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Post by bpfox on Sept 14, 2008 16:57:49 GMT -5
I want to do it!!!!! I just got fic's voice, tempo and quirks refined, My wife laughed the other day and said I sounded just like him!!!! And I can screw up our players names with the best of them! I CAN DO THIS, I CAN!!!! I will join you. We seem to agree most of the time and disagree just enough to make it interesting. We could call it the BPFox and Sparky show or BS for short. ;D What are my qualifications? you might ask, well consider this. I like to talk but more than that, I like to hear myself talk and I have OHL radio experience. Check this out:  |
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Post by mccartystillsuxs on Sept 14, 2008 18:42:14 GMT -5
I like it. Spirit might want to consider this.. It might force people to come to the home games as oppose to listen to it.........
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Post by spiritfan8 on Sept 14, 2008 22:42:04 GMT -5
I like it. Spirit might want to consider this.. It might force people to come to the home games as oppose to listen to it......... ;D ;D Forget these old guys. (not you, bp--I mean old as in long-time announcers) Find some young, enthusiastic guy in the Greg Brady mold, and turn him or her loose. I can guarantee you there are lot of them out there. |
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Post by newguy on Sept 14, 2008 23:07:24 GMT -5
Fic was a mistake. A bad hire. Brady was a very good hire. Terry Doyle was good. Sean Baligian was good. Lee Cunningham was good. I even didn't mind Warren Holmes. You can't win them all. I thought Fic was awful, the worst broadcaster in the league, bar none. Muskegon is a low-rent team in a low-rent league (sorry, UHL supporters though I concur it's better to have a team than not one at all). They can have him back. His lengthy work in the UHL is more a testament to his sub-mediocrity than his excellence. But a Spirit press release wouldn't be a Spirit press release, if it wasn't trumpeting that they'd nabbed "the best this or that"!!!!
This is a big break. He may have stayed here 10 years. Now he's gone. I would have felt bad if he'd been fired for his unenjoyable and unintelligible call of the game. Now they start fresh. I bet they're pleased with some aspects of this, except the terrible timing on Fic's part.
The issue is this...
Why so close to the season???
a) Did something happen we don't know about?
b) Isn't it competely and utterly unprofessional to do this so close to the start of the year?
As much as I suggest great and considerable dysfunction is at the heart of the Saginaw franchise, it is hard to accept that Fic couldn't have done this sooner. This isn't an easy spot to fill five days or so before the season opener. You had NO IDEA you were leaving before now? Really? Come on. And the poor guy who replaced him in Muskegon gets turfed out after moving there because you want to go back there???
Classy, Fic.
I do feel bad for the owners here, because people will suspect there are real problems at the root of this, but this isn't like an usher quitting (no offence - all ushers), this is a pretty specialized position that they seemed to take forever and a day to fill last season. So I doubt Garber or Goslin had any part in this. They just brought the wrong guy in to replace Cameron who was leaving.
Now you need:
a) A guy/girl with hockey PBP experience. Obviously.
b) He can't be employed doing hockey PBP right now because his/her season is starting. And everyone any good in this business is probably pretty settled right now. The time to pick up and move, much like GMs and coaches in this business, was 3-4 months ago. I give Garber lots of credit. He generally doesn't let people twist in the wind. Everyone he's fired, he saw just cause and didn't hesitate and that's being fair to them. If they fired Todd Watson tomorrow, it'd be an absolute crime, because clearly he and his family would have had other options. But everyone has their coach, just like everyone has their broadcaster.
c) The "next great Spirit broadcaster" obviously isn't living in Saginaw already because they would have hired him last year between July when Brady left to go to the Spitfires and December or so when Fic came on board. Give or take a month, it took FOUR months to find somebody. Lousy or not, they don't grow on trees.
d) Related to c), if the "next great Spirit broadcaster" needs to move to Saginaw and currently owns a house...forget it, who would possibly move in this economy and try and quickly sell their house to come to Saginaw and make, at most....45 grand? 50 grand absolute tops? While losing money on his home? Lots of it, I bet.
How do you solve this...?
Either patchwork this with some OHL vets who've done games before, regardless of where they live...
OR
You will likely hire an inferior broadcaster again. And look, save the "I thought he was good". That's not what's being debated here. I'm not starting an argument, I'm trying to prevent one. I thought it was an awful and terrible experience listening to him call a game...and maybe you didn't. I won't change your mind, you won't change mine. The issue is now what they should and will do.
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Post by SaginawGensFan on Sept 15, 2008 1:24:40 GMT -5
I wonder if someone like Cameron would do his old friends a favor & come fill in for a month or two until a suitable replacement was found. That way the team would not have to rush to just get whoever is available. Although this was in no way the fault of the Spirit, I would hate for them to make a mistake bringing in an inferior announcer just to have one. I know we NEED one, but there has to be a solution to this where we can still make a wise pick.
I really don't put all that much blame on Fic for this. Muskegon just got new ownership. They threw the money &/or position out there at him, he has roots there & feels like that is "home", so he takes it. I can't say that I wouldn't do the same in the same situation. You always try to better yourself & your position/job/career. This was his chance.
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Post by MidlandSpiritFan on Sept 15, 2008 3:13:19 GMT -5
How about Brad Golder of the Loons. Maybe he can do hockey. What about that guy that does the Loons? I wonder if he does hockey? I wasn't really a Fic fan so I won't miss him. I liked his knowledge but his PBP voice made me cringe. If he knew anything about hockey I think he would be a great choice. I think he does an excellent job on the Loons broadcasts. I don't believe he is available because he has a full time gig as the Loons media communications director. As part of that role he manages the operations of the Loons radio station WLUN 100.9 FM. |
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Post by spiritfan8 on Sept 15, 2008 6:35:27 GMT -5
I agree w/ you completely, newguy, which is why I say go young. Fresh college grads are a LOT more flexible about moving around. I'll bet mgmt. could probably set up a deal where several prospective hires could get a multi-game audition until the right person for the job became apparent. Young prospects would leap at the chance. Lest we forget, Greg Brady was a fairly recent college grad, and a poli sci major at that. Somebody gave him a chance. Someone's out there that would be right for this job. Fic himself was quoted (in the m-live link on pg one of this thread) that the new owners had stayed in touch w/ him throughout. He had to have some clue this was coming........I agree that this one is not on Spirit mgmt, but on Fic. I guess you take a chance you want when you can get it, but the timing sucks. How about that 2 hr radio show tonight--is it still on?  |
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Post by donjohnson on Sept 15, 2008 7:20:09 GMT -5
I like your idea about the "tryout" or "audition". What could it hurt...get a young guy at a good price and then who knows where it goes from there.
With regards to Greg Brady, SF8, even though he was a recent grad...didn't he host (or co-host) a pretty successful morning show in Detroit? I was always under the impression that he was a pretty seasoned radio guy despite being a little younger.
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Post by Sparky on Sept 15, 2008 14:35:52 GMT -5
HA! I like the BS show, cause I'm sure we both could throw a lot of that around. ;D
I mentioned to one of the G's about three years ago that they should work a deal with either SVSU or Delta or both to set up a sports broadcasting curriculum. SVSU has a communications degree and Delta has a broadcasting program and TV station. All I got was an "oh ya, that sounds great" and a smile.
Seriously, I think that would be a great team, they could do radio and the closed circuit TV, maybe even broadcast the games the next night or something on Delta TV. The students would gain experience in another form of media.
I'm not positive but I think Sarnia uses their landlord, Lambton College students to do the video at the their games.
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Post by bpfox on Sept 15, 2008 15:34:01 GMT -5
HA! I like the BS show, cause I'm sure we both could throw a lot of that around. ;D No disrespect putting my name first. It was the only way to make the BS think make sense. Peace. |
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Post by johnt on Sept 15, 2008 19:31:51 GMT -5
Geezzzz!!! If BP were to get the play-by-play job, Rosie wouldn't have a chance to say ANYTHING. At least with Fic, he got a few words in once in a while.
Just kidding, BP. Actually, you could probably do a good job.
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Post by bpfox on Sept 15, 2008 19:39:05 GMT -5
Geezzzz!!! If BP were to get the play-by-play job, Rosie wouldn't have a chance to say ANYTHING. At least with Fic, he got a few words in once in a while. Just kidding, BP. Actually, you could probably do a good job. Say what you want but I have done the London pregame show twice now and have a standing invitation anytime I come to town. It's a good time. Truth be known, I could never keep my emotions in check during the game. I'm more of a host a radio show type than I am a play by play kind of guy. That said, I'm also not afraid to grab the stick and land the plane if need be. ;D |
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Post by aj0512 on Sept 16, 2008 16:15:07 GMT -5
Brady had a lot of experience before he came to Saginaw. He did pbp of a lot of sports at his high school and college, including football and hockey.
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Post by MidlandSpiritFan on Sept 16, 2008 17:14:08 GMT -5
Here we are 1 day before the opener and still no word on whether or not there is anyone even on interim basis lined up to do the radio broadcast. Guess I will have to audio stream Stubbs and James off the London Knights website.
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Post by newguy on Sept 16, 2008 17:44:17 GMT -5
I am real curious to see who does the games Wednesday and Saturday.
Again - they took forever to bring the Ficster in. And I'll reiterate - how could somebody who's good at hockey pbp NOT have a gig right now? And if they didn't, would they be willing to move to Saginaw and take this on full-time.
This won't be easy for them not to end up with a full-time replacement who's mediocre or less than.
I don't envy them for finding somebody good.
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