I like him. I agree with Rick M in that I like how he helps visualizing the game for the listeners by stating which which team play from left to right etc. I think all the broadcasters, both radio and TV, are doing just fine so far this season. Must be a pretty good situation to come in and call the games right now when the team is doing so well too. Might have liked the guy less if he rubbed it in my ears how poorly the team was playing on a nightly basis.
Wills and Loubo have gotten worse. One thing I liked about Peter Maher was that he wasn't a big homer and called a game in a way that it could be listened to by an opposing fan. Wills and Loubo have shown themselves to be such huge homers over this losing streak, its terrible. All they can say is that the Flames have only bad luck, the Flames are getting out played, the Flames deserve better, the Flames could have a lead, the Flames could have won all the games on this loss streak. Ugh, can't listen to the guys but have no choice sometimes if I want to catch the game.
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Loubo is still annoying but he is much less annoying as a colour guy than as the play by play guy. Derek Wills is a homer which drives me nuts. He can't hope to compete with Peter Maher but he is just starting so give him some time, he can improve! but right now he says a lot of cringe-worthy things. If I had a nickel for every time he said "I'm a poet and didn't even know it" I'd have 15 cents
I think Wills is pretty stiff. Now I dont buy the fact hes a first year pbp guy. Dude has been doing it for years in Hamilton.
On his segments on the morning show he seems to be himself. I don't know if he still has nerves of being in the bigs? I think he should slam about 3 shots of whiskey and just be himself instead of over enunciating and sounding scripted at times.
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I think Wills is pretty stiff. Now I dont buy the fact hes a first year pbp guy. Dude has been doing it for years in Hamilton.
On his segments on the morning show he seems to be himself. I don't know if he still has nerves of being in the bigs? I think he should slam about 3 shots of whiskey and just be himself instead of over enunciating and sounding scripted at times.
Well it's definitely different when you know its like 10 times more people listening to your broadcast. Game is also much faster as well.
His goal calls are a little stiff, but dude is 30 games in and has been fine IMO.
Wills and Loubo have gotten worse. One thing I liked about Peter Maher was that he wasn't a big homer and called a game in a way that it could be listened to by an opposing fan. Wills and Loubo have shown themselves to be such huge homers over this losing streak, its terrible. All they can say is that the Flames have only bad luck, the Flames are getting out played, the Flames deserve better, the Flames could have a lead, the Flames could have won all the games on this loss streak. Ugh, can't listen to the guys but have no choice sometimes if I want to catch the game.
To be fair, they're not wrong in saying the Flames have played well enough to win all 6 games.
His analysis is pretty bad. Like Hrudey most of the time he only states the obvious.
Sports journalism is mostly stupid anyway. Play by play makes sense on radio, but on TV it is pointless. Unless you are sight impaired what is the point?
Most of the written stuff is crap too. To wit; Cali Flames Fan does a better pre game summary than the official sources.
Other than insider gossip, ex athletes explaining the game or telling stories I am not sure what they add to the experience other exasperation.
I prefer Wills voice to Loubardias and the more I hear him the more I am starting to like him. The homerism stuff has been noticeable though but at the same time given how Rogers was let go this may be something that is encouraged by the people cutting the cheques.
His analysis is pretty bad. Like Hrudey most of the time he only states the obvious.
Sports journalism is mostly stupid anyway. Play by play makes sense on radio, but on TV it is pointless. Unless you are sight impaired what is the point?
Most of the written stuff is crap too. To wit; Cali Flames Fan does a better pre game summary than the official sources.
Other than insider gossip, ex athletes explaining the game or telling stories I am not sure what they add to the experience other exasperation.
Play-by-Play are for casual/new viewers to the game. Hockey nerds like us may understand a lot of the nuances in a game, but to a new/casual fan they need the announcer to help explain and access the game even on TV.
I started out liking the Wills/Loubardias combo, but these days I'm mostly noticing the weird passive aggressive digs these guys take at each other. I'm not sure how long this duo will last.
In general though, I like Loubardias, and I like Wills play call and analysis, but I hate hate hate how he calls the goals themselves. Instead of calling the goal or big play as soon as it happens in an excited voice, he slows everything down and does that weird drawn-out thing.
I think what's missing though is a cold hard realist like Mike Rogers or Doug Barkley were, who can give you the real truth once in a while instead of always trying to find the positive. Both of these guys feel a bit like company men. I guess it's not surprising since King was part of the interview process, but I find the homerism a little disappointing for a sophisticated market like Calgary.
his play by play is alright. not great, not bad, but just so-so
His rampant flames homerism was nice at first when the flames were winning but now it's just like listening to a few guys at a local pub talk about the flames. gotta change
his kind of passive aggressive "OH I DIDNT MEAN IT THAT WAY" kind of stuff with the rest of the fan960 staff(this includes stienberg, morning show, loubo, etc) is also not too enjoyable to listen to
overall its passable but a real step down from maher. anyone would be though. my main concern is that while peter was a realist when it came to the flames, he tried to put a positive spin on things. he never ever was a straight up fanboy
Ive listened to quite a few more games or pieces of games on the FAN. Im still not a fan of the Wills/Loubo combo. The one thing that Ive realized that is terrible is how slow and late Wills is in his calls. The worst is on goal calls. The puck will be in the net, you can here the puck hit off the post or crossbar, you can hear the crowd cheering or sighing, the goal horn going off, and Wills is two steps behind still call the shot or pass towards the net.
I'm with the posters who don't like the goal call "and he scores". Listen to the promo they keep playing of him where he calls a Gaudreau goal. It's just a second too late, and then his little inflection of excitement sounds fake as a result. Maher shouted "he scores" right when it happened.
Yeah, it's not as bad as Mishkin but I'm not a fan of that aspect of Wills' calling. I'm also not as impressed by the "right to left" business - it's the same thing that dummy Mark Stephen in Stamps broadcasts does. If I know if they are home or away I can visual direction fine.
Wills is good. Its his first year, so I'm sure he'll improve. Loubardias gets out of sych/takes awkward pauses, talks/shouts really loud, and generally seems pissed off alot of the time. He should lighten up some times and take it down a notch.
