Why I won't be watching the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl game.
No, I am not protesting anything.
No, I don't have any particular issues with the 2013 Michigan Wolverines. (But please don't make me call them "Team 134", or 133, or whatever number they are up to.) It's been an unusally frustrating football season. But I don't play the games, or coach the team. I just watch, and get whatever enjoyment I can from the experience.
And yes, of course, I want Michigan to win. That would be nice. Uphold the honor of the Conference, make a good showing on national late-night tv, etc.
And oh yes I think it will be very interesting to see how Shane Morris performs. I hope he actually has a dazzling night, and makes all of our rivals shudder with fear for the future. I hope all of the guys on the team play well and have fun and end the year with a win.
But the reason I will not be watching the game is that at about 10 pm, I plan to pick out a nice cigar, open a bottle of Glenrothes that I have been saving, lower the lights, turn off the television, and turn on the radio, to listen to Frank Beckmann's final Michigan football broadcast.
The time-lag with television nowadays is always way out of sync with the radio broadcasts; and that's too bad. It's not that I can't bear to watch the video of this game; I just don't want any distractions from the word-picture. I'll let Beckmann and Brandstatter be my camera. Nothing but sound, and my mind's eye.
I'll no doubt see the entire game on video later, just like when I see them play live. I don't feel like I am missing anything, now. What I won't ever have again, is the opportunity to savor the live broadcast of a Frank Beckmann call of Michigan football.
MICHIGAN SPORTS NETWORK
Following is a list of radio affiliates (list is tentative and subject to change; last updated 8/27/13):
City Station Dial Alma WQBX-FM 104.9 Alpena WATZ-AM 1450 Ann Arbor WTKA-AM 1050 Battle Creek WBXX-FM 104.9 Benton Harbor WSJM-AM 94.9, 1400 Cadillac WKAD-FM 93.7 Cassopolis WGTO-AM 910 Charlevoix WMKT-AM 102.3, 1270 Cleveland, Ohio WHKW-AM 1220 Detroit WWJ-AM 950 Escanaba WDBC-AM 680 Flint WTRX-AM 1330 Frankfort WBNZ-FM 92.3 Grand Haven WGHN-AM 1370 Grand Rapids WOOD-AM 1300 Grayling WQON 100.3 Ishpeming WIAN-AM 1240 Jackson WKHM-AM 970 Kalamazoo WQLR-AM 1660 Lansing WQTX-FM 92.1 Ludington WKZC-FM 94.9 Marine City WHLX-AM 1590 Marquette WDMJ-AM 1320 Muskegon WOOD-FM 106.9 Newberry WNBY-AM 1450 Niles WNIL-AM 1290 Oscoda WWTH-FM 100.7 Petoskey WMBN-AM 1340 Port Huron WHLS-AM 1450 Reed City WBRN-FM 95.1 Rogers City WHAK-FM 99.9, 980 Saginaw WSGW-AM 790 Sault Ste. Marie WKNW-AM 1400 Sirius XM Satellite Radio (home games only) Sturgis WBET-AM 1230 Toledo, Ohio W264AK-FM 100.7 Traverse City WTCM-AM 580 Youngstown, Ohio WHKZ-AM 1440 In addition, U-M football can also be heard on American Armed Forces Radio and is also available on Sirius Satellite Radio. Frank Beckmann (play-by-play) and Jim Brandstatter (color) bring the action to you from the booth, with Doug Karsch providing sideline reports and analysis.
December 27th, 2013 at 2:58 PM ^
December 27th, 2013 at 3:02 PM ^
So there's no use in setting the DVR back a few seconds.
But as I say, it isn't even a matter of protesting the tv audio feed. Sean McDonough was never one of my favorites, but I think he's fully competent. And I like Chris Spielman. It's not that I have anything against tv. (You probably knew that.)
I just don't want the distraction, from the radio.
December 27th, 2013 at 3:44 PM ^
December 27th, 2013 at 2:59 PM ^
December 27th, 2013 at 3:01 PM ^
When I saw that this was a Section 1 thread, I assumed that you were calling for some bizarre boycott related to Rich Rod or some such thing.
December 27th, 2013 at 3:03 PM ^
And of course you'd be wrong.
December 27th, 2013 at 3:16 PM ^
December 28th, 2013 at 9:28 AM ^
December 27th, 2013 at 3:00 PM ^
Are you going to at least DVR it and watch it sometime later?
December 27th, 2013 at 3:02 PM ^
I was just about to downvote the post out of principle, but thought I'd give it a read beforehand and make sure I gave you a fair shake. And I'm glad I did...well put.
It reminds me of my youth when my old man would watch UM games on TV, turn down the sound and listen Ufer on the radio. Good times.
So, here's an upvote for you, Sir. Great post.
December 27th, 2013 at 3:05 PM ^
is no Ufer.
December 27th, 2013 at 3:09 PM ^
PS....just messin with ya.
December 27th, 2013 at 6:56 PM ^
December 27th, 2013 at 10:05 PM ^
December 28th, 2013 at 10:12 AM ^
More power to those who get enjoyment from his broadcasts, I'm glad you enjoy them and I hope everyone does for his last one. But this is not Bob Ufer we are talking about here. Beckman is just a competent broadcaster and IMO, nothing more.
December 27th, 2013 at 3:18 PM ^
Section One post...with a title suggesting you're going to read yet another fairweather fan rant...My arrow was sitting on the downvote button. Then I read it...It wasn't about poor poor RR. It wasn't about the evils of the "process", or even those bastards at the Free Press. Frankly, I feel cheated. God help the next poor slob who creates a downvotable topic.
December 27th, 2013 at 4:50 PM ^
December 27th, 2013 at 5:15 PM ^
Hence my downvote.
December 28th, 2013 at 10:50 AM ^
Downvoting a non-political post because you don't like the OP's political slant in other posts? What kind of hitler-youth bullshit is that?
December 28th, 2013 at 11:55 AM ^
You wouldn't recognize real "Hitler youth" if a bunch of them walked up to you and kicked you in your liederhosen.
December 28th, 2013 at 1:28 PM ^
Yeah, cuz I really meant it in the literal sense.
December 27th, 2013 at 8:48 PM ^
Beckmann wrote an editorial so flagrantly racist he penned an apolgy. I'm still amazed he wasn't fired. Sadly, this puts a damper on how much I liked him as a broadcaster.
December 28th, 2013 at 11:46 AM ^
In his apology, Beckmann says the column was "my effort to emphasize my disdain for political correctness", and in true PC fashion, the university issued a thorough condemnation. Maybe he could have executed it better, but I can believe that was his intent. I think he would have been canned if cooler heads honestly felt it was truly racist. Comedians make a living playing off stereotypes. Beckmann was doing so to make his point, which can come off "flagrantly racist" on its surface.
We live in an age where you're a "racist" for disagreeing with the policies of a minority president. The term is thrown about way too loosely these days. Apply the intellectual filter before doing so.
December 28th, 2013 at 6:34 PM ^
Yes, wrapping up racism in a "I hate political correctness" label is common. It's a tatic to not deal with the substance of the comments.
December 27th, 2013 at 4:28 PM ^
when not nearly as many games were televised to begin with, and there was Ufer, always Ufer. When someone referred to Ufer as "the voice of Michigan Football", they were not speaking in a figurative sense. Those were big shoes to fill, and they found the right man for the job. Nice post, Section 1!
Yes, my blood pressure spiked when I saw the title. The mods should award an Epic Troll point.
December 27th, 2013 at 3:06 PM ^
I recall discussion here a few years ago about how to time the tv to the radio broadcast. But it might involve a Tivo. And it might get overly complicated. And it might distract from the quality broadcast Beckman and Brandstatter put on.
When I first moved to AA for gradschool, I didnt have a TV or internet access at home. My routine was to crack a beer and listen to the game on the radio. I miss those days - yet I would not go back to them.
December 27th, 2013 at 3:19 PM ^
December 27th, 2013 at 3:19 PM ^
1970s and 1980s for a while, except the BIG games like ND and Ohio and bowls. Your post certainly hit home. With a few beers, I won't notice the time-lag between radio and TV anyway :>)
While NO ONE will ever replace Ufer, Frank has done a good job for over 30 years and shouldn't be dissed because he's not Ufer.
I've listened to many other schools announcers on Sirius driving to/from UM games and can say only other really good ones out there are ND guys, Ohio's guys (yes, I can hate the team but appreciate the quality of the announcers), and perhaps a few of the SEC teams (Bama, etc.)
December 27th, 2013 at 3:32 PM ^
Bob Ufer -- an acquired taste, to be sure -- was always fun and sometimes funny, but he wasn't even the best Michigan broadcaster on the radio, even in his most popular heyday. The best radio broadcast was Tom Hemingway with broadcast partner, (the late) Tom Slade. It wasn't even a fair fight in terms of quality. Hemingway/Slade were on WUOM and the university's own radio network. Public radio. No commercials! None! At all! Slade was an honest-to-goodness Michigan football expert. Hemingway is probably the best ply-by-play man in the history of Michigan football and basketball. Ufer's broadcast partners were Bob Forman (a very nice man, who devoted years of admirable service to the University) who was not much more than a cheerleader for the Alumni Association, and... I'm not sure who else. (Who else, besides the alleged horn from Patton's jeep, was on the later-year WJR broadcasts?)
December 27th, 2013 at 3:37 PM ^
of hearing Hemingway and Slade, so I'll take your word for it on their knowledge of Michigan football. And I have to imagine that no commercials was something that I would have enjoyed, especially given the particular skill it took for an announcer to fill the time when the game wasn't actively going on.
BUT, that said, I loved Ufer because of his unbridled love for Michigan football and his exuberance on the air. That's why I loved him and for that he cannot be denied.
December 27th, 2013 at 4:21 PM ^
I think Jerry Hanlon (previously Bo's O-line coach) was Ufer's broadcast partner in his later years.
December 27th, 2013 at 10:58 PM ^
Hanlon coached until 1991.
He succeded Bob Thornbladh as Beckmann's partner on WJR upon retiring from coaching.
December 27th, 2013 at 11:22 PM ^
I don't remember Bob Foreman being a color commentator. I do, however, remember Don "Lundo" Lund working as Ufer's partner for many years.
December 28th, 2013 at 12:15 AM ^
Further research shows that Wally Weber and Dick Balzhiser also served as "analysts" for Ufer.
December 28th, 2013 at 12:29 AM ^
True story: My parents went to the 1978 Rose Bowl and stayed at the team hotel with the Alumni Association. The morning after the game (a typical 1970s depressing-as-hell Rose Bowl loss), they got in the elevator, followed by a very disheveled and extraordinarily hungover-looking Wally Weber.
So my dad turns to him and says "Good morning, Mr. Weber. How are you this morning?"
Weber turns to them, kind of puffs out his chest, and exclaims with some pomposity, "quite substantial." And that was it.
December 28th, 2013 at 1:05 AM ^
That's hilarious!
December 28th, 2013 at 7:37 AM ^
point of view, Ufer was not the best. But he was my favorite of all time and still is. I also agree that Hemingway and Slade were excellent broadcasters. Probably better than Beckmann and Brandstatter. So, I guess I don't find myself getting too wistful about his last game.
December 28th, 2013 at 8:03 AM ^
I think I remember Don Lund being in the booth with Ufer. He never said much, only when Ufer would ask him questions or make a comment directed at him.
December 28th, 2013 at 11:17 AM ^
tom hemingway was absolutely the best michigan play-by-play guy [he also had a short run doing piston games on [wjr?].
and tom slade [r. i. p.] was an excellent color guy----i remember an outburst one day where he said something like 'i sure wish we had run plays like this when i was playing'.
December 27th, 2013 at 3:21 PM ^
December 27th, 2013 at 3:25 PM ^
December 27th, 2013 at 3:32 PM ^
December 27th, 2013 at 3:23 PM ^
December 27th, 2013 at 3:27 PM ^
Very jealous. Do me a favor and stop by the Half Shell Raw Bar for me and get an order of the buffalo shrimp. So very delicious. And of course a drink at Capt Tony's...
December 27th, 2013 at 3:37 PM ^
December 27th, 2013 at 3:40 PM ^
Gee. that's great.
Dick. :-)
Love it there, don't feel like coming back? This is for you:
December 27th, 2013 at 3:49 PM ^
December 27th, 2013 at 3:29 PM ^
I applaud the OP, but I can never listen to a M game if the option for TV is there. Even a muted TV is better than a radio.
December 27th, 2013 at 9:04 PM ^
December 27th, 2013 at 3:37 PM ^
when I read the title of this thread and was prepared to neg the hell out of it...but then I kept on reading. Good job, Section 1. That's a nice way to honor Frank Beckmann. My dad used to do the same thing with Bob Ufer, and as a kid I didn't understand it, but now that my dad is no longer alive I appreciate Ufer and those memories with my dad so much more.