"Take that Calgary Puck!" — SN960 and Calgary sports media discussion

[Boreal]

Originally Posted by Incogneto

I find Wills terrible outside of calling games. When he is a morning show fill in in the summertime, I immediately delete the podcast from my feed. He seems self-important, over-serious, and a massive nerd.

Lou is an awesome analyst. Love hearing him on the morning show talk about players. As a color guy...? meh.

Anyone know how long Wills has left on his contract with the Flames? My hope is that they decide to go in a different direction soon.

This is the last year of the Flames TV deal with SportsNet, but I'm not sure about radio.

I agree. Lou is great because he's honest and upfront about when he really likes a person and has to separate that from the player. He talked about that last night with Matthew Phillips. I think he's learned from his exchange with Pat about Kris Russel 3 years ago how to be unbiased and actually use the viewpoints and approaches analytics gives to inform what he sees.

Wills is a waste of time to listen to outside of calling the game. He's little more than a press release for the team and void of insight. I think he's palatable at calling games but not bright or resourceful enough to actually provide something close to worthwhile. Much like Pat and Wil I gave up wasting my time listening to him babble long ago.

[Jiri Hrdina]

I don't even think his pbp is that good. He describes the play well but lacks a feel for the emotional pulses of the game. And his goal calls are bad.
Not a fan. And I'm pretty forgiving on broadcasters because I know how hard it is.

[McG]

Whilst everyone has their thoughts on flames broadcasting, I’ll just put in an opposing view. When you hear the doofuses on ched, fan 960 is a bajillion times better.

Oilerpologists on 630 and 1260 are unintentionally hilarious. That’s the lowest common denominator right there.

[JonDuke]

Late to the game cause Ive been out of town lots and dont listen when on the road but I totally thought he was Commie was Stephen Brunt as well and kept waiting for stories about his vacation to Newfoundland.

I like Krahn's insight better but feel both are a nice change.
I'm starting to like Klein less and less every day though.

[Johnhitbox]

Originally Posted by JonDuke

Late to the game cause Ive been out of town lots and dont listen when on the road but I totally thought he was Commie was Stephen Brunt as well and kept waiting for stories about his vacation to Newfoundland.

I like Krahn's insight better but feel both are a nice change.
I'm starting to like Klein less and less every day though.

I hate to sate it, but I’m also starting to dislike Klein now too. Which is strange because I was 100% pro Klein at first.


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[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

I don't even think his pbp is that good. He describes the play well but lacks a feel for the emotional pulses if the game. And his goal calls are bad.
Not a fan. And I'm pretty forgiving on broadcasters because I know how hard it is.

That is pretty blunt coming from you, as I agree you tend to be forgiving and positiveon these guys.

There is something missing with him. He has a good radio voice, but there is a certain genuine quality he is missing for lack of a better word. Which isn't saying he doesn't care.

Anyone remember Bill Powers from way back in the day? I may be dreaming this, but I think he tried to do Stamps PBP for a year, in the dark days. Assuming I didn't imagine this, it was awful. Point is, it's harder than it seems.

[Shazam]

Gee I think he’s fine for PBP. The Edmonton guy is incomprehensible, same with the Boston and Pittsburgh crews.

[The Yen Man]

I'll fully admit, part of it for me is because I was spoiled by Peter Maher. In his prime years, he was so good as a pbp guy. Even now when I hear old clips, I get goosebumps. I honestly tried giving Wills a chance, and a few years to improve. But I agree, there's just something missing with his pbp. I'll still tolerate it as, really, I just need someone to describe the play. But he doesn't fire me up like Peter did back then.

[Incogneto]

Originally Posted by The Yen Man

I found Commodore to be better this week vs. last week. I'll chalk that up to him being more comfortable the second week. It's too bad he's not Rhetro's long term replacement. I think he would have been decent.

Do we know this is true already? They have mentioned a number of times in the last 2 weeks that he is on a PTO.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by The Yen Man

I'll fully admit, part of it for me is because I was spoiled by Peter Maher. In his prime years, he was so good as a pbp guy. Even now when I hear old clips, I get goosebumps. I honestly tried giving Wills a chance, and a few years to improve. But I agree, there's just something missing with his pbp. I'll still tolerate it as, really, I just need someone to describe the play. But he doesn't fire me up like Peter did back then.

His voice goes high in a comical way when a goal is scored. Sounds more like a Muppeteer than a hockey announcer.

Give me a Bob Cole or Peter Maher shout any day

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Flashpoint

Is anyone else bothered by the constant references to what junior teams players were from in the middle of plays?

"Here comes Doofus McDoof up the right wing! He hails from Naredowell Saskatchewan, where he was a part of the Double D line for 3 years, making the team as a 10 year old. I called him the Smiling Assassin."

I don't care. The player probably doesn't care. It smacks of "I have media notes I memorized".

Maybe I'm just getting old, but I'd kill for a bit more dead air, or thoughtful/funnny observations (a-la Kelly Hrudey).

A large part as to why Ron's schtick has worn thin.

[goodyear]

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

His voice goes high in a comical way when a goal is scored. Sounds more like a Muppeteer than a hockey announcer.



Give me a Bob Cole or Peter Maher shout any day

Agree... I also think Wills is too wordy when calling a goal. It's radio and he has to be descriptive but he over sells it.



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[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

His voice goes high in a comical way when a goal is scored. Sounds more like a Muppeteer than a hockey announcer.

A Roughnecks fan proclaimed on social media that I sound like "Grover from Sesame Street" for goal calls.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

A Roughnecks fan proclaimed on social media that I sound like "Grover from Sesame Street" for goal calls.

Probably because you kept comparing players who were near and far from the puck.

[stone hands]

Originally Posted by The Yen Man

I'll fully admit, part of it for me is because I was spoiled by Peter Maher. In his prime years, he was so good as a pbp guy. Even now when I hear old clips, I get goosebumps. I honestly tried giving Wills a chance, and a few years to improve. But I agree, there's just something missing with his pbp. I'll still tolerate it as, really, I just need someone to describe the play. But he doesn't fire me up like Peter did back then.

I too, tried to give Wills a fair shake because of the shoes he had to fill, but the combination of his voice, his cadence and his mind bogglingly homerific hot takes when doing radio hits just soured me completely on the guy

the only thing i enjoyed about wills in his entire tenure so far was a sort of schadenfreude-like feeling when pinder would roast smith for being a below league average goaltender and wills would fight back with empty hockey platitudes and appeals to authority with the most smug attitude ever that was just not based in reality

[GreenLantern2814]

Ron MacLean said that Bob Cole 'sings the game'.

I wouldn't want to hear Derek sing karaoke.

[RM14]

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

Give me a Bob Cole or Peter Maher shout any day

Is there any up and coming PBP announcers from the east coast?

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by RM14

Is there any up and coming PBP announcers from the east coast?

Probably, but is Kirsch going to unearth him?

Probably not.

[Table 5]

Guys like Cole and Maher were natural storytellers. As much work as they put into the job behind the scenes, it never felt like they were trying that hard. It was like listening to an old friend tell a good story at the bar.

Wills doesn't have those natural traits. You can tell that being a PBP guy is his dream and he tries really hard to be a professional (and you gotta give him credit for that), but it all just comes across as forced. His voice is rather grating, his inflections are weird, and his goal calls feel rehearsed and oddly timed. It doesn't even matter what he says, he's just not a guy I want to listen to.

Ball and Hrudey, on the other hand, I think are a fantastic duo.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Ball is fantastic
And in terms of local guys Brad Curle is excellent.