Matt Shepard to be hired as TV play by play announcer for the Tigers
This may bring the run of Shep’s Michigan Basketball play by play announcing to an end. No word yet if he will try to fight Jack Morris or Kirk Gibson during a game.
January 14th, 2019 at 9:03 PM ^
Rod Allen needs to be there with him I'd never miss a game
January 14th, 2019 at 9:40 PM ^
interesting. never liked rod. thought mario was fine. think shep will be fine.
also, if we can reincarnate keith jackson a few times today, can we give earnie harwell a call?
January 14th, 2019 at 10:21 PM ^
Mario needed to learn that a ball was hit *well* rather than good. Damn did that kill the grammar nazi in me.
January 14th, 2019 at 11:03 PM ^
Bob Ufer and Ernie Harwell would be a great team.
January 14th, 2019 at 11:12 PM ^
I was blessed to have been able to grow up listening to Mr. Ufer & Mr. Harwell.
January 14th, 2019 at 11:22 PM ^
I miss George Kell.
January 15th, 2019 at 5:45 AM ^
Got to meet him once many years ago. He was extremely polite, quietly friendly, and very easy to talk to. And he was very patient with the fans. I mentioned some arcane bit of trivia about his career (which he must have heard a hundred times), but he acted like I just surprised him with something delightful: "Y'know, somebody told me that a couple years ago, and I never knew that!" Like I'd just made his day.
A real gentleman.
January 15th, 2019 at 8:11 AM ^
I miss Van Patrick and Mel Ott.
January 15th, 2019 at 5:52 AM ^
Have to give Paul Carey some love too. He was great when he was with Ernie. They made a great team.
January 15th, 2019 at 7:09 AM ^
but is he still alive? do we have to get him in the transfer portal also?
January 14th, 2019 at 9:04 PM ^
I'm gonna miss Mario and Rod. They weren't the best announcers, but they were ours. Mario's steady style mixed with a healthy dose of Rod-isms made Tigers games an easy watch, even if the product on the field happened to be fetid (at times).
January 14th, 2019 at 9:04 PM ^
Shep is not good on the Tiger broadcast. Stick to Michigan basketball.
January 14th, 2019 at 9:09 PM ^
I think he'll do fine. Congrats Shep.
January 14th, 2019 at 9:10 PM ^
Ol' Shep is a good man. Hard working sportscaster who has given his life to the D and has earned everything he has every got in that tough world of sports broadcasting. Good for him.
January 14th, 2019 at 9:11 PM ^
Barf. Guess I'll be watching on mute and listening to Dickerson. Bad hire
January 14th, 2019 at 9:11 PM ^
Good for him, I guess. He's been working his way up for a long time. I like a lot of his stuff; I hope he's good.
I feel bad for Mario, who lost his dream job. I was never particularly impressed with him, though, and the tv broadcast really pales in comparison to the quality of the radio team, specifically Dan Dickerson.
I hope Shep works well in the new role.
Takes one potential Michigan football pbp replacement off the table. Honestly not sure who the logical next man up is there.
January 14th, 2019 at 9:29 PM ^
Mario's pbp was not good, imo. I like the old school pbp guys who actually call almost everything going on and then let the color guy chime in when appropriate.
There were times when he said nothing and long periods of silence. Maybe he was giving Rod a chance, but for me it seemed Mario needed to fill that air space.
justmy2cents
January 14th, 2019 at 10:44 PM ^
It's the difference between radio and tv. TV announcers let the images speak; on radio they have to call everything. Some crossovers like Scully used the radio style for both, but in general tv guys should and do occasionally pot down and leave the air clear.
Think of the Woodson punt return TD and the difference between the calls of Beckman and Jackson. They were both perfect calls for their medium. Jackson let you soak in the excitement of the moment. Beckman actually drew out the call of the play a bit and amped up the audio-only excitement by calling back to Desmond.
The calls would have been completely wrong reversed. They were just right where they were.
January 15th, 2019 at 6:33 AM ^
In the past I think this was true for TV. Currently the announcers never shut up and I watch most games on mute.
January 14th, 2019 at 10:49 PM ^
I really think Jon Jansen would do well as the PBP guy. I think him and Devin Gardner would be amazing. They both speak so well and obviously know the game.
January 15th, 2019 at 3:06 PM ^
I had warmed to the idea of Shep taking over pbp from Brandy (please, soon) but that is now off the table. Now I'd like them to go outside, do a national search, and get a true professional who can make the job his own for 20 years. There are lots of really polished pbp guys out there who would give their left arm to do Michigan football. And yes, I said "guys." There are plenty of excellent women broadcasters covering all kinds of sports now, but it just doesn't sound right hearing a woman do pbp on football. Especially the ones who try to do it like a man would.
January 14th, 2019 at 9:16 PM ^
Thought Rod was the better of the two by quite a bit. Whatevs.
I think the only time I've heard Matt Shepard announce is a preseason Lions game? Does he broadcast the Lions?
January 14th, 2019 at 9:18 PM ^
Would have taken Shep over Brandy for PBP for football
January 15th, 2019 at 7:34 AM ^
It's painful to listen to Brandstatter's PBP; it's not his talent.
January 14th, 2019 at 9:22 PM ^
Failed to embed youtube vid of Rod Allen chasing pitcher in Japan. So friggin funny.
I tried.
https://youtu.be/VEfgeYelL7g
January 14th, 2019 at 10:19 PM ^
If we were playing the Rod Allen drinking game everyone would need to finish their drink, I just did. Will miss that video clip randomly appearing every season or two. That Boy’s Country Strong!
January 14th, 2019 at 10:26 PM ^
I see you Naters113!
January 14th, 2019 at 9:23 PM ^
Congrats to him, not super thrilled about the hire, but I'll give him a chance.
From what I saw when he was filling in he can be a little more chatty then I prefer, but maybe he was just trying to build a rapport with Gibson.
January 14th, 2019 at 9:31 PM ^
As you said, Shep did the Tigers games back in September after the Mario/Rod rumble. I thought Shep was capable, but not great.
My biggest criticism of Matt is that he has a bit of Thom Brennaman (God pity anyone who regularly watches Reds broadcasts) in him: by that I mean, a tendency to lecture/talk down to the viewers
Matt has worked for Fox Sports Detroit for 2 decades now. He's been a good "company man" for FSD. He has paid his dues, that's for sure.
January 14th, 2019 at 10:46 PM ^
Shep literally had hours of notice to begin his Tigers stint, so there was no time to refine his style for Baseball. Between lead time now and spring training, there's a decent chance that he'll calibrate himself for the full-time baseball gig.
January 14th, 2019 at 11:13 PM ^
I hope he does refine his style. As someone else downstream said: being a good baseball TV guy often means also being a good storyteller. Carry a viewer through the slower portions of a game. I don't know if that comes naturally for Matt.
January 14th, 2019 at 9:25 PM ^
I like Shep. Good move.
January 14th, 2019 at 9:30 PM ^
I would rather have him doing the Michigan games, all things considered.
January 14th, 2019 at 9:33 PM ^
I actually love Matt Sheperd but good for him. He endured some of the worst years in Michigan basketball history and got to enjoy the best years. Good luck!
January 14th, 2019 at 9:41 PM ^
I mean, good for Shep and all, but it’s hard to get up for this after the Keith Jackson news today.
January 14th, 2019 at 9:46 PM ^
I will neither miss Rod or Mario
January 14th, 2019 at 9:51 PM ^
Since I don't live in the area anymore, I guess it doesn't matter to me. But anybody has to be an improvement over Impemba. He was whiny.
January 14th, 2019 at 10:47 PM ^
What's weird to me here in Minnesota is that the best announcing voice in local baseball belongs to... Dan Gladden, the guy who's supposed to be the jock color commentator. When I first started listening to the occasional Twins broadcast up here I thought he was the lead guy. He's really good.
January 14th, 2019 at 11:09 PM ^
Gladden is really good. Torii Hunter is awful.
I think Dick Bremer is really good as well. He has the perfect modulation for baseball. But I won't miss "Circle Me" Bert.
January 14th, 2019 at 10:00 PM ^
Congrats Shep. Mario/ Rod had run its course. Lots of dead air as they couldn't stand each other. Hope the Tigers can field a competitive team this year. Ernie Harwell was the best. Met him @ Tiger Fantasy Camp.
January 14th, 2019 at 10:05 PM ^
Congrats to Matt. Good hire. Well deserved.
January 14th, 2019 at 10:16 PM ^
Ugh. I don’t like this at all.
I like Shep as a person, but his cadence and announcing style is better suited for fast-paced sports like basketball or hockey. It’s like when they tried to make Gus Johnson a soccer announcer... he was good when someone scored and he was able to cut loose and be Gus, but he couldn’t carry you through normal play. Baseball, like soccer, needs someone who can narrarate you through watching paint dry.
Shep can do home run calls and walk-offs perfectly fine, but it’s more important to call the mundane stuff that’s taking up the other 3 hours of the broadcast that I’m not excited for.
January 14th, 2019 at 10:22 PM ^
Also, my opinion was/is that both Rod and Mario were bad as well (with Mario being slightly more palatable), but truth be told, Ken Daniels is the only good part of any Fox Sports Detroit production team. Tigers, Wings, Pistons... fire anyone other than Ken and I wouldn’t bat an eye (and that includes Mickey Redmond).
January 14th, 2019 at 10:26 PM ^
Daniels is in a league of his own.
However, both Dickerson and Kal are great radio voices for Detroit sports
January 14th, 2019 at 10:28 PM ^
Completely agree with you on Kal and Dickerson.
January 15th, 2019 at 1:30 AM ^
"both Dickerson and Kal are great radio voices for Detroit sports"
Kal is a million dollar guy with a ten-cent voice.
I was lucky to have grown up listening to Budd Lynch and then Bruce Martyn. While Kal is great at calling the PBP, his high, squeaky voice has always grated on me.
January 14th, 2019 at 10:37 PM ^
Totally agree, George Blah blah blah & Kelser are nauseating!!!
January 14th, 2019 at 10:56 PM ^
I like homers but Blaha is too much for me. He's like a toned down Hawk Harrelson.
January 14th, 2019 at 10:19 PM ^
Good for him, but does that mean he'll stop doing U-M b-ball audio PBP & Inside Michigan Basketball when spring training starts?
January 14th, 2019 at 10:49 PM ^
I would think so. MLB is the dream job for a PbP guy because it's basically full time. No college sport is a full-time gig.