The detailed history and rich tradition of ASU athletics has been wrapped into a compact disc that is scheduled to hit stores this morning.
Go Sun Devils: Arizona State's Greatest Hits not only features some of the most memorable moments in the school's athletic history, but also contains a compilation of the Sun Devil marching band's best musical selections. Included in the CD's 27 tracks are 10 play-by-play calls and three exclusive interviews.
Tom Dillon, the former radio voice of the Sun Devils was on hand for a majority of the vintage play-by-play calls and interviews. All of the recent recordings were done by Tim Healey of the Sun Devils Sports Network.
Collecting the multiple recordings for the CD was by no means an easy process. NCAA guidelines state that the CD could not contain highlights from athletes with remaining collegiate eligibility. Some copies of the recordings were obtained directly from Dillon, while most came from KTAR Radio and the Sun Devil Sports Network.
"It was a tremendous challenge because a lot of the best broadcast moments and highlights were very difficult to locate and obtain," said Jesse Goodman, associate director of business development for Razor & Tie Entertainment. "It was difficult to get all the production elements together, but we pulled through."
The CD was produced this past summer by Razor & Tie, an independent record company based in New York City. The co-founders of the company were both lawyers in the Big Apple before taking up the recording business in 1991.
Razor & Tie also produced sports CDs for Alabama and Louisville earlier this year. Similar CDs profiling Iowa, Wake Forest, Wisconsin and undisclosed Pac-10 schools will likely debut in the upcoming football and basketball seasons.
"ASU wants to put its football program out there with the best," Dillon said. "A lot of the fans from the last 20 or 30 years would be interested in having something like this."
One of the most exciting play-by-play calls on the CD is ASU's 22-15 victory over Michigan in the 1987 Rose Bowl. Another thriller is ASU's amazing 42-34 come-from-behind win over UCLA in the 1996 football season.
"There's something about the radio call of a big game that really captures the excitement of that moment," Healey said. "It was really neat for me to relive some big games from years past."
The CD includes the ASU fight song, the school's Alma Mater and "Dr. Who," performed by the Sun Devil marching band. There are also interviews with Sun Devil football coaching legend Frank Kush and former ASU quarterbacks Jake Plummer and Jeff Van Raaphorst.
"The struggles of the football program kind of masquerade the fact that ASU has a very rich tradition," Healey said. "I would hope that current students would make an effort to become indoctrinated into the history of ASU athletics."
Reach Brian Gomez at bsundevil@aol.com.