Jim Brandstatter fired by WJR
Sounds like he's only been fired from his role doing color for the Lions, not from doing the play-by-play for Michigan football. I'm not sure why WJR canned him. I always thought he was good on color commentary. Not a fan of his play-by-play work. No idea why Frank Beckmann was let go. He was really good
I think Beckmann made some politically insensitive remarks.
Oh yes, the fried chicken column in the Detroit News.
Was that really all there was for the reasoning (I really don't know so legit asking) ? I probably fall in the opposite political spectrum as Beckmann but could care less what his politics are, though , as he was an awesome play-by-play guy and that'd be too bad.
Yes. It was a dumb, highly stereotypical column. It really wasn’t political in my way. I guess the eye of the beholder can decide if it should’ve been a fireable offense.
I think he was starting to struggle a little bit anyway. His calls were getting sloppy and it was probably time for him to be replaced, but with a real actual play-by-play guy, not by moving over his color commentator into a position he was completely ill-equipped to perform.
Umm. We’re talking about Beckmann, not Brando.
Huh?
If you have the opportunity to listen to Beckmann's PBP early in his career and compare it to the PBP toward the end, the difference is very noticeable.
The early Beckmann was crisp, quick, on-point, with clear enunciation. At the end, he was loose, not nearly as crisp, slower, and sometimes even a bit mush-mouthed. On a couple of occasions it sounded to me like he was broadcasting after having a few too many drinks.
Age takes its toll.
I know this is heresy to older Michigan fans, but at his peak I thought Beckmann was far superior to Ufer when it came to play-by-play. He certainly didn't deliver all the theatrical stuff that Ufer did between plays, but if you wanted to know exactly who did what on what play for what effect, Beckmann was better than Ufer.
Everything you say is true. Is there any among us who wouldn’t prefer a Matt Shepherd/Jon Jansen team?
+1 on Shep
Most of my good childhood memories feature Beckmann on PBP. It's too bad he has some unfortunate political views he couldn't keep to himself on his radio show.
It's sad but true. Even his "Touchdown Michigan!" started sounding frail and weaker and nothing like I grew up to listening.
It was still hard for me to see him retire. I was a year old when he took over for Ufer so he's who I grew up with. Even when my dad and I went to the actual games at the big house, we would still bring in a tiny radio and turn it on whenever a big play would happen so we could listen to Beckmann. (I doubt you could bring a radio in today.)
I don't know how to embed anymore now that this site...looks like this. But here's some classic Frank...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ITJUOeu98w
Beckmann always sounded dorky as color to Bob Reynolds who I liked the best out of all Lions radio broadcasters.
Sorry. Misread your post, feel free to neg.
While we were getting our asses kicked by the Toledo Rockets he called them the Mudhens about a half dozen times. So annoying. Would’ve thought it was funny if we weren’t getting trucked.
He and Brandy got real yukky in the late years. Wasn’t worth tuning in. Brandy and Dierdorf can turn into a yukfest too. I am firmly anti-yukking and demand the gravitas and reverence Michigan football deserves
What!? He’s a great color man. I wish he still had the same role for Michigan games. Shame on WJR.
Agree, color he's good and I want to hear his voice on Saturday's.
I don't understand this at all. How does get fired from the job he's good at but somehow manages to keep the job he embarrasses himself in?
'Reasons', I guess.
I'm guessing the Lions have influence from their end. And yes, as the pbp guy...yikes.
I just said the same thing to a guy in the office who is a Spartan fan. He also has a media credential as a freelance writer somehow.
He just sent me a message saying Lomas Brown will replace Brandy. No offense to Lomas but he sounds like he had a closed head injury.
It would be pretty hard for Lomas or anyone not to take offense at that. Akin to "just asking the question" of when did stop beating your wife.
The Spartan slap in my office says Brandy was an A-hole. He claims everone else in the family who went to MSU were all great people. I don't believe anything this guy says until I read it in a reputable publication. Hopefully the truth comes out.
That's like saying John Beilein is a dirty recruiter.
It's pretty obvious the only a-hole is the Sparty slap in your office. I've never heard anything remotely to that effect about Brandy.
I've met Brandy and Robbie Timmons several times over the years, I gotta say that anyone who had something bad to say about either one of them is lying out their ass.
They both are two of the nicest and easiest going people that I've ever had the pleasure of meeting, salt of the earth folks.
Same here. I've met him several times and you couldn't meet a nicer guy
I love Brandstatter but play by play is not his thing. I would have rather seen him replaced in his U of M role, stay doing color for the Lions and, better yet, go back to color for Michigan. There could be a three-man booth with Dierdorf like the old Monday Night Football (or lots of pro and college teams), with Shepard or Champion doing PBP.
I know there are people on this blog that don’t like Shep but I think a three man booth would be great.
Who doesn’t like Shep? That surprises me. I think he does great for Michigan basketball and he’d be a huge upgrade on PBP over Brandy.
A while back there was a discussion on here regarding the PBP situation and I casually mentioned Shep and a few people responded to me basically saying “nah”. I don’t really recall any reason being given. Maybe they were just a couple Shep haters that decided to comment.
It stems from his morning show, I think. I like Shep, but he NEVER wrong. He will even completely change the parameters of a discussion in the middle of it so as not to have to modify his position or admit that he may have been off-base about anything. You add that to the fact that his knowledge of sports outside of his preferred local/Detroit teams is really actually pretty limited and he rubs some people the wrong way. He is a completely adequate PbP guy though, not great, but good. It was and continues to be kind of foolish for him not to be Michigan play by play voice.
People think I'm insane for saying this (in general that's probably a true statement) but I think Dan Leach would be a great play by play voice if he toned down the wacky expressions. If you've ever heard his Detroit Titans calls, he has an amazing voice for that sort of thing.
Oh and he's a huge Michigan homer who has been going to games with his dad since he was little.
I don't think Dan Leach is a completely crazy idea. But I also think he's incapable of "toning down the wacky expressions."
You want a passionate play-by-play guy but he can't upstage the real show.
Swizzzle STIX!
That literally made me laugh so hard I shot awesome sauce out of my mouth.
Sauce Castillo, while awesome, is dangerous to snort. Seek help.
Yo NittanyFan - the PSU pbp guy does a good job painting the pbp picture, but according to him every Visitors incomplete pass was "nearly picked off" by a Penn State defender.
Michigan really does need to get a REAL plp announcer (someone who has years of experience ... Brandy NEVER paints a "radio picture" ... and trying to sync the radio broadcast to the TV makes me cringe how his calls lag the game action (but that's better than Matt Millen any fucking day of the week).
Go Blue!
That a program that has the reach and tradition of Michigan does not have a real professional pbp guy is an absolute disgrace. I can't listen to Brandy unless I absolutely have to. He's shrill, disjointed, and unprofessional describing a game which is um, his job. If it's not Shep then they should just go outside the family completely. They could find somebody really good who fans could learn to love over the next couple decades.
Have you ever heard the Yankees play by play guy?
Strangely enough, I would think Dan Leach could be an interesting replacement as well, but as a couple people have alluded to, he does have a shtick that he might need to tone down to make the broadcast work. It would sound very un-Leach-like then, but he does have a decent voice for it, I agree.
His Michigan play-by-play is on WWJ, not WJR.
First they move off of FM radio,which was, no matter how you feel about Valenti, a stupid idea.
Now this.
At least WJR doesn't have control of the Michigan broadcasts.
It looks like Lomas Brown will be replacing Brandy.
Per Matt Dery:
HORRENDOUS DECISION. I AM OUTRAGED!!!!
The only replacement I would've been the slightest bit ok with would've been Orlovsky.
I like Lomas, I've met him before, he's a good guy, but you don't get rid of Brandstatter for him.
(I should clarify that this was a couple times at a charity event, and I think the Scott Mitchell thing was super shitty.)
Met Lomas through my brother-in-law, he’s a great dude and i’m truly happy for him. However, Brandy was pretty good on color for the Lions. I’m sure there might be a few cringe worthy moments from time to time, but I think it could work over time. They probably figured Brandy wasn’t going to be doing it too much longer anyway and decided to make the change now.
Fuck Lomas Brown. I’ve got no use for anyone that deliberately tried to get a teammate hurt. For the life of me I cannot figure out why he’s employed to discuss football.