My only concern with replacing Kerr is look at the crap that Sportsnet has/had working for it as PBP guys.
Kerr is not great, Loubardias was awful, I liked Millions but many did not, Shorthouse is mediocre to bad (despite what his buddy VFF says), Kevin Quinn is the worst of the bunch and it is mind blowing how he still has a job, Dean Brown (I think does Sens games) is about as boring and useless as it gets.
Not sure who I am missing but it seems that Sportsnet is completely unable to hire someone competent and judging on the other "talent" they have on the network I have little doubt at all that they will hire anyone that is any good or even better than Kerr.
Loubardias was better than Kerr. Voice aside, he actually knew and had experience doing play by play, Rob Kerr is just figuring it out as he goes along.
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Loubardias was better than Kerr. Voice aside, he actually knew and had experience doing play by play, Rob Kerr is just figuring it out as he goes along.
It is always going to come down to personal preference but I really don't think he was.
Terrible voice, annoying catchphrases and rambling stories that went on forever and added nothing to the broadcast, and I am a fan of junior hockey can't imagine people who don't like it or care would think.
It is always going to come down to personal preference but I really don't think he was.
Terrible voice, annoying catchphrases and rambling stories that went on forever and added nothing to the broadcast, and I am a fan of junior hockey can't imagine people who don't like it or care would think.
But I liked that. I liked his anecdotes, it was information that if he didnt tell me I wouldnt know and because of that I actually wanted to listen to the broadcast. Right now Kerr adds absolutely nothing, there is no difference between watching the game on mute or having the sound.
And again, I wont comment on his voice, it was different but it didnt bother me, I thought it would at first, I really did, but it didnt. I'm not saying he is the best, but he certainly is better than what we have now.
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But I liked that. I liked his anecdotes, it was information that if he didnt tell me I wouldnt know and because of that I actually wanted to listen to the broadcast. Right now Kerr adds absolutely nothing, there is no difference between watching the game on mute or having the sound.
And again, I wont comment on his voice, it was different but it didnt bother me, I thought it would at first, I really did, but it didnt. I'm not saying he is the best, but he certainly is better than what we have now.
Maybe that is the difference because I found he didn't offer me anything that I didn't know or wanted to know. I found his anecdotes boring and pointless for the most part.
Kerr is most confident when he's spouting off stats or player/team history that can be scripted out and put in front of him and studied, just as if he was preparing for his hour long radio show previously, or when he hosted the Flames broadcasts/done the post game on radio.
I have no question of his intelligence, hockey knowledge or thoroughness in preparation.
My problem is that doesn't translate to live PBP very well, and he uses that knowledege and pre-scripted "piece" in game as a crutch...sometimes to the point where it cuts into actually calling the goings-on on the ice. I understand its his first year, but IMO he didn't improve at all with his play calling since the beginning of the year. There were glimpses here and there within games and between games, but more often than not IMO it was a guy not confident in his PBP abilities, emotion or style, with akward pauses, and then tripping over words when the action got heated (or he had to catch up after getting caught in the stories)...and when the game was dull, he managed to make it duller.
I found Simmer a bit more annoying too this year than previous, probably because Kerr needed him to say more to help him out.
I will say this, when Kerr did the PPV's, he was a lot more loose and nowhere near the same complaints. He didn't have endless stats or talk about draft classes or player history, and it/he seemed more natural. Now, he's trying to prepare for games like he does for radio shows, and forcing all those stats and stories into a PBP telecast and down our throats simply doesn't work when it takes away from watching/listening to him during the game.
I really enjoyed Loubardias...he had just the right mix of emotion in his calls, could handle the hectic play with ease, and make the dull parts not quite as dull. His voice did get 2 years to get used to, but his style and PBP abilities were well seasoned to capture the intensity of the play, while still being a guy that knew the game in and out without having to drop stats on us to prove it (like maybe Kerr is guilty of this year).
Either Kerr has to drop the stats and work on his style, call, and keeping up with the game and capturing the emotion of the game within the game and pass that on, or they have to find him a spot where his ability to research and spout stats, stories, and tidbits is better utilized. It can't continue the way it did this year, far too tedious to have to listen to.
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Please bring back Peter Loumbardias. He was by far more entertaining and knowledgeable when calling Flames games. His "graand larceny" line for Miikka's saves alone is better than anything Rob Kerr could come up with.
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Please bring back Peter Loumbardias. He was by far more entertaining and knowledgeable when calling Flames games. His "graand larceny" line for Miikka's saves alone is better than anything Rob Kerr could come up with.
Completely off topic, but I did a double take when I read your username.
Please bring back Peter Loumbardias. He was by far more entertaining and knowledgeable when calling Flames games. His "graand larceny" line for Miikka's saves alone is better than anything Rob Kerr could come up with.
This... a million times this. Loumbardias was fun. Kerr is not. Simmer is not either... but he's evidently got a lifetime contract.
Sportsnet has issues finding play by play guys. They've gone through a ton of guys for the Blue Jays games as well.
Well I thought Kerr was pretty good and got a lot better during the season.
I really enjoyed Loubo last year but Kerr is just as good.
I do miss him and Boomer on the afternoon radio show. Like a lot. That was the best. In fact Kerr adds a lot more to radio than he does to TV. You are really restricted in TV to just "the play". Radio is wide open.
However every thing changes for sure and this year we get a great AM 960 morning show but then the afternoon is just ruined by Steinberg, IMHO
His co host, Bryn Griffiths must have the worlds most patience as Steinberg is so contrary, most of the time just to hear himself talk. He says the word BUT 10,000 times and has absolutely zero knowledge about CFL. I mean ZERO.
But lets face it folks, if this team is winning I don't think you will care if it's a chimpanzee making the calls. All of us are pissed cause once again we are forced to cheer for a team that doesn't have it.
Let's start at the top of the responsibility chain, and as we can't fire the owners who are ultimately responsible, the sword has to start with the president Ken King who nodded like a bobble head in support of Daryl at THE most famous year end press conference.
Gentlemen the sport is Hockey. So how about we hire a Hockey guy. NOT a newspaper guy who doesn't understand the tradition of our sport and who fends off any criticism or suggestions with an "I'm the boss attitude "
Then build down from there.
As for a TV voice, like I said if we are winning the Foster Hewitt impersonator that does the Leafs game would be a God by comparison to Kerr cause you won't give ----
They hockey on the ice must really be as bad as I thought. I've never seen a fan base obsess over PBP guys the way this fan base has the past couple years. I can hardley wait for the day when no one even cares about this stuff because the team on the ice is actually intresting us again.
Last edited by Cleveland Steam Whistle; 03-31-2012 at 11:51 AM.
And to further my prediction with some merit, I did call the Loubardias firing last summer 2 days before the news broke, so I'm 1 for 1 on these predictions, pretty sure I'm going to go 2 for 2.
I'm sure you have your sources but if this is indeed the case and the revolving door continues maybe it's time for RSN to take a look at the people making these decisions? There is obviously a group that thought Millions wasn't good enough so they replaced him with PL who wasn't deemed good enough and replaced with Kerr who wasn't good enough. As long as the same people are making the decisions I'm not so sure this means change for the better.
One thing that made this season worse than it has already been is listening to Rob Kerr call down all the action. God help us that Sportsnet can fire his sorry ass.
And to further my prediction with some merit, I did call the Loubardias firing last summer 2 days before the news broke, so I'm 1 for 1 on these predictions, pretty sure I'm going to go 2 for 2.
Considering that there was a daily talk of hoping that PL would be fired, that wasn't exactly Nostradamus like.
And now I will predict, everyday for the next 365 days, that there will be snow in 2 days...
Couldnt agree more...the amount of whining and bitching about broadcasters has become epidemic, and its nothing to do with the team itself.
Has there been a single GT in the last 5 years where someone (and usually many) werent complaining about one of the on-air personalities?
Apparently they ALL suck....which simply means the masses will never be happy no matter what.
Kerr is fine, maybe not near the Maher and Emricks of the world, but he is more than adequate.
It doesn't have anything to do with the team itself, but opinions on anything to do with the Flames are allowed on here, outside of the team itself. Same with jerseys, the new arena, etc, etc.
And, when the guy is the only TV voice of the Flames, and you're having to listen to him for 100+ hours of play by play over the last 6 month's as you watch the 60 games on Snet, your going to have strong opinions and differing ones...in game threads they're clearly going to pop up too, so its not a petty thing to sluff off.
The problem I have with Kerr this year stems probably also because our little one is now at the age where I am needing to keep an eye on her during most of the games...so I am going by sound to be able to listen to the commentator to get a guage for the game, and cues to be able to look up and pay attention to a play in the game that's building into something. Commentators like Loubardias, you could get a sense on how the team was playing and the sense that a play was building into something more often then not, or that there was a momentum shift or solid shift from a Flames line applying pressure, and then pay closer attention to the TV in those cases.
To this end, too many times with Kerr there'd be one of his montone stat or player history or banter with Simmer that I'd be tuning out (itself not the ideal way I want to watch a Flames game), and suddenly Kerr is half yelling as a Flames player in three strides away from the net on a 2 on 1 or breakaway and that's a big problem. By the time I look up I can see the resultant shot, but no idea how or why the Flames got a chance out of nowhere, so I have to PVR and rewind back to watch the buildup. Or, there would be seconds of dead air, which made you wonder why there was a whistle, when there wasn't one at all.
Then when you do watch live, you see a good chance just missed, or a solid Flames defensive play go seemingly un-noticed by a distracted Kerr, and makes you wonder what other significant plays you are missing when your own eyes aren't on the TV and you're tuning out him talking about a player on the opponent being the 5th round pick in the 2002 draft.
I sit down and watch a game to watch the Flames as much as I can in general on how they play style wise, how certain players play, not just the goals and highlights. Now, I can't always do that as much as I used too, but with a PBP guy's style, he can help convey the game.
I realize a PBP guy on TV isn't supposed to be the same as radio and capture every move on the ice, but there is a happy medium where you can guage the play or the basic flow of the game from the urgency and tone and overall style of the PBP voice. You don't get that with Kerr, as he's weaving in and out of prepared material far too much for my liking and the way I am watching games.
Yes, this is all a personal opinion, but its a relative one compared to the previous Flames commentators on SNet over the past decade+, and, the current ones on other networks and affects the way one is used to enjoying the game after sitting down for a couple hours out of the day to do so. Only going to 25 or so games this year, I've watched more at home then in past year, in addition to all the road games.
Add that to the audio issues when I am able to watch live live, and the game presentation overall from Rogers Sportsnet needs to be stepped up next year.
As I said, if Kerr can lighten up forcing the stats down our throat and find and practice a PBP style that conveys the ebb and flow and emotion within the game (and as said, he seemed to do a decent job of that on PPV's a few years back), he'll probably be a lot more engaged himself on the call, and thus listentable by myself and probably others.
I'm sure you have your sources but if this is indeed the case and the revolving door continues maybe it's time for RSN to take a look at the people making these decisions? There is obviously a group that thought Millions wasn't good enough so they replaced him with PL who wasn't deemed good enough and replaced with Kerr who wasn't good enough. As long as the same people are making the decisions I'm not so sure this means change for the better.
What if that group is the Flames and not Sportsnet?
