Cub announcers

[TarzanJoeWallis]

11 hours ago, CubinNY said:

We've all been spoiled by the high quality of the Cubs broadcasters during our lifetime. They're not always the best at calling a game or giving insight, but they've been mostly entertaining. I go back to Jack Brickhouse, Lou Boudreau, and Vince Lloyd. There have been some clunkers, Dwayne Staats and Milo Hameltion to name two. Boog is not good either, but he has a likable personality. But the rest of the league is mostly trash. It's even worse on the radio. 

The quality is the reason why Suttcliffe and Girardi are the fill-ins. The talent pool is thin. 

I loved Dwayne Staats. 

[CubinNY]

After listening to Boog for the 1st inning of the last Cubs/Tigers I have definitely determined I want him to go away at the end of the season. My opinion will not change from this point forward. Regardless if they get a new guy and he's worse, I don't like Boog. 

[Irrelevant Dude]

45 minutes ago, CubinNY said:

After listening to Boog for the 1st inning of the last Cubs/Tigers I have definitely determined I want him to go away at the end of the season.

Is that an open consideration?  Is his contract up after this year?

[Andy]

1 minute ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

Is that an open consideration?  Is his contract up after this year?

He was re-signed along with JD prior to the '22 season, so probably not.

I haven't enjoyed the Boog era as much as I hoped to, but unless Len is coming back (he's not) I'm cool with him sticking around.

[mul21]

47 minutes ago, CubinNY said:

After listening to Boog for the 1st inning of the last Cubs/Tigers I have definitely determined I want him to go away at the end of the season. My opinion will not change from this point forward. Regardless if they get a new guy and he's worse, I don't like Boog. 

This is a very odd take considering how absolutely terrible the vast majority of PBP guys are.  Like the Cards had to go get Chip Caray because they couldn't find anyone decent to take the job and he's way worse than McLaughlin was before him. Cubs fans have been absolutely spoiled over the years between good Harry Caray, Stone when he gave a damn, Len and Bob or JD and now Boog with Pat and the Rons on the radio side.  So many other broadcast teams are just painful to listen to.

[CubinNY]

2 minutes ago, mul21 said:

This is a very odd take considering how absolutely terrible the vast majority of PBP guys are.  Like the Cards had to go get Chip Caray because they couldn't find anyone decent to take the job and he's way worse than McLaughlin was before him. Cubs fans have been absolutely spoiled over the years between good Harry Caray, Stone when he gave a damn, Len and Bob or JD and now Boog with Pat and the Rons on the radio side.  So many other broadcast teams are just painful to listen to.

I've been on the fence about Boog for a while. He's a terrible pbp guy and I just don't like his happy ass delivery. 

[Ding Dong Johnson]

There are a lot of worse options than Boog, and I honestly don't mind him.  Where they lose me is when JD is out. He's the best in the business.

[Tryptamine]

7 minutes ago, Ding Dong Johnson said:

There are a lot of worse options than Boog, and I honestly don't mind him.  Where they lose me is when JD is out. He's the best in the business.

JD definitely takes it to the next level. Boog and Sutcliffe was awful. Boog and Girardi is fun just because of how blatant Boog is with his hate, but everyday that would get real old. 

[Derwood]

I think Boog and JD are really fun together

[Bobson Dugnutt]

Girardi is perfectly tolerable. I really don’t get the over the top disdain for him. Not terrible, not great. Just…ok.

 

Sutcliffe on the other hand. Unlistenable.

Edited August 24, 2023 by Bobson Dugnutt

[Y2J]

Most sports broadcasts are insufferable these days. We used to get only the needed information sprinkled with a few interesting tidbits. Now it's non-stop talk and non-stop analysis. Sports analysis has really hurt every sport, IMO. I don't need one play or one at-bat broken down 50 different ways for 15 minutes. I don't care a thing about launch angle or exit velocity. Knowing one or the other doesn't change the outcome of the plate appearance. A homerun is a homerun, regardless of the path it traveled. That kind of stuff just junks up a broadcast. 

[Derwood]

Maybe I like Boog and JD because they don't take the game so damned seriously. Girardi is the guy who wants to prove how smart he is about every pitch. Boog and JD want to talk about music or what color shoes guys are wearing. To me, that feels more like two dudes watching a game

[fromthestretch]

36 minutes ago, Derwood said:

Maybe I like Boog and JD because they don't take the game so damned seriously. Girardi is the guy who wants to prove how smart he is about every pitch. Boog and JD want to talk about music or what color shoes guys are wearing. To me, that feels more like two dudes watching a game

Boog genuinely seems like he enjoys what he does. He gives off that same vibe when he's calling college basketball games, too. He's just happy to be there and be able to talk about sports for a few hours. That goes a long way toward making the broadcast enjoyable. He doesn't come off as smug like the Brennamans of the world. And I do get a kick out of him tearing down Girardi's arguments with stats. 

JD, as mentioned by someone else earlier, is one of the best in the business. 

[mul21]

JD did it again yesterday with the story about Dale Murphy hitting him in the "buttocks" with a line drive.  "I was well equipped to handle getting hit there".  The perfect amount of self deprecation.

[Connor McConnor]

I don't listen to many games anymore, but when I do, I'll be damned if I can tell many of the announcers apart (except for Pat Hughes).  There is a sameness to all of them these days.  I'm probably just old though.  

[Rcal10]

4 minutes ago, ErniesHands said:

I don't listen to many games anymore, but when I do, I'll be damned if I can tell many of the announcers apart (except for Pat Hughes).  There is a sameness to all of them these days.  I'm probably just old though.  

I definitely like Boog with JD. As for the other guys that fill in for JD, Girardinis ok, but Sutcliffe is a joke. Too positive about everything. To me, Boog is fine. Honestly I barely notice the pbp calls. To me they are all similar so I don’t get too high or low on announcers. But I do like JD and his relationship with Boog to discuss things other than the pbp. 

[CubUgly]

23 hours ago, CubinNY said:

After listening to Boog for the 1st inning of the last Cubs/Tigers I have definitely determined I want him to go away at the end of the season. My opinion will not change from this point forward. Regardless if they get a new guy and he's worse, I don't like Boog. 

I think what Boog brings is what Marquee wanted, a national type play-by-play guy to present a national type broadcast.  

And it's not Boog's fault, he is what they want him to be I just disagree with going in that direction in the first place.  Baseball is regional - it always will be and to not be able to see that is curious.  We don't want to hear about your favorite cheeses and shoes, we want to hear about the game and our players. 

[CubinNY]

1 minute ago, CubUgly said:

I think what Boog brings is what Marquee wanted, a national type play-by-play guy to present a national type broadcast.  

And it's not Boog's fault, he is what they want him to be I just disagree with going in that direction in the first place.  Baseball is regional - it always will be and to not be able to see that is curious.  We don't want to hear about your favorite cheeses and shoes, we want to hear about the game and our players. 

Or analytic takes on basketball, who gives a horsefeathers. 

[Irrelevant Dude]

31 minutes ago, CubinNY said:

Or analytic takes on basketball, who gives a horsefeathers. 

Definitely not my parents.  I always have to listen to them complain about how they can't stand Boog and all his stats.

[Derwood]

We can agree to disagree. I love the non-baseball nonsense

[CubUgly]

On 8/24/2023 at 5:59 PM, Derwood said:

We can agree to disagree. I love the non-baseball nonsense

I do think there is a place for it - like when it's a blowout, or when there's a pitching change, dead time, etc.  But in tight, meaningful games and situations, when they are talking about Fabio's fielding percentage - that's not what I want to hear. 

[muntjack]

When JD leaves, it will cut deep. He's as good as it gets.   Boog is great at what he does, but I can tell that he told Marquee "I'm not going to pretend to be a Cubs fan" and they said "OK".     

[CubUgly]

2 hours ago, muntjack said:

When JD leaves, it will cut deep. He's as good as it gets.   Boog is great at what he does, but I can tell that he told Marquee "I'm not going to pretend to be a Cubs fan" and they said "OK".     

Absolutely, they want to present a national type broadcast IMHO to try to draw in the casual fan nationally.  But again, baseball is regional - or more to the point people tune in to watch their favorite team.  I want to see the Cubs.  I'm not tuning in to any other MLB games unless it affects the Cubs.  I'm not going to tune in to Rangers/Twins just to hear witty banter.  Nor do I think fans outside Cub rooting interests are going to tune in to Boog and JD to hear Seinfeld references.....as much as I love them personally. 

[Derwood]

42 minutes ago, CubUgly said:

Absolutely, they want to present a national type broadcast IMHO to try to draw in the casual fan nationally.  But again, baseball is regional - or more to the point people tune in to watch their favorite team.  I want to see the Cubs.  I'm not tuning in to any other MLB games unless it affects the Cubs.  I'm not going to tune in to Rangers/Twins just to hear witty banter.  Nor do I think fans outside Cub rooting interests are going to tune in to Boog and JD to hear Seinfeld references.....as much as I love them personally. 

The problem with a regional-style broadcast is that while its a plus for the home fans, it sucks ass for everyone else. Since I'm in the Pirates broadcast area, I have to watch the Pittsburgh feed when they play the Cubs. Last night was some sort of Pirates Hall of Fame night at the park, and 75% of the broadcast was a field reporter interviewing 80 year old ex-Pirates who just droned on and on about nonsense (or worse, the 67 year old daughter of a long-dead Pirate legend). It was insufferably bad

[CubUgly]

2 hours ago, Derwood said:

The problem with a regional-style broadcast is that while its a plus for the home fans, it sucks ass for everyone else. Since I'm in the Pirates broadcast area, I have to watch the Pittsburgh feed when they play the Cubs. Last night was some sort of Pirates Hall of Fame night at the park, and 75% of the broadcast was a field reporter interviewing 80 year old ex-Pirates who just droned on and on about nonsense (or worse, the 67 year old daughter of a long-dead Pirate legend). It was insufferably bad

I would say that's where the producer comes in and tell the field reporter find a way to end this and cut back to live action.  You pay and train your talent, or at least in my view you should, to be able to move the broadcast along and at this level I would think you should have the talent to be able to do it diplomatically.