Was anyone else watching Oregon ( LIVE !) at Arizona? First half, after a nice tackle by the 'zona MLB, Musberger says "That's the young man the coaches call Vuna, ... because that's his first name." Herbie was speechless. see Vuna Tuihalamaka
It was so very strange.
it makes sense... i mean a
Okay,
I buy the attempt at recovery. But why say something so obvious in the first place? It adds nothing to the game, or the audience's understanding of it.
Taking it one week at a time
Brent isn't there to add to
Brent isn't there to add to the game or the audience's understanding of it; he's there for two purposes:
1)to use players' nicknames a lot (BIG KAT!) to sound like he knows them well and,
2)to make 90% of the plays sound far more dramatic than they are and to make the other 10% sound comical because he goes over the top to exceed his usual level of vocal drama.
Sportscenter.com raves: Sgt. Wolverine, "Michigan's biggest fan"!
That's perfect. He's become a
That's perfect. He's become a caricature of himself -- something all sports announcers risk.
Yes, but that's when
announcers cross from good to legendary... see Caray, Harry and Jackson, Keith.
"So I come out of Ohio Stadium after we beat the Buckeyes, and right there on the hood of my friend's car, some one took a dump, in the shape of an 'O'. no shit. Oh, sorry, bad pun."
Ernie Harwell?
Did he ever make this leap? I know that towards the end of his career you could catch him making up the play - what you saw live was not the same as what he just said (of course, there's some wiggle room in radio for things like that, as long as you get the result right).
For the most part, though, I'd say he never became a caricature.
Keith Jackson is a legend?
Whoa Nellie!
"He's as nervous
as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs."
Taking it one week at a time
Yes yes yes
That threw me off as well. I couldn't tell if he was trying to be funny or if he thought Vuna was a nickname and had to try to make a quick save. Either way it didn't work out well.
Sportscenter.com raves: Sgt. Wolverine, "Michigan's biggest fan"!
Haray Caray on Cracker
Haray Caray on Cracker Jacks!
We caught that on our home
We caught that on our home viewing and cracked up immediately. Then we started on the jokes, e.g., "This is my dog, we call him Fido, because that's his name."
That said, I love me some Brent Musburger. For me he has become the new Keith Jackson. I don't expect him to nail everything, but his mere presence is enough to kick a game up a notch.
And yes, I know he can be obnoxious. And overly dramatic. But my man got caught for an open container in the passenger seat in Lincoln, and for that he has my eternal admiration.
Wanting something to be true does not make it true.
possibility
It sounds dumb the way it was said - however don't most coaches call their players by their last name. If so, in this case it would be much easier to call him Vuna - his first name than his very difficult to pronounce last name. Making it not that bad of a comment in theory.
A side note - I used to hate Musberger's announcing. He was such an MSU homer, and always had something bad to say about Michigan. In the last 10 years that has changed. He has become more like Mr. Jackson in that you almost feel he is a fan of each team that he announces games of.
Brent Mussberger
struggles, a lot. He is actually a better basketball announcer than a football announcer.
Dude's Brain
was permanently damaged by Jimmy the Greek's punch.
"Better to have died as a small boy than to fumble this football" -- John Heisman
Brent went after UM too
Later in the game, he was talking about tOSU - M game. He started off fine, calling OSU's unis ugly. But then Herbie said something about how it was good for OSU to beat us, and Musberger followed up with, "Well, be careful, it's only Michigan." I turned him off right then.
That one actually surprised
That one actually surprised me. Herbie didn't seem to think much of that comment, but it sounded like he was caught off-guard, too.
Sportscenter.com raves: Sgt. Wolverine, "Michigan's biggest fan"!
It was almost as if Brent was trying to get Herbie to agree,
and thereby catch Herbie in a "Yeah, Michigan is nothing" comment like a certain buckeye WR back in '95. Wierd interchange.
Taking it one week at a time
Yeah, but c'mon, how much
Yeah, but c'mon, how much good will did our buddy Brent spread around these parts with his "Here comes the A-train around the corner?"
it makes sense... i mean a lot of people would assume it was a random nickname