Paul Eells

Paul Eells (September 24, 1935 – July 31, 2006) was an American sportscaster. He was the "Voice of the Razorbacks", broadcasting University of Arkansas basketball games on television and (after 1978) football games on radio. Eells was also sports director at KATV in Little Rock, Arkansas, the Allbritton Communications Company owned ABC-affiliated television station in that market. Eells grew up in Mechanicsville, Iowa and graduated from the University of Iowa. Eells went to Iowa on a baseball scholarship but there found his love in radio. A communications major, Eells soon found himself in television at WMT in Cedar Rapids. There he worked his way up to booth anchor and would eventually hold the title of "Voice of the Iowa Hawkeyes" for five years. Eells moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1967. During his 10-year stay in Nashville, he was Sports Director at WSM-TV (later WSMV-TV) and play-by-play announcer of Vanderbilt Commodores football and basketball on radio. In 1978, he moved to central Arkansas to become sports director at KATV in Little Rock; radio play-by-play announcer for the Razorbacks football team; TV play-by-play announcer for the Razorbacks basketball team; and host of the TV football and basketball Razorbacks coaches shows. He was known and beloved statewide for his fantastic broadcasting voice and his trademark "Oh My" and "Touchdown Arkansas" radio calls. While in Nashville, Eells' trademark radio call was "Holy Smokes." Eells worked with several notable sports figures as "color men" while covering Arkansas Football, including Barry Switzer, former football coach of the Oklahoma Sooners and Dallas Cowboys as well as member of the 1964 National Championship Arkansas Razorbacks football team; Rick Schaeffer, former Sports Information Director for the University of Arkansas, Razorback historian, and author of several Razorback-themed books; and Keith Jackson, Arkansas native and former tight end for the Oklahoma Sooners, and later Philadelphia Eagles a