Brandstatter vs Rutgers

Submitted by billygoblue on November 12th, 2018 at 12:54 PM

Listened to the first quarter of the Rutgers game on the radio.  When Rutgers scored their touchdown, Brandstatter was having a discussion with Doug Karsch re Nordin's kicking & all of a sudden he starts describing the long run for the TD, --he might go all the way or something like that, but he said it was Blackshear with the ball & I didn't find out till much later, that it was Pacheco who was the runner.  I did not tune in again till late in the 3rd quarter, while I was in the car.  I decided to listen to the game on XM with the Rutgers announcers doing the game.

It could be worse for us, we could have these guys.  They made Brandstatter & crew sound like the BBC describing a Test Match at Wembley or wherever they play cricket.  There was a PBP guy and a color guy talking about the game, and every once in awhile a 3rd voice would chime in from somewhere. I figured they had 3 in the booth.  Eventually it was revealed that the 3rd voice was the sideline guy, but he would throw in his comments whenever he had an opportunity--they never called on him, he just piped up when he felt moved to do so.  It all sounded like three guys in a bar, watching a game on TV & making their comments on the action.  The color guy even ripped the QB when he threw that late interception--after Sitkowski had gone 70 or 80 pass attempts without an INT.  

Granted that it was only vs Rutgers, but maybe we don't have the worst.  Although it would be nice one Saturday if Brandstatter had to go to a wedding or something & we might get a fill-in like Dickerson or even Doug Karsch to see what they could do.

JohnnyV123

November 12th, 2018 at 1:00 PM ^

Brandy flubs calls. I don't find him awful to listen to though.

I get frustrated when he fails to give me down and distance and he gets caught watching plays rather than describing them in sufficient detail.

It's not the end of the world to me when he mistakes players as long as he corrects it after the fact. 

RainbowSprings

November 12th, 2018 at 2:13 PM ^

One of the problems any UM football network PbP guy will have is the need to frequently seque into short commercial messages between actual plays. I guess it's a big part of the income flow supporting the broadcasts. I think it pretty unique to the football broadcasts. Brandy handles that about as smoothly as possible. But it adds to the PbP challenge. He's very busy up there in the booth.

Schembo

November 12th, 2018 at 7:03 PM ^

I listened to a lot of the MSU/OSU game on the radio on Saturday and Blaha was terrible.  He gets depressed when MSU is losing and gives up on giving detailed calls on plays.  It's unprofessional.  And their color guy is one of the worst I've ever heard.  He just seems like a fan sitting in the booth that cheers big plays and he contributes nothing to the broadcast.

Goggles Paisano

November 12th, 2018 at 1:00 PM ^

I am tired of these Brandstatter bashing threads.  It is very apparent that many don't like the way he calls a game.  I personally like him very much as his voice is synonymous with Michigan football.  He may not be the best at play by play, but it doesn't bother me as much as it does many others.  

True Blue Grit

November 12th, 2018 at 1:37 PM ^

Yes, but the point is he's not a real professional play-by-play person.  He's a color commentator in a job he's not well suited for, regardless of his long ties to Michigan football.  I agree with those who think Michigan deserves better.  All they have to do is find a good play by play guy, move Brandstatter into the color slot, and give Dan Dierdorf a friendly pat on the back, and wave goodbye.  

Yo_Blue

November 12th, 2018 at 4:02 PM ^

Goggles, Brady Hoke had great contributions to Michigan Football.  He was a legendary assistant coach and his loyalty is unquestionable.  That said, he was a mediocre head football coach at best.  Brandstatter is in a similar boat...  great color man but poor play-by-play.  You don't keep people in a position just because he is a good guy.

shoes

November 12th, 2018 at 9:51 PM ^

I agree both that he is better as a color analyst (the same was true of the late Frank Gifford who transitioned from analyst to PBP), but that he is also far from the worst. I was an early adapter of satellite radio and over the years have listened to many, many different broadcasters from schools all across the country, and there are many that are worse. I also like Dierdorf.

SAM love SWORD

November 12th, 2018 at 1:16 PM ^

Dan Dickerson? I think he is an excellent baseball broadcaster (A+), but have never heard him call any other sport. I'd be very excited to hear it.

I think this all goes to show how difficult play by play calling really is. The great like Jackson and Michaels make it look so easy and everyone in the bar thinks they could do a good job, but its incredibly challenging.

Reggie Dunlop

November 12th, 2018 at 1:36 PM ^

Calling different sports isn't a challenge for play-by-play guys. Joe Buck does football and baseball. Matt Shepard does Men's hoops, but also fills in on Tigers games and does a perfectly acceptable job on Lions games in the preseason. Dan Dickerson does the Tigers but has also done plenty of other sports including college hockey - pretty sure he does the GLI or Duel in the D for Fox Sports. Brad Nessler does football and basketball.  Just a few examples off the top of my head.

Play-by-play is a shtick in itself. Once you've figured it out, the games themselves are interchangeable.

 

NittanyFan

November 12th, 2018 at 2:31 PM ^

Dickerson was good on Michigan football/WJR back then.

I think he also did some fill-in radio games on WWJ during the late 80s/early 90s, that weird time when both WJR and WWJ would broadcast Michigan football on radio.  Dale Conquest (the name came to me) was the primary WWJ play-by-play guy then.

yossarians tree

November 12th, 2018 at 2:17 PM ^

"Sack time!" Sounds like a call made in a really bad sports movie where the actors can't even play the sport. Either that or I imagine Robbie Timmins turning out the lights and hiding in the closet. He's an amateur trying to learn a very difficult job well into his 60s when he was perfectly fine as the color guy.

Dickerson is the best PBP guy in town. A hangup might be that he calls Tigers games and would be unavailable at least through September. Dan Miller is another amateur who gets way too emotionally invested in the team and in the game. There is a difference between bringing an objective excitement and enthusiasm to the game and going full EMO, especially when the team is the Lions. 

SEAL Fan

November 12th, 2018 at 1:03 PM ^

Love where Brandstatter’s heart is at but he’s not good with play by play.  Dierdorf is great with the color commentary.  Wouldn’t mind them finding a new play by play and having both of them chime in with the color.

SD Larry

November 12th, 2018 at 2:03 PM ^

Greatly hope Dierdorf does not retire.  He is a treat to listen to and some games with him are better than no games with him.  Feel like he is a knowledgeable friend of Michigan football in the living room with me when I am watching the games on TV and listening to him.  Brandy does not bother me but personally not worth the effort to synch up the internet radio broadcast to TV when Dierdorf is not there.

HermosaBlue

November 12th, 2018 at 1:03 PM ^

Lord's Cricket Ground in St. John's Wood (London NW8) is the home of English cricket, though there are many cricket grounds in the UK.  https://www.lords.org/

The Oval in Kennington (London SE11) is also particularly significant in UK cricket history.