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Spring Break Training PART I |
Spring Break Training PART II |
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SABRES, PENS, SHOTGUNS & METS |
BILL BUCKNER WAS INNOCENT |
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TheMatts
Posts:1458
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| 07-10-2008 - SelecA - |
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LOS ANGELES, CA – Thank goodness for XM Satellite Radio and their full coverage of all MLB games. We’ve been spent a fair amount of time here on the Left Coast which meant we found ourselves in the car far too much. Such is life in America’s driving capital. But the godsend was coverage of our beloved Met games that we would otherwise have missed. The added bonus of XM MLB is the chance to hear other announcers covering the play by play of other teams. If the game is in St. Louis for example, as it was last week, the listener becomes a little more familiar with the Cardinal broadcasters. We even found ourselves channel surfing during breaks in the action and rain delays, to expose ourselves (not that way) to a variety of personalities.
Radio continues to employ some announcing greats. In the NL there is the immortal Vin Scully, who we still can’t believe isn’t dead. Scully as been calling Dodger games since 1950! Holy cow, Phil Rizzuto would say. That’s 7 years before the Dodgers left Brooklyn. What Met fan old enough can forget Scully’s memorable call of Mookie Wilson’s grounder in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series? “ Little roller up along first. BEHIND THE BAG! IT GETS THROUGH BUCKNER, HERE COMES KNIGHT AND THE METS WIN IT. If one picture is worth a thousand words, you’ve seen about a million words.” Genius.
Jon Miller, ESPN’s noted TV play-by-play man has been covering the San Francisco Giants since 1997. The guy is a class act who we can forgive for his ridiculous, if accurate, pronunciations of Latin American player’s names. Carlos BelTRON! Milwaukee has had the incomparable Bob Uecker since 1971. Perhaps the first to bring humor into the booth, Uecker is also well know for Miller Lite Commercials and a long stint on “Mr. Belvedere”, where Uecker brought new meaning to TV sitcoms. Never even an Emmy nod, let alone a win; no show was as misjudged as “Mr. Belvedere”. DVD release 20th Century FOX? We’re waiting.
The AL pales in broadcasting depth. There is, however, a notable exception. Bill King has been calling Oakland Athletic games since 1975. His knowledge of the game is unsurpassed and his “Holy Toledo” is among the more familiar calls in radio. Here in New York, we’ve gone into endless detail on the failings of the Yankee booth. “Mit is high, Mit is long, Mit is GAWN. A Garden variety home run for Brett Gardner,” we predict from Sterling’s maw soon enough. The Mets booth misses Gary Cohen but Howie Rose has been successfully “Putting it in the Book” since 1995 with just a tad too much enthusiasm. Wayne Hagin on the other hand is a monotone dud. He loves to leave you in the lurch as to the outcome of any given play. “Wright hits that one hard, down the right field line, a long run for Matsui…………………………………………………………….who makes the catch for the 2nd out.”
Last week the Mets played the Cardinals in St. Louis and we listened to Mike Shannon, a 36-year veteran of the booth who sat side by side with legendary Jack Buck until Buck’s death in 2002. Our “sneak to” game during breaks was the Cincinnati Reds at home versus the Pittsburgh Pirates. There we were treated to the voice of Marty Brennaman who earned some notoriety this past May by calling Chicago Cubs fans the most obnoxious in the game. The following are our collective recollections from a few innings of the two games. Surfeit to say from the start, Shannon and Brennaman are full on buffoons.
Shannon: Man they got these new cubs at the zoo, unbelievable. The damn things are so damn cute you can’t stand it. There’s a ball to the Mets centerfielder 0-2. I mean you can’t top this place; it’s the best of the best. People come in they pay their money and you get to see something you can’t see to many places. The kids just love it there. Some new giraffe pups or cubs whatever ya call em too. Wouldn’t it be nice to see all of these new babies playing together in this great place? This zoo. It just great to get out and do something like this, it’s wonderful. Where else can you go to see this thing? You don’t have to just be a kid either. Strike three to the Mets catcher Snyder. This is the place to be this holiday weekend I gotta tell ya.
John Rooney: The place to be.
END OF INNING, QUICK SWITCH TO XM 183
Brennaman: I just can’t stand peaches. Peach flavor doesn’t agree with me. Don’t give me anything with peaches in it. Ice cream, yogurt, pie, and knobtails. Don’t do it because I won’t take it. It makes me nuts how many things are flavored with peaches. It’s a ball low and away. And so many people go mad for the things. They say what about a fresh peach and I’m like no way man I hate ‘em. Hate almost as I hate Cubs fans. Slider evens up the count. Leave me alone with peaches. There’s Nady standing at 2nd with a double. DiSaronno on the rocks?
Thom Brennaman: DiSaronno on the rocks Dad.
WE GOT CAUGHT UP IN THE PEACHES. YES THE METS-CARDS IS PROBABLY BACK.
Shannon: So come on down to the parade and all the festivities. Up and away, ball one from the Mets pitcher. Any of you folks flooded out up on the river, come on down to the big city for the action this 4th. Even here the Live on the Levee is off the Levee ‘cause the darn water is so high. Pujols grounds to the third baseman who tossed over to the first baseman, 1 out. It’s gonna be a heck of a weekend with those animals in the zoo and the parade and the fireworks and I don’t know how you can’t be part of it. Sure it’ll be hot as hell out there but it’s always hot in the summer. Get your family out there and don’t miss it. Ankiel with a base hit to right, the right fielder throws it back into the 2nd baseman. So John what are you going to do, you gonna go to the zoo? Or the parade? Or what?
John Rooney: It’s the place to be.
Shannon: Sure the heck is. Glaus grounds to short 6-4-3 double play to end the 3rd.
SWITCH TO XM 183
Brennaman: Peach this and Peach that. Enough of it.
Thom Brennaman: I hear ya.
Alas, lousy broadcasting all around that day. At least the insufferable Procede/ Giuseppe Franco ads aren’t on radio.
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Cookie
Posts:375
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| 07-10-2008 - SelecA - |
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Wow.. sounds like a dose of 'Short Attention Span Theater.' And looks like Brennaman caught the Seinfeld 'Fruit Stand/Peach' episode and thought it was funny enough to pirate.
My limited experience in listening to games on XM so far has been that in the absence of watching the game, it's sometimes better just to try to get the score updates on your mobile. I've listened to some insufferable XM calling and commentary. Like in April, one XM announcer was lauding Tampa Bay fans for a combined three-day attendance of 25K at their dome. 'You gotta applaud these fans for turning out and showing their support.' WHAT?!?!??! I am sure that even if the Rays make it to the post season, any sell-outs will come from the visiting team's fans.
I previously expressed my distaste for Joe Buck in the baseball announcer's booth. Someone.. anyone... remember to lock him in any NFL team's booth after the season ends. Don't open it up until NFL pre-season. Thank you kindly.
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Dude
Posts:533
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| 07-10-2008 - SelecA - |
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| Radio and baseball really work well together. Listening to a good announcer, you can actually picture the play, see the curve break, feel the slide into third. Much more so than any other sport it can be described well with words. A nice nod here, however i must take exception with your endorsement of Jon Miller. While I don't know his work on the radio, the guy is as painful as joe buck, john sterling or any of the other unlistenables out there. His long standing tenure does not make him good. I'll take giuseppe franco commercials over him anyday. |
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david
Posts:401
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| 07-10-2008 - SelecA - |
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| i have xm radio and i swear to god one time i was listening to brennaman and a reds game and he was whispering under his breathe imploring whoever the red at bat was to get a hit. it's was so laughable i could hardly stand it. |
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ANGRYWARD
Posts:515
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| 07-10-2008 - SelecA - |
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| That St. Louis Zoo sure sounds like the place to be. |
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Yankee Joe
Posts:313
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| 07-10-2008 - SelecA - |
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| Giambino should get a start in the Allstar game and get his own XM show. |
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ActiveForums 3.6
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ROY HOBBS ON STEROIDS??? |
MEAGHAN & JAKE: COOLEST FANS |
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Nobody Remembers The Loser |
Giant/Super Tuesday |
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MATTS-MATICS: Hockey Nuts Go At It |
See us on: "Law & Order" |
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MATT FACTS:
Chad Pennington is NOT a Brett Favre fan... Hillary Clinton and Don Nelson have never been seen in the same place... Jerry Manuel is not related to Charlie ManuelJerry Manuel is not related to Charlie Manuel... Somebody namd Michel coaches the Pittsburgh Penguins... Tiki Barber quit the Giants. The Giants then won the Super Bowl... The New England Patriots only lost ONE game out of 19!!! Aaron Heilman was actually funny in re to Eli and Plaxico Burress helping the Mets as a pitcher and outfielder, respectively. Repeat, Heilman was funny... Jessica Simpson would rather date Tom Brady - trust us... Eli Manning is better than Archie - now... Alyssa Milano is a Met fan. RRRRR... Rickey Henderson speaks in the 3rd Person... Shawn Green has big ears... Howard Johnson likes to stay at the Holiday Inn, ironically... Sandy Alomar, Sr. is the youngest of 9 kids. That's why he was quick around the dish. Jiminy Cricket was the Philly Phanatic in a previous life…Fred Wilpon is pals with Sandy Koufax... Mike Ditka is a really tough guy.. Buffalo has a Triple A baseball team. They are NOT called The Snowballs... Chan Ho Park has people thinking of naming a ballfield after him - it would be called Chan Ho Park Park... John Maine has never been, oddly enough, to Maine... Curt Gowdy, Jr. has never been to Yellow Knife, Canada... Kevin Mitchell played 6 positions for the Mets in '86 and, according to Doc Gooden's book, didn't like cats... John Olerud & Wayne Gretzky have never been seen in the same place... Kevin McReynolds now makes his living doing laugh tracks for sit-coms... Tony Gwynn is nearing 300 lbs... Carlos Beltran has Mercedes Benz dealerships named for him in Barcelona, Spain... Willie Montanez was called Guillermo by Lenny Randle... Rusty Staub beat Jeff Kent in a race – TODAY... Jay Horwitz is a dynamite Cricket players – somebody said... Jeff Wilpon was a decent minor league catcher... Ziggy Palfy lives in Slovakia and is a big Met fan... Superman Returns, yet still can’t hit Billy Wagner... David Wright will win the Triple Crown – on a horse... Omar Minaya is Tobey McGuire’s stunt-double in Spider Man 3... Hilary Clinton has Mr. Met pajamas – we think... Albert Einstein was a HUGE Met fan... The Metropolitan Opera House was named for the Mets after their 2nd season in ’63... Wally Backman, ’86 sparkplug, considered changing his name to Wally Back-Matt... Neil Allen and Mike Stanton, former Mets, have Allen & Stanton Streets on Lower East Side named for them.
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