WGNS signed on the air January 1st, 1947. Since then, covering local sports has been a major part of the fabric of the station's legacy. Here are just a few of the audio highlights of the tens of thousands of games broadcast by announcers like Ray Duffy, B.K. Hamm, Monte Hale, Chip Walters, Jeff Jordan, Bryan Barrett and Jon Dinkins. We hope you enjoy this look back!
Monte Hale, Sr. pregame for Murfreesboro Central before the Apple Game with Clarksville in 1967...
Monte Hale, Sr., with a special tribute to the 1974-75 Blue Raider men's basketball team...
Monte Hale, Sr., with identification of the Blue Raider Basketball Network...
Mid 1970's call from Monte Hale, Sr. of the Oakland girls versus Franklin, with an interview with then Coach Ben Cates...
Dick Palmer with John Egly with the broadcast on the Blue Raider Network as Middle Tennessee took on Kentucky in the NCAA Men's basketball tournament. MTSU would win the game 50-44...
Highlights of the 1984 Clinic Bowl where Oakland won its first football state championship. Chip Walters and Jeff Jordan on the call...
Highlights of the 1994 Clinic Bowl where Riverdale won its first football state championship over Germantown. Jeff Jordan, Bobby Wesson and Bobby Gardner on the call...
A recap of the Oakland boys basketball team's run to the state tournament in 1997. Bryan Barrett and Jeff Jordan appear on the recording...
A couple of highlights of the 2001 Oakland girls state tournament run. Bryan Barrett and Jeff Jordan on the recording...
Bryan Barrett and Jon Dinkins call the Riverdale girls victory over Science Hill in the 2012 basketball state championship game (full game)...
Bryan Barrett, Jon Dinkins and Donnie Johnson call the Siegel versus Maryville 2012 semifinal football game. It was notable Stars quarterback Brent Stockstill just the week before tore his ACL and MCL, but played. The Stars dropped a close game (full game)...
Jon Dinkins and Bryan Barrett call the 2013 girls state basketball championship game, where Riverdale defeated Science Hill (full game)...
Bryan Barrett and Jon Dinkins call the Smyrna softball state championship game victory over Dickson County from the 2013 Spring Fling (full game)...
Bryan Barrett and Jon Dinkins call the Blackman girls basketball state championship game victory over Memphis Ridgeway in 2014 (full game)...
Bryan Barrett and Jon Dinkins call the Blackman boys basketball state championship game versus Oak Ridge in 2014. It was Murfreesboro's first boys basketball state title in 49-years (full game)...
Bryan Barrett and Jon Dinkins call the classic girls basketball state championship game between Blackman and Oakland in 2015. It was played on a Sunday afternoon due to snow and ice. It was a double overtime war between two teams from the same town for the first time in Class AAA history. Blackman won the game (full game)...
Bryan Barrett and Jon Dinkins call the Riverdale girls basketball state championship victory over Oak Ridge in 2016 (full game)...
Jon Dinkins and Bryan Barrett call the Siegel baseball state championship victory over versus Arlington in 2016 (full game)...
Bryan Barrett and Jon Dinkins call the Riverdale girls basketball state championship victory over Memphis Central in 2017 (full game)...
Bryan Barrett, Jon Dinkins and Rod Edwards call the Oakland football game versus Whitehaven in the 2018 Blue Cross Bowl State Championship (full game)...
Jon Dinkins and Bryan Barrett call the Riverdale girls basketball state championship victory over Houston in 2018 (full game)...
Bryan Barrett and Jon Dinkins call the Oakland football state championship victory over Brentwood in 2020 (full game)...
Jon Dinkins and Bryan Barrett call the Blackman girls basketball championship victory over Lebanon in 2021 (full game)...
Jon Dinkins and Bryan Barrett call the Oakland football state championship victory over Summit in 2021 (full game)...
Bryan Barrett has the call of the Eagleville softball state championship victory over Huntland in the 2022 Spring Fling (full game)...
Bryan Barrett and Jon Dinkins call the Eagleville baseball state championship victory over McKenzie in 2022 Spring Fling. They outscored their five state tournament opponents 50-5 (full game)...
Bryan Barrett, Jon Dinkins and Rod Edwards call the Class 6A Oakland football state championship victory over Beech in 2022 (full game)...
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Dick Palmer has the call of the MTSU Lady Raider's Conference USA Tournament Championship game win over Western Kentucky in 2023 (full game)...
Bryan Barrett and Jon Dinkins call the Eagleville baseball state championship victory over East Robertson 6-3 in 2023 Spring Fling. It's their second state title in a row (full game)...
Bryan Barrett, Jon Dinkins & Rod Edwards call the Division II-A Middle Tennessee Christian School football state championship win, 28-13, over Friendship Christian (full game)...
Dick Palmer calls MTSU Lady Raiders vs. Liberty (2024 Conference USA Championship Game)...
Jon Dinkins & Bryan Barrett call the Class 4A Softball Championship game (the first ever held at MTSU) with Stewarts Creek (first time in title game) and Kingsport Dobyns Bennett. The Indians beat the Lady Red Hawks 3-2 (full game)...
Bryan Barrett, Jon Dinkins & Rod Edwards call the Oakland football 2024 Class 6A Blue Cross Bowl state championship win, 42-20, over Houston. It was a rematch of 2023, which Oakland fell to the Mustangs. This is Oakland's eighth title in school history, the fifth in the Coach Kevin Creasy era:
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Watch on YouTube:
In 1994, WGNS did a tribute show to the late Monte Hale, Sr. We've pulled some audio from a taped recording of that show.
Rev. Lemon Flatt talks about Monte Hale, Sr...
Former MTSU and Oakland football coach Ray Hughes talks about Monte Hale, Sr...
Bobby Gardner, who was neighbors with Monte Hale, Sr., shares a funny story...
In 1997, WGNS celebrated its 50th anniversary. The sports team put together a tribute show to the past announcers. Here's some audio from a taped recording of that show.
The opening of the show, highlighting past broadcasters who have "taken you to the games" on WGNS...
Bryan Barrett and Jeff Jordan talk to Monte Hale, Jr. about his dad and present him with a special plaque...
Bryan Barrett and Jon Dinkins talk to Chip Walters, who did high school games on WGNS in the early 80's while in college at MTSU...
