A True Dudley Panther Hall of Famer has passed away and Gone, but never to be forgotten:RIP Skip McCall(Mr. It’s Panther Time/It’s Panther Time/It’s Panther Time)

Getting the word today from different sources and the first place I saw this one was on Twitter and it sort of shocks you, but the word was he had been sick, and Dudley High School had brought in John Allen this season, to do the public address announcing for the legendary, and “one-and-only”, Skip McCall…Skip had been sick and now Skip is gone….

A true legend, as the Dudley High School PA man for basketball and football, and a true Dudley Panthers Hall of Famer, that was and is Skip McCall…Skip fit the Dudley Panthers like a glove, they were a perfect fit, he and the Panthers, and Skip was one of those, Best there was, Best there is and Best there ever will be type of people for the Panthers…

Skip was on that microphone and he set the tone for all of the Dudley football and basketball games…As the PA man he made it fun, and it was fun for the kids that were playing the games…

You had the “Helicopter” Eric Hicks, “The Rock” Ricky Lewis(the one that played basketball and football), you had “The Glove” which was the either Rayshawn Polk or the kid that went to Navy to play basketball…You had “The Sheriff”, “The Jackrabbit”, the list goes on and on and on…Skip McCall had a nickname for just about every key kid that ever played at Dudley and he nicknames for most of the rest of them too…I think Hendon Hooker may have been “The Hook”, or the son of the “N.C. A&T Hall of Famer”…Skip had it going on, both coming and going….(Hey and let’s don’t forget, you are now watching the “World-Class Panther Cheerleaders”.)

As they say in the key words and in the book of key meanings, Skip McCall was “The Man”…When it was time for the Dudley Panthers to play football or basketball, it was “Panther Time”…It was “Panther Time, it’s “Panther Time”, it is “Panther Time”, and Skip would let you know…

He also let you know that we were seeing the teams coached by Dudley Panthers’ Hall of Famer David Price and Dudley Panthers’ Hall of Famer Steven Davis…..

from Joe Sirera at the News and Record and HSXtra.com….
Hearing that former Dudley P.A. announcer Skip McCall passed away Saturday evening. His nicknames and “It’s Panther time!” calls were a big part of Dudley tradition at football and basketball games. Prayers and condolences to his family and the Dudley family.

from former Dudley football and basketball player Simeon Gatling:
Wow that is terrible, RIP Uncle Skip, a Greensboro legend

from Hendon Hooker on Twitter:
LONG LIVE UNCLE SKIP

We hope to be adding more to this post, but our main message for this Sunday afternoon is, RIP:Skip McCall.
(The Dudley Panthers have captured a lot of wins/victories over the years, but Today, they have suffered a huge loss.)
*****Skip McCall was right at 70-71 years old.*****

(Andy Durham interviews Skip McCall, the public address announcer for the Dudley Panthers’ football and basketball teams. Recorded live at Shane’s Rib Shack, Westover Terrace, Greensboro NC.)

Here’s a One-on-One Question and Answer with Skip from October 17, back in 1998….
(Conducted by the News and Record’s Dustin Long)

Q&A WITH DUDLEY P.A. ANNOUNCER SKIP MCCALL

And don’t say Mintrel Abney; call the Panther basketball player Spider-man. Camille Akins? She’s Her Airness. Braxton Williams? He was Pound for Pound. And the cheerleaders? They’re the World-Class Panther Cheerleaders.

It’s all about the fun McCall infuses into Panther contests with his booming baritone voice. He entertains the crowd with his nicknames and spur-of-the-moment calls such as: “There’s a marker on the field; I guess that Dudley pass was too pretty.’It’s the style McCall recalls George Singleton using when McCall played basketball and football at Dunbar High School in Lexington. It’s the style McCall mimics.

He has no problem speaking into the microphone. He’s used to speaking to crowds as an educational consultant, who, among many duties, puts together drug-abuse prevention programs for schools.

He’s also used to dealing with crowds as a former high school basketball and CIAA football official.

This week, the 49-year-old McCall took time to talk to Dustin Long about his unique announcing style.

Q: How would you describe your announcing style?

A: I try to be very upbeat and keep the crowd involved with the game. My forte is that I give kids nicknames. They seem to respond to that positively. I don’t say anything that is negative.

Q: How did you start giving players nicknames?

A: It started in ’96 when we won the basketball championship. A kid came to the table to check in and he had a Superman tattoo on his arm. I started calling him Superman. Later that year, when I was at the coliseum for the Little Four, I heard people calling him Superman from the stands. That made me feel good. I knew people were catching on to it. Kids will sometimes approach me and say they want me to call them this or that. I know that they hear it, and it gives them a chance in the spotlight.

Q: Aren’t announcers supposed to be unbiased?

A: I’m Dudley’s announcer. People accuse me of being biased for Dudley. If I can make a remark that is not going to offend or show up an official and make the crowd laugh, then I’ll do that.

Q: You’ve seen the games from all angles: player, coach, official and announcer. Which do you prefer?

A: I like announcing best. You don’t have practice or do a lot of preparation. You get in the games free. You get free refreshments.

Q: What was it like to announce the football games last year as Dudley made its playoff run, falling just short of making the Class 3-A state championship game?

A: I get up for games like the kids do. I still get up for games like I did when I was a player or when I coached a little bit. I get up for those games because I know I’m going to have a good seat, and I’m going to get to talk about it.

Q: What’s your most memorable announcing experience?

A: I guess the 1996 basketball season, the year the boys won the state championship. All of those games were exciting. We had games where we were down 10 with five minutes left. And last football season when we had that playoff game (against Northeast Guilford) here.

Q: What would be the dream event to be the p.a. announcer for?

A: I’d like to do the Super Bowl or NBA Playoffs. To get a crowd hyped for the Super Bowl, you wouldn’t have to do much. They pay big money to get there, they’ve got a lot of paraphernalia and they’d probably have a couple of drinks. To be that person singled out for that job would be an honor and thrill unto itself.

Q: What is the local event you would like to do most?

A: An even bigger thrill (than the Super Bowl) would be to do the CIAA (basketball) tournament. I’d do every game, boys and girls. That’s another crowd that you don’t have to get ready. If my team, Winston-Salem State, was playing, they’d probably have to carry me out of there. I get my energy from the crowd and the players, too. Just getting the crowd ready for a good game.

Q: What do you enjoy most about announcing?

A: It’s the most fun and easiest work to do. I enjoy it as much as people say they enjoy me doing it. It’s a labor of love for me.

9 thoughts on “A True Dudley Panther Hall of Famer has passed away and Gone, but never to be forgotten:RIP Skip McCall(Mr. It’s Panther Time/It’s Panther Time/It’s Panther Time)

  1. Picking these up from Twitter:

    Dudley Football
    @DBoyzFootball
    A legend … May He rest peacefully! Thank you for your services throughout years! You truly made Dudley Home Football games like no other.

  2. More out of Twitter:

    Dale Holder
    @Daleholder
    Heard him call many a game. Prayers to the family.

  3. I remember Skip recognizing people at the Dudley basketball games saying things like “there’s Ms. Poteat on the National Anthem this evening” and saying “there he is, there’s Little Will”…

    I always thought “Little Will” was Will Dillard, but I learned in later years, that “Little Will”, was Will Partee….

    And it was always “Ms. Poteat in the House” and “Little Will in the House”…It was always, “In the House”, when Skip was recognizing someone at Dudley High School…..

  4. Skip McCall was right about this kid…He said she was “Amazing” and she was….

    So the Dudley High School PA announcer, Skip McCall, used to say that that tall girl, Akela Maize was amazing and now she still is amazing, because after leaving Dudley, she played for Delaney Rudd at New Hope Christian Academy, in Thomasville and then she played for Wes Moore at N.C. State University and now Akela Maize is playing professional basketball in Spain….She got her start working in the post for Coach Frank McNeil at Dudley HS now she is playing women’s professional basketball…

  5. Another member from that Dudley Hall Fame that Skip would always recognize, when the man was in the building, would be Dudley Panthers’ long-time assistant basketball coach Everett James….Coach James played and coached a lot of games at James B. Dudley High School over the years, and Skip McCall would always call out Coach James name and give him his props as being a member of the Dudley High School Sports Hall of Fame…..

  6. True legend. “The Helicopter” and so many more. “The Dudley Cheerleaders,…Their number one.” Only announcer in the area that basically did play by play.

  7. Skip McCall really made Dudley sound good. He was one of the best, if not the best public address announcers that I have ever heard. At least the best I have heard on the high school level and there is no doubt about that.

    The Dudley Panthers had real first class PA man and he is going to be missed in a big way over on Lincoln Street.

    Rest in Peace my friend, Skip McCall.

  8. Another one from Skip that came to me this morning was one nickname or phrase he used for a player from the opposing team and it was not all that common for Skip to start giving Dudley’s opponent’s nicknames or catch phrases, but in girl’s basketball, when the Southeast Guilford girls would come over to Dudley, Skip would have this saying for Kara Shutt from SEG…I really liked it and it was Kara “Shutt my Mouth”…Kara Shutt would score or make a play and it would be “Shutt my Mouth”….Not sure if the Shutt’s like it, but I can guarantee you this brother, they will never forget it…

    You can’t forget it…How did I remember it??? Skip came up with a good one and he made it stick and let’s hit that one, one more time for Skip and for Kara Shutt, who is now a graduate assistant softball coach at the University of South Carolina….Well, “Shutt my Mouth”…..

  9. from the News and Record site:

    Skip McCall’s family will receive friends at 2 p.m. Friday at Hargett Funeral Home at 905 E. Market Street.

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