Rob Kerr

[Ozy_Flame]

Rob Kerr > Ed Whalen.

[doctajones428]

I was very disappointed when Pete L got canned, and I absolutely hated him at first but the Snowball and Cannon incidents are making me like his quirks. His Baertschi call in Phoenix was all kinds of bad, and his call for Tanguays OT winner tonight was ridiculous. If he stopped mentioning little tidbits that "Backlund scored in the building he was drafted in", or screaming like a banshee, I wouldn't mind him

[Jimmy Stang]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Rob Kerr > Ed Whalen.

Come on now. That's crazy talk.

[Trailer Fire]

I mist be the only guy here without an opinion on all PBP guys, let alone Kerr. I would watch a broadcast of people pure silence if it meant watching the Flames. Some people just want to complain for the sake of hearing their own voice.

[handgroen]

Originally Posted by FlameFan21

Rob Kerr is some kind of downgrade in play-by-play commentary.

loubo has no etiquette, he honestly doesn't understand very base and fundamental broadcasting concepts, e.i. interruptions, stalling the dialogue to conclude an argument, raising your voice, hijacking minutes, long pauses etc.

kerr is nerdy sure, but i've listened to hundreds of hours of both of them on the fan and one guy is a blowhard and one guy knows his flames.
Pat has a ton of patience with him. I am by myself commuting home from work each day, and often find myself actually saying aloud
"let someone else speak!"
kerr is fine with me, he's new to PBP, but has been a trustworthy and savvy broadcaster in his career thus far.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Kerr is not embarrassing. You have to be emotionally attached to be embarrassed. I suppose that if he was my offspring I might feel differently.

[FusionX]

Originally Posted by nik-

I'm not sure how he'd be embarrassing, but I don't really like him as a PBP guy. It feels like someone told him he needed to ramp up the excitement and his dial only has a 2 and a 10.

I'm pretty sure there were more than one comment about how he wasn't exciting enough when he first started from this very forum. I may or may not have contributed one myself, I can't remember, but regardless, I was thinking it at the very least.

So maybe now he's gone a bit too far to the crazy spectrum but I think he'll settle into a comfortable zone eventually. I personally don't really mind him though.

Am I the only one who would love to watch a game commented on by Dan and Jay from TSN though? TSN highlights are awesome primarily for that reason IMO.

[T@T]

Every hockey team needs a dork...Edmonton has 2 of them.

They win!

[Freeway]

Both Loubo and Kerr are insanely hard workers and know their hockey inside and out. The distinction between them is one of which style you prefer, but both guys know their stuff.

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

I miss Roger Millions game calls.........or was it Peter Loumbardias? No, wait, it was definetely Bob Cole..........yup, that's who I miss. No...........actually, I think I miss Chris Cuthbert I liked his stuff.......... but does he still do games. Regardless, I think he's way better than that other guy..........what's his name, Mark Lee....yah, I don't care for him. That Gord Miller guy's alright I think, but I liked him better when he fronted the Tragically Hip. You know, the more I think about it, I think it's Rob Kerr I like...........yah, definetely Peter Mahre, he's the best.

[Zamboniman]

What I like in a TV play by play guy is

1) Does he accurately describe the play (so I know what's going on when I look away for the two hundredth time because my kids want to show me something or are breaking something)

2) Can he keep up with the play? Is he two passes behind? Are there long moments of silence while he resets himself?

3) Does he inject appropriate emotion and excitement? Enough to add to the entertainment value, but not so much that it seems inappropriate for the circumstances?

4) Does he relate well to his colour guy? Is there interesting back and forth? Do they create understanding or impart interesting information through their interactions? Does he let the colour guy talk? Does he use the colour guy's comments to add to his PBP or does he argue and disagree with him constantly?

5) Is his language, accent, diction, and enunciation clear, concise, and nicely audible enough that I can follow him over the noise of two siblings arguing over a video game behind me?

6) Is there appropriate levels of humour? Does he have a few trademark phrases that keep him interesting?


Kerr is improving on every one of these points. Some faster than others, true, but he is getting better and I find him very listenable now.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Funny enough,albeit tangentially related at best... I used to like Jim Hughson... until I heard him call a Canucks game. Then whammo! Homerism alienation.

[vektor]

Atleast he isn't kevin weeks

[Itse]

I don't hate the Flames PBP guy, but I get to choose between broadcasts, and I've noticed that I like almost every other guy in the league better. As a result I always start with the other teams broadcast these days, and only switch if there's a specific reason. (Technical issues or a truly brutal PBP guy.)

To be fair, this is in part because the other teams PBP guy tends to tell me stuff I don't know. It's usually more interesting to hear comments that come from outside the Flames echo chamber.

There's a couple of truly brutal guys out there, but I actually like most NHL PBP guys.

[Alberta_Beef]

I think Kerr would be perfect on the intermission panel and doing what Millions does now, but I just don't like him as a play by play guy.

I hated Millions at first, but he grew on me and after a year I didn't mind him. I hated Loubo at first but he grew on me and after a year I loved him. I hated Kerr at first, but I still hate him after more than a season.

[DeluxeMoustache]

^^^ Agreed. Here is the problem. Kerr got promoted to PBP as a reward for being good at a very different job.

Some guys kill penalties, and some guys kick ass on the PP, and coaches have no trouble distinguishing between them. But the interesting thing is that when minimum wage is half a million, there is less of a time based corporate ladder approach and a touch more realism. In media, with wages being what they are, there has to be a low cost corporate ramp to roll up.

* I can't believe I brought realism in to the discourse when describing pro hockey salaries.

[SebC]

Kerr needs to learn to not reach the volume limit of his microphone when a goal is scored.

[cai]

I think the best word to describe Kerr would be "cartoonish". Nobody is denying that he knows his stuff, but things like the snowball thing or his overly enthusiastic reaction to the cannon... I don't know. Personally I'm not a fan of those sorts of antics. I'm tuned in to watch a hockey game, not a wacky host.

I gave him a shot at first - I think he actually does have the right sort of voice for the job - but he just isn't utilizing it properly. Everything is way too animated. I mean, hell, I'm pumped for Tanguay's OT winner, and I'm rolling my eyes before Kerr is even done with his call.

He's perfectly fine on the radio, or even doing those little Game Day Preview videos the Flames site puts up, but calling a game... it's just not doing it for me.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by SebC

Kerr needs to learn to not reach the volume limit of his microphone when a goal is scored.

Audio engineers or sound guys are paid for a reason. Appropriate compression could iron this out

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by cai

I think the best word to describe Kerr would be "cartoonish". Nobody is denying that he knows his stuff, but things like the snowball thing or his overly enthusiastic reaction to the cannon... I don't know. Personally I'm not a fan of those sorts of antics. I'm tuned in to watch a hockey game, not a wacky host.

I gave him a shot at first - I think he actually does have the right sort of voice for the job - but he just isn't utilizing it properly. Everything is way too animated. I mean, hell, I'm pumped for Tanguay's OT winner, and I'm rolling my eyes before Kerr is even done with his call.

He's perfectly fine on the radio, or even doing those little Game Day Preview videos the Flames site puts up, but calling a game... it's just not doing it for me.

Ok, this might sound bad. But you know when you have people who are awkward socially, feel uncomfortable, and then when they get a bit of confidence, overcompensate? That is what this brings to mind.

He has all the tools to be fine, just needs to find his niche.

When he was on the fan, he had control, time to push the conversation towards his thoughts, and also the control to cut off callers. PBP is much more challenging and reactive.

He has the potential to develop and be fine.