Jim Brandstatter Almost Unlistenable
I listened to the Penn State game on the radio this past weekend. I really hate to dog him out because he is such a great representative of the University, but man, Jim Brandstatter is almost unlistenable as a play-by-play announcer.
Forget that he doesn’t have the classic voice or the proper intonation of a PBP announcer. The sheer number mistakes he makes when comes identifying players is astonishing. Constantly mixing up McSorely and Stevens is one thing. Not being able to tell the difference between Higdon and Evans or Long and Hill is inexcusable.
The University has really done a disservice to Brandstatter—a lifelong Michigan Man—in installing him in a role he is so ill-equipped to handle. After serving the University so well for so long, he deserves better. It’s time they made things right by hiring a true PBP man so Brandstatter can move back where he belongs as the color commentator. Keep Dan Dierdorf around and have a three man booth for all I care. Just please, for the love of god, take the PBP duties away from Brandstatter. It’s so, so, so bad! Sorry Jim!
November 6th, 2018 at 7:20 AM ^
totally agree.
I hate when he asks questions:
did he catch that?
are they giving him the first down?
We don’t know, Jim. We’re hoping you tell us here in the next few minutes.
the guy reminds me of hoke. Great guy, great rep of um - but not very good at his job.
November 6th, 2018 at 7:23 AM ^
Not sure I agree that he’s as bad as you say, but I agree he’s not very good. Relegating him to part of a 3 man crew is a good idea.
November 6th, 2018 at 7:47 AM ^
I hate to agree with you, but you're right. God Bless him, he's trying. But he's just not a play by play broadcaster. He's perfection as a color commentator.
November 6th, 2018 at 7:54 AM ^
I listen a lot to the radio broadcasts. JB is actually a lot better than he was 2 years ago. Two years ago he wouldn't get a sentence out before the play was over and most of the time on the rare occasions that he did, it would be just unintelligible fragments. Love Jim; love that he's spent his entire adult life dedicated to Michigan but he's no PBP guy. He's a color guy. I feel like Dierdorf would be a better PBP announcer vs Jim. I think soon, they'll move Jansen into the booth. He seems a little better for the role.
November 6th, 2018 at 9:06 AM ^
Agree with each of your comments, imo Dierdorf is great in the booth.
November 6th, 2018 at 7:54 AM ^
I listen to all the games and while Brandy certainly has his flaws and lacks the great descriptive style Frank Beckmann had, he has improved and you can follow a game with him. I have listened to a lot of college PBP guys on satellite radio and trust me, there are plenty of announcers worse than him. Look on the bright side ... We could be stuck with the nasaly whine of George Blaha.
November 6th, 2018 at 8:59 AM ^
Blaha is super annoying, but he accurately describes the action. I mean basic stuff - play and player identification, time and score, down and distance, etc. Branstatter misses at leats 50% of the important details.
November 6th, 2018 at 7:55 AM ^
Yeah I don't live in the area so I'm stuck with the tv guys. I think UM football radio has been bad for nearly a decade it seems. Brandy is bad. It would be bad if that was my only access point.
November 6th, 2018 at 7:58 AM ^
The “SACK TIME!!!” call is so cringeworthy.
November 6th, 2018 at 8:03 AM ^
I agree, I was listening on my way to Allendale and he was too busy trying to have side bar conversations and crack jokes then call the game...Dierdorf had to constantly try to refocus Brandy back to the game
November 6th, 2018 at 8:19 AM ^
I grew up listening to Frank and Jim, and am a radio junkie. I have listened to thousands of games, with hundreds of announcers, and they were two of the best together. That being said, Jim is a HORRIBLE PBP guy. I have a hard time sitting still and watching game in its entirety, so radio is how I keep up. On another note, I have enjoyed Jon Jansen in the booth at times.
November 6th, 2018 at 8:22 AM ^
Yeah I don't live in the area so I'm stuck with the tv guys. I think UM football radio has been bad for nearly a decade it seems. Brandy is bad. It would be bad if that was my only access point.
November 6th, 2018 at 8:22 AM ^
Yeah Jim can be brutal at times. I watched the highlights Michigan Football Twitter posted and during the Brandon Watson pick six, he doesn't mention one time during the return who made the PICK! It's little things like that that are so frustrating. He also can't spit out the words quickly and fluently enough. It's like he knows what he wants to say in his head but his mouth isn't keeping up.
November 6th, 2018 at 8:23 AM ^
Agree, Brandy is terrible at play-by-play. Sadly most radio p-b-p guys describe the game as if you are watching on TV. Brandy is the worst.
Oh for the days of Van Patrick, Bob Ufer, Tom Hemmingway
November 6th, 2018 at 10:17 AM ^
Ufer was not my favorite. Lots of yelling. Preferred Hemmingway. Ufer was good to listen too when I was outside working, when he started screaming you knew something happened. I think Ufer was over the top and difficult to listen to.
November 6th, 2018 at 10:52 AM ^
Not that he called football PBP, but the best I ever heard call a game on the radio was Ernie Harwell. No one did a better job painting a mental picture than he did. He was just fantastic. May he Rest In Peace.
November 6th, 2018 at 8:27 AM ^
Just a reminder that this was a move made by Dave Brandon.
November 6th, 2018 at 11:32 AM ^
Uh…. I reeeeeeaaaalllly don't think that the sudden departure of Frank Beckmann had a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g much to do with Dave Brandon. Just the opposite, if you catch my drift.
November 7th, 2018 at 4:03 PM ^
I, uh, don't catch your drift. But Beckmann aside, Brandon hired Dierdorf as the color guy meaning Brandy had to move to PBP. At least, Brandon took credit for it.
November 6th, 2018 at 8:28 AM ^
He's bad at his job but his voice is one of two voices I associate with UM Football.
It's something I don't fret about due to that and due to the fact that he'll likely only be doing it a bit longer.
But yeah, he's bad at play by play.
November 6th, 2018 at 8:30 AM ^
"Sack Time!" He tries to make "Sack Time!" his signature call, but it's effect is anything but inspiring.
He made one call last game where he initially called the carry to Higdon, then switched to Evans, then went back to Higdon.
November 6th, 2018 at 8:40 AM ^
They should hire channel 2 Sport director. The guy is so exciting and full of energy.
November 6th, 2018 at 9:45 AM ^
Dan Miller would be pretty good. I love how he's brutally honest when calling the Lions. I've always like the Dan Dickerson suggestion as well. I've never even heard him call a football game but something tells me I'd like DD calling Michigan games.
November 6th, 2018 at 11:25 AM ^
No I think that Dan Miller would be the exact wrong guy. College football is not, or should not be, a business. Dan Miller is fine for the NFL. Which is to say, precisely wrong for college football. For college football, I want someone who is devoted to the program and its history, and not to draft projections.
November 6th, 2018 at 8:41 AM ^
I am not going to read through all of the comments, but I am guessing cataracts.
November 6th, 2018 at 8:42 AM ^
I mean his glasses are about 2 inches thick. Maybe some poor eyesight from the press box.
November 6th, 2018 at 9:18 AM ^
So, here's the thing. If he's having trouble identifying personnel, one of his spotters should take on that responsibility, and Jim needs to learn to take his attention off of the field long enough to see what his spotters are telling him. Basically, while Jim is describing down and distance for the next play, one of the spotters has binoculars on the field watching for substitutions.
The McSorely / Stevens thing is slightly more understandable because they were often both in the game at the same time, lined up in a formation that was intended to deceive Michigan's defenders. Now, a well-prepared play-by-play team would know that PSU had a habit of doing that and come up with a signal to indicate who was under center, but we're in running-before-you-can-walk territory here.
I really think he gets caught up in the excitement of the game and forgets he has a team of people there to help him out.
November 6th, 2018 at 8:46 AM ^
It’ssssss SACK-TIME!!!
They need to hire the pbp guy the lions use...keep brandy and Dierdorf around because they are great guys and know the game and program well. Let them play checkers together during the game. I dunno.
But yeah...Brandy struggles with pbp. It would be a really hard job to do unless you are a natural. And he’s not.
November 6th, 2018 at 8:46 AM ^
He he horrible and ruins it for me
November 6th, 2018 at 8:47 AM ^
His commentary is like the draw play. It takes awhile to get going, but by the time it does, they're already down the field.
November 6th, 2018 at 8:49 AM ^
He's a good guy. He's never been cut out for PBP and, as far as I can tell, he's not improved since being installed in the position. I listened to the IMG highlights from the game that were going around Twitter and they are filled with his errors. It's not just that he's not good at the basics - like being the eyes of the listener and clearly describing what you cannot see - he's also not quick-witted enough to identify players or the events unfolding on any given play. It's just not good.
November 6th, 2018 at 8:56 AM ^
Agreed. The only thing worse than having two color commentators on the UM broadcast tripping over each other (Branstatter and Deirdorf) is Lomas Brown doing color commentary on the Lions game. Whoever made that decision should be fired immediately.
Actually I take that back. Will Tiemen doing MSU basketball is the worst I have ever heard at any level. There are 10 local HS basketball PBP guys in the GR area that are better. And Terry Mills as color in our hoops broadcasts is up there too.
Brutal. Every one of them.
November 6th, 2018 at 9:20 AM ^
Will Tiemen is the worst.
"HEEE GOT IT!!!"
November 6th, 2018 at 9:21 AM ^
Terry Mills is absolutely certain that everything there is to know about basketball was learned by 1990, and that trying to analyze performance in an effort to understand things better is akin to cheating. I'm pretty sure he also thinks that taking three-point shots is Communist basketball.
Wait.. is Terry Mills Maizen? :mindblown:
November 6th, 2018 at 4:37 PM ^
Are we talking about Terry “Three” Mills?
November 6th, 2018 at 6:57 PM ^
LOL -- good point.
I take it back. I think he believes that the 3-point shot is Communist basketball, except when he shoots it himself. ;)
Mills is every cliche in the book run together, including the hot hand fallacy and the "live by the three, die by the three" nonsense. It's really frustrating to listen to him, because it seems that he goes out of his way to refuse to learn anything new.
Actually, come to think of it, he's a great fit for Michigan. He's the ultimate Down in Front guy. ;)
November 6th, 2018 at 12:02 PM ^
I kind of disagree. I haven't listened to a lot of Lomas Brown, but in the games I've listened to, he really provides insight. Things like describing the offensive line splits and how that signals run vs. pass or why a certain play is a good or bad choice for the particular down and distance. I wasn't sold at first, but I think he's an upgrade.
November 6th, 2018 at 8:56 AM ^
Any chance one of the track team members might want to try calling a game?
November 6th, 2018 at 8:59 AM ^
Personally enjoy listening to Dierdorf. Find him exceptionally knowledgable, and I enjoy his candid insights that for me, make the radio broadcast worth synching up to live tv for at least part of the game. Hope he stays, he is a treasure imo.
November 6th, 2018 at 9:02 AM ^
Someone should just watch the game on tv and do a facebook or youtube live stream of commentary.
November 6th, 2018 at 9:07 AM ^
Ugh. Gross.
As bad as announcers can be, none of the schlubs on this board could do any better.
November 6th, 2018 at 9:24 AM ^
I'm not certain but that may be his point, that it's harder than it looks. However, that doesn't absolve Brandy's many, many shortcomings as a PBP guy. There has to be someone better out there that Michigan can get.
November 6th, 2018 at 9:25 AM ^
Actually, there are certain aspects of play-by-play that would be markedly easier for someone doing it based upon the TV feed -- "Higdon with the ball off-tackle," for example. There are others that would be tough -- I think people would struggle with the "he fooled the cameraman" zone read plays -- and some that would be downright impossible. "Patterson back to pass.. he launches it downfield... <pause while the ball is in the air> Great catch by.. <defender is obscuring the number...>... Michigan! First down on the... <yardlines aren't visible...> First and ten, Michigan!"
November 6th, 2018 at 9:52 AM ^
I could do better. IT'S SACK TIME! If he said snack time it would be better.
November 6th, 2018 at 10:32 AM ^
I call a great game.
November 6th, 2018 at 11:29 AM ^
Yeah well I can't play quarterback for Michigan better than John O'Korn but I know a crappy quarterback when I see it.
I think a program like Michigan should be able to pay the requisite salary to employ a play-by-play guy that can actually do the job. Just sayin'.
November 6th, 2018 at 9:02 AM ^
When out and about because of the kids sports, I will listen to the games on satellite radio and then pull it up on my cell phone to watch it live. Radio is usually a play to a play and a half ahead of the television.
November 6th, 2018 at 9:18 AM ^
I listened to a little bit of the broadcast for PSU, and gosh was it terrible. One play, he says Higdon has the ball, corrects it to Evans, then recorrects to Higdon. How hard is this?
Dierdorf actually ends up supplementing/fixing/doing a lot of the PBP work when Brandy just wanders off into word vomit world. No mention of time, minimal field position, no flow or cadence. A lot of excited yelling.
It's an embarrassment. I get the loyalty aspect, but this guy is not a PBP guy. It needs to change.
November 6th, 2018 at 11:23 AM ^
It's true; I listened to the SMU game on radio this year, on a day that I was too sick (weird early-season flu) to go to the game.
I actually love the chance to listen to a game or two on the radio every year. Radio is fun, when it is done by the best announcers.
At one point in that game, Brandy called Shea Patterson by the wrong name.
As the OP rightly notes, Brandstatter always was and still could be a wonderful radio commentator. But he is not and never was a play-by-play man, which is an entirely separate skill. And he is filling the shoes of Triple Hall of Fame broadcaster Frank Beckmann. Not enviable.
Perhaps somebody thought that Brandy filling in for Beckmann would be like Carl Grapentine taking over for Howard King. We should be so fortunate.
November 6th, 2018 at 11:36 AM ^
YES! I was watching the game from the 35th row with my 14 year old son, and he and I both knew which running back was in before every play, just by watching substitutions. Evans vs Higdon has to be the EASIEST thing to be able to keep straight while calling play by play - they are never in the game at the same time, and they slowly jog onto the field 20 seconds before the huddle breaks, completely different body types, etc. There is literally no reason to ever get that one wrong.