a name, and it allows the audience to realize he is more than just a number on the field."

I thought Franklin probably started tacking alma maters on to names when he was the play-by-play voice at the University of Texas from 1983 to 1988. Not true, he said.

It started when he got the job as the radio voice of the Houston Oilers in 1971. Only when he was calling NFL games, he made sure to mention players' colleges. The motive was the same.

"I thought it just helps paint a clearer picture about a player," he said.

It became part of his signature when players told him how much they liked the idea. When he got to the University of Texas, he started hearing from high school coaches who appreciated the mention of their schools.

Franklin isn't a native Texan. He was born and raised in Mississippi. He got to broadcasting in Houston via Roswell, N.M., and Tulsa, Okla.

Franklin was in his usual form when he worked the Texas-Rice season opener two weeks ago. We learned Owls quarterback Taylor McHargue, a graduate of Cedar Park Vista Ridge, threw a touchdown pass to Robinson High's Randy Kitchens before Keller Fossil Ridge's Chris Boswell added the extra point.

But working last week's Iowa-Iowa State game, Franklin refrained from high school identification.

"I am a little afraid that I might mispronounce the name of a school," he said. "I'm just not as familiar."

Maybe that's why the likes of Brent Musburger and

Chris Fowler might not choose to mention where Texas punter John Gold when to high school. There is, after all, a special Texas way to pronounce P-a-l-e-s-t-i-n-e. Is it Frenship or Friendship or Friendswood?

Not only can Franklin get a school's name correct, he knows where the school is and knows plenty of the coaches.

"I have a tremendous appreciation for the Texas High School Coaches Association and the job its members do," said Franklin, who calls Austin home. "They are terrific at what they do. . . . When I moved to Texas four decades ago, I thought Texas high school football was the greatest thing I'd ever seen. But it has gotten better. It blows me away to think of how many college players around the country come from Texas."

Franklin said he had no role model for his different network television style. He isn't copying anyone.

"I just thought this is the way it should be done," said Franklin, who prepped at Ole Miss.

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