Where's the announcement that Delcarmen was sent out?

-- MWE

Only dissent is personal: I have tickets thursday night and I'd rather see Schilling...oh well.

Never mind - found it.

-- MWE

sorry Mike -- I edited to add a couple links.

Here's one of lines the article excerpts for the too lasy to click from the guys poem:

“Arroyo grabs it easily,
Sprints over to tag the Yankee/
When A-Rod decides to give the ball
A spineless, sissified spankie.”


-I laughed.

I'm a Yankee fan and I love having Damon, but I have to admit that that "Looks Like Jesus / Acts Like Judas / Throws Like Mary" sign in Fenway last week was the best sign I've ever seen in a ballpark. I must have quoted it to a hundred people since then, and even my fellow Yankee fans cracked up when they heard it.

Hazel Mae is by far the worst Asian-American in Entertainment. Period.

She used to be on Sportsnet Pacific.

In the words of the great Sir Sean Connery..

She "Shucked it long, and shucked it hard."

It's hard to believe how incredibly bad the whole NESN broadcast experience is to watch. They constantly remind viewers of how passionate New England fans supposedly are, only to do everything in their power to turn off passionate fans. The games are constantly interrupted, interviews are about the most non-sports topics possible, and a good portion of the commentators seem to not know the sport particularly well. And the Remy schtick was cute for a while, but seriously, how many hours of banter about Remdog's am I going to have to hear?

That poem above puts me in mind of the Red Sox contest that happened here on ST not so long ago. Good times.

I'm watching this game right now, Darren. The broadcast seems more low key from what I've seen.

I rarely watch the pregame or the postgame shows. Occasionally, I'll catch Eck when he's on, but that's it.

Why are you letting D-Lew hit here, Jimy?

I'm watching this game right now, Darren. The broadcast seems more low key from what I've seen.

I forget who Remy's partner was in those days, but the duo is quieter than Remy and Orsillo. I think that Orsillo makes Remy talk more for whatever reason. They still aren't as chatty as Sutcliffe and his crew from ESPN, but they could probably be a little more laconic. And they could stand to lose a few cameras. I don't need to see shots of Trup and Castiglione or the dugout or the fans (as a matter of fact, by showing the fans so much, you're encouraging the to be hams)so often. And Tina Cervazio. She's not hard on the eyes, but other than that, what does she bring to the broadcast?

Oh, and lose the incessant promos and AFLAC trivia questions during the innings. Have I forgotten anything?

I forget who Remy's partner was in those days

My media guide says Bob Kurtz.

Oh, and lose the incessant promos and AFLAC trivia questions during the innings. Have I forgotten anything?

Yeah, there's no need for an hour long pregame show. Or arranging play dates on the water between the players and Charlie Moore.

Or arranging <strike>play dates on the water</strike> aquatic playdates between the players and Charlie Moore.

Sounds more poetic that way.

Remy and Orsillo aren't half as funny as they think they are, but I'm glad they don't take the game too seriously. I prefer them to most of the other TV guys I've listened to (most ESPN guys, TBS). I wish they'd put Eck in there, though, perhaps with Remy. That could get interesting.

I wish they'd put Eck in there, though, perhaps with Remy. That could get interesting.

I think that that would be interesting, but the powers that be seem to like a non-jock play by play guy in the booth. And I don't like three man booths.

Yeah, just lose the real broadcasters--who needs 'em? Who need musicologists either, for that matter?

Yeah, just lose the real broadcasters--who needs 'em? Who need musicologists either, for that matter?

I'm not suggesting that, Vaux. I just don't like three man booths. You could probably have Eck on the radio, paired with Castiglione. IIRC, the last ex-player that the Sox had on the radio regularly was Rico Petrocelli in the early 80's. The ex-jocks tend to move to the TV side; at least here in the northeast.

Santo is a radio guy, I think. But how many other explayers are?

Wait, did GGC just turn into two people? He answered two of his own questions in five minutes.

Pretty good job, there, GGC.

I don't have huge problem with NESN. Remy has sadly slid from being an above-average broadcaster to being a mediocre broadcaster covered in gooey schtick, which is too bad. And Orsillo just doesn't add anything. I don't think they're offensive, though. I guess, in theory, the show that is the entire point of a ridiculously profitable network should be better than "not offensive."

I don't see why you need real broadcasters for a televised baseball game. We can see what's going on-- we don't actually need play-by-play. What would be enjoyable is more analysis-- what pitches are being thrown, why, was that really a balk, etc, etc. We don't need some smooth-speaking guy in a suit telling us it's 3 and 1 to so-and-so in the 2nd inning when the visuals make that all perfectly clear.

Wait, did GGC just turn into two people? He answered two of his own questions in five minutes.

Pretty good job, there, GGC.

I have a tendency to post before I complete my thoughts.

PJMartinez Posted: May 09, 2006 at 09:22 AM (#2010811)
I don't see why you need real broadcasters for a televised baseball game. We can see what's going on-- we don't actually need play-by-play. What would be enjoyable is more analysis-- what pitches are being thrown, why, was that really a balk, etc, etc. We don't need some smooth-speaking guy in a suit telling us it's 3 and 1 to so-and-so in the 2nd inning when the visuals make that all perfectly clear.

I disagree with this. There's far more to describing the action in a PBP announcer's toolbox. He reads things (no small feat to make that sound natural), moderates discussion between the others in a three-man booth, imparts information from the field (injury reports, etc.), tosses to the studio or the sideline reporter, keeps the broadcast moving (to break or to the end of the show), and other stuff that I'm not thinking about right now.

Sure, bad PBP people can often just lapse into a simple call of the game. But the position remains necessary IMO.

A good play-by-play man has the ability to craft a narrative out of the game as it's going. Vin Scully can still do this, though he's not what he once was.

It seems like very few of the younger PBP announcers do this - I'm not really sure what they're going for, honestly. What would Don Orsillo consider to be a perfect night of broadcasting - what would he accomplish?

What would Don Orsillo consider to be a perfect night of broadcasting - what would he accomplish?

Non-discerning viewers would have no idea when he is reading copy, and have no idea when the Producer is talking in his ear, feeding him information. He manages to get the show to break and back, he manages to end the show effectively, and he correctly tosses coverage back and forth.

If he gets the factual information right over the course of the broadcast, that's even better.

I wrote this in RLYW a few years ago, and continue to believe this - on YES, many viewers smack around Michael Kay for innacuracy and arrogance. My contention is that this is true, but pure game-calling is not nearly the 100% of the job of a PBP man as is generally assumed.

Non-discerning viewers would have no idea when he is reading copy, and have no idea when the Producer is talking in his ear, feeding him information. He manages to get the show to break and back, he manages to end the show effectively, and he correctly tosses coverage back and forth.

I don't mean to be saying that this job is easy. What I'm questioning - from a profoundly amateur perspective - is whether the priorities are correct.

It sounds like his job, then, is to avoid detracting from my enjoyment of the game. He smoothes out the gaps and allows me to pay attention to what the copy, producer and other people on the broadcast (color guy, etc) have to say. My question is whether that's what a broadcaster should strive for.

I had Extra Innings last year, and I just loved listening to Vin Scully call a game, basically alone in the booth. All the other stuff, for me, is a distraction, usually useless and obnoxious. Scully's call brought out moments of tension, moments of enjoyment more crisply than they would have appeared if I were watching the game without an announcer.

I'm suggesting that there has been something of a change in how ballgames are broadcasted. Now, the added value of a broadcast is the copy and the sideline reporter and the extra segments, which the broadcaster integrates smoothly. I think that's a problem. It's not that Orsillo does his job poorly, but I think that his job has been defined in a suboptimal way.

If I'm reading you correctly, Matt, it seems that you would define the no-frills "Scully" style as the optimal way for a PBP person to operate.

Stripped of all of the "value-added" stuff, I wouldn't particularly want to hear Michael Kay or Don Orsillo. I think.

I listened to Vin Scully today, he still has it.

Reading TVe's post, maybe what the Sox should do is throw Eck in there along with Orsillo and Remy. There's no way Remy's going anywhere-- he's a cult figure to too many fans. But with Eck in there, too, he wouldn't dominate the broadcast the way he often does, going on about theremyreport.com (I'm surprised they let him hawk his wares on their airtime) and remdawg nation, etc. Eck might re-focus attention to the game, provide more analysis of the pitching, and Orsillo could keep it moving, read copy, shift to various segments, etc. They should at least try this out, maybe a game a week or something.