OT - You are (no longer) looking live at B1G
Musberger & Palmer to be lead announcers for SEC Network:
Death of SEC soon to follow...
March 13th, 2014 at 12:02 PM ^
March 13th, 2014 at 12:07 PM ^
Kevin Nealon lampooned him on Saturday Night Live after CBS fired both Jimmy and Musberger in the 1980s (I think Al Franken played Jimmy the Greek). It was one of the most brilliant sketches they've ever done.
Is it the demographic on this Board? I think it is disgraceful, to allow anybody to get away with blandly calling Musberger "racist" and leaving it as though it were an accepted fact. Naturally, at a left-wing site like The Nation, playing that race card against Musberger and in favor of a couple of 60's race-protest icons like Carlos and Smith goes over pretty easy. It was The Nation's leftist sprotswriter Dave Zirin who dug up the 40 year-old column by a young Brent Musberger, writing for the Chicago American. Zirin co-wrote a book with the subject of the story, American Sprinter John Carlos, and it is clear where Zirin's sympathies lie. Nothing wrong with that of course; Zirin can take whatever viewpoint he likes. And he most certainly has.
The big thing was to pick on Musberger's phrase, "black-skinned stormtroopers" in one line of a much longer column. The pretty obvious reason for that description was the self-styled "salute" that Carlos and Smith chose, with black-gloved fists raised high with heads bowed, reminiscent of salutes to der fuhrer during the days of the Third Reich. (Just think; we are farther in time now removed from 1968, than they were removed from the liberation of the death camps, in 1968.)
The reason for the right and left raised fists is that the two sprinters only had one pair of gloves and so they each took one.
Anyway, that's pretty much where any criticism of Musberger, circa '68, ends. The rest of his column for the American was well-written and remarkably correct. Correct, that is, for anybody who doesn't work for The Nation and who is devoted to the social protests of the 1960's.
I give The Nation and Dave Zirin credit for precisely one thing; they reprinted the entire 1968 column by Musberger. (The Chicago American no longer being around to claim any copyright, I suppose.) Here are some of the relevant bits that I commend to anybody really interested in the inflammatory charge that Musberger wrote a "racist" column about Carlos and Smith. Here are the opening paragraphs:
Bizarre Protest by Smith, Carlos Tarnishes Medalsby Brent Musburger
mexico city—Tommie Smith and John Carlos must be labeled unimaginative blokes if they can’t come up with a stronger and more effective protest than the one they staged her last night during the Olympic medal ceremony honoring their accomplishments in the 200-meter run.
Smith and Carlos looked like a couple of black-skinned storm troopers, holding aloft their black-globed hands during the playing of the National Anthem. They sprinkled their symbolism with black track shoes and black scarfs and black power medals. It’s destined to go down as the most unsubtle demonstration in the history of protest.
But you’ve got to give Smith and Carlos credit for one thing. They knew how to deliver whatever it was they were trying to deliver on international television, thus insuring maximum embarrassment for the country that is picking up the tab for their room and board here in Mexico City. One gets a little tired of having the United States run down by athletes who are enjoying themselves at the expense of their country.
Protesting and working constructively against racism in the United States is one thing, but airing one’s dirty clothing before the entire world during a fun and games tournament was no more than a juvenile gesture by a couple of athletes who should have known better.
If Smith and Carlos were convinced that the ends justified their black power demonstration during the National Anthem, they should have avoided the award ceremony altogether. If it’s true, as hayes Jones says, that an athlete competes for himself but walks to the stand for his country, then a more courageous protest would have been for Smith and Carlos simply to stay away and not pick up their medals.
...
I gather from the dateline (Mexico City) as well as the next part of the column, that Musberger was there in Mexico City and was an eyewitness to some of what happened. Because the column goes on like so:
...
An Ignoble Performance
Their ignoble performance on the victory stand completely overshadowed a magnificent performance by two black athletes. It’s a shame. Smith will not now be remembered as that splendid runner who so thoroughly demolished the world’s record that he ran the last 10 yards with both arms held high in triumph over his head as he crashed through the finish line in the fantastic time of 19.8.
He will instead be remembered as the militant black who shook a black glove and black track shoe during the playing of the National Anthem. It hardly seems on the level with his first accomplishment, and it did absolutely nothing to relax racial tensions any place.
Another sorry performance developed on the bus ride back to the Olympic village after the ceremony. Smith and Carlos, along with their wives, boarded a bus with a group of tourists who were headed in the same direction.
Upon spotting the two winners, an indignant California tourist declared: "I was ashamed of both of you. That was a disgraceful performance." This ignited a loud public debate between the two Olympic medal winners and the irate tourist, as ears around the world sucked up the ugly words.
A Canadian journalist, Dick Beddoes of Toronto, finally broke up the argument. Then he, too, wound up debating Carlos, who wasted all of the post-race interview time last night lecturing the assembled journalists on what they should think and write...
Then came what I think was the best line of the column. Maybe this is the line that pissed off Dave Zirin the most (although Zirin seemed content to go as Godwin as Musberger did, and pick on the "black stormtroopers" trope):
Perhaps it’s time that 20-year-old athletes quit passing themselves off as social philosophers.
So have at it, MGoBoard! You find the most racist part of the 1968 Brent Musberger column. I call bullshit on the "Brent Musberger = "racist" smear.
March 12th, 2014 at 11:01 PM ^
This is great news for us!! I used to like listening to Brent but that was back in the 70's. It has gotten painful. The SEC can have him. If we are lucky they can poach Dickie V too.
March 12th, 2014 at 11:15 PM ^
I couldn't believe my ears at the end of the national championship game. He actually sounded dissapointed about FSU winning. Then ESPN proceeded to show the last 7 national champions from the SEC instead of focusing on FSU. THEN Brent said ''Jimbo Fischer modelled his team after the SEC.'' Uh what? How does one model a team after a conference Brent?
March 12th, 2014 at 11:23 PM ^
March 12th, 2014 at 11:34 PM ^
we get a combo of Nessler, Tesitore, Tirico, or McDonough with Herbie. Musberger is on the way down. I think Nessler and Herbie would be great.
March 12th, 2014 at 11:40 PM ^
I'm rooting for Rece Davis to get the gig, just to free him from having to work with Holtz and May. I like Rece and feel bad that he has to wrangle those two idiots every week.
Also I don't want to split up McDonough/Spielman, who is the only team I genuinely look forward to when they have our games.
March 13th, 2014 at 12:04 AM ^
March 13th, 2014 at 12:38 AM ^
I like Spielman because he called out Borges during the Nebraska game.
I know, I know.....OSU and all that shit. But I grew to respect the guy a ton when he played for the Lions and then when he ultimately retired from the NFL to help his wife as she went through her horrible battle with cancer. His analysis is always pretty good and I like when he does B1G games specifically because you can tell he knows the history there.
If Michigan is playing like crap, for example, he's not afraid to compare and contrast what he's seeing vs. how he saw Michigan execute in the past when they were more successful. He keeps the hyperbole to a minimum while still conveying legitimate excitement/interest in the game he's analyzing. I don't find him to be biased towards OSU in any way during his broadcasts, similar to how Bob Griese was pretty good at masking his internal bias whenever he used to broadcast Michigan games in 1996 and 1997.
I also like that Spielman is understated as an analyst/ESPN personality relative to Herbstreit. I have no problem with Herbstreit when he's actually doing the games, but part of the problem with being the lead college football analyst for ESPN and co-host for College GameDay is all the "rah rah" propoganda you're required to do to increase viewership. Over the last few years, that's meant blatantly trumpeting the SEC until we all get sick of their exposure. In 5 years from now, it might instead be the Pac 12 or the B1G.....doesn't really matter because either way it will still be overly annoying. Since Herbstreit is such a focal point for ESPN's college football coverage, he easily gets associated with all of this and becomes more annoying as a result. I'm not even going to get into the whole Les Miles incident from 2007 but uhhh......yeah.
I guess I'm in the minority of people on this post who will miss Musburger. I think it was definitely time to put him out to pasture as he had lost his fastball, but he was a damn good announcer for ABC/ESPN over the years, as well as for CBS in the 80's. Some of his calls still give me chills whenever I watch replays of older Michigan games (Harbaugh's bomb to Kolesar in '85 vs. OSU, Grbac to Howard on 4th and 1, Dreisbach to Hayes against Virginia in '95, Gallon's "they left him alone!" miracle catch and run against ND in UTL I are just a few examples that readily come to mind).
He was at his best when he was partnered with Vermeil and then later with Danielson. Those guys were both great analysts for Brent's style and they helped create a great 2nd pair announcing team during the latter years of the Keith Jackson era. I didn't like Brent as much with Herbstreit, as they didn't seem to have the same type of chemistry that Brent had with his earlier partners. I'm guessing some of that was the age differential. But Musburger was pretty damn good until about 5 years ago or so. When I look at the current lead announcers who are out there doing college football, I can't really think of anyone who's close to Brent in his prime aside from McDonough and Nessler.
Yeah, I like Spielman alot, as well. He's not the UM hater/basher that some people try and make him out to be.
It would be nice to see him get out of the whole Holtz/May stuff. Those two are the worst and it isn't even close. I can't tell if they are just there for comic relief or what but their analysis is always crap and they aren't funny either, so I just don't get it.
On the McDonough thing I disagree though. Honestly it's clear he knows the game but for me being an announcer has to be more than that. Now I come from a time where I was fortunate enough to have been exposed to Keith Jackson and he's the standard I hold others to. Personally I don't acre how well you know the sport, if you have an annoying voice or personality than I don't want to listen to you. I'm definitely in the minority here, but I just find McDonough to have an annoying voice so I hate listening to him.
Honestly, it's hard to admit that two of my favorite announcers are former buckeye's, but there you go.
March 13th, 2014 at 11:42 AM ^
"I can't tell if they are just there for comic relief or what"
You can't? What on earth else could they be there for?
March 12th, 2014 at 11:34 PM ^
EOM...
March 12th, 2014 at 11:37 PM ^
I did laugh when he introduced himself as Kirk Herbstreit though.
Musberger was getting demoted. There had been rumors for the past year that Chris Fowler wanted to move up the main play-by-play role. The question is whether Fowler would do double duty with College Gameday and Saturday Night Football or whether Rece Davis would get bumped up to host Gameday with Fowler taking Musberger's role. This has been speculated on ever since ESPN went with Tessitore instead of Rece Davis to host SEC Nation as many saw it as a sign that Rece Davis was going to get Fowler's spot on College Gameday. Fowler quote from last year:
For me anyway, you want to be continuously challenged. Professionally, you don’t want to coast into the sunset. I am 50. [He turns 51 on Friday, Aug. 23]. I have a lot more to do and there are other things I want to do that I have not done. I don’t think it is anything secret internally what I want the next step for me to be at ESPN. I don’t think that is a mystery given the landscape. It’s why GameDay is a unique standalone thing for me. It doesn’t act or feel like a studio show. But the live events are the most inspiring, unexplored thing for me.
I really have a passion to document live events as they happen. Hosting is wonderful and remains really satisfying but the joy for me is calling big matches and it was very hard for me to give up calling Thursday Night Football on ESPN. It became too much to manage with GameDay’s increased schedule and travel. But giving up calling football in the booth was the toughest decision I have had to make. That remains something I am drawn powerfully to.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/more/news/20140119/fowler-davis-musburger-nfl-network/
always overblown on the drama. some guy would miss a pass on the second set of downs and his team would do the routine punt. meanwhile musberger is commenting 'remeber that missed pass folks, it could be the single most important play of the game and the reason this contest slips out of the hands of...' spare me.
Keep him. They're a perfect match.
Spielman I can handle. Millen ... uh ... yeah.
Well, except for that "jock strap" comment that one time. That was pretty funny.
March 13th, 2014 at 11:44 AM ^
Tater!! His One Shining Moment (TM).
He knows what the ladies look like down there and he jumped at the opportunity.
I'm in the minority but I liked Musberger and Herbstreit.
(Don't we have a guideline regarding titles describing the subject? Save the wit for the body of the post. It makes browsing the forum a lot easier and would cut down on duplicate threads.)
March 13th, 2014 at 11:10 AM ^
March 13th, 2014 at 11:38 AM ^
He's had a lot of great calls over the years. I do think he's slipping a bit, though.
March 13th, 2014 at 12:16 PM ^
great calls were all before he became "BRENT MUSBERGER - SELF APPOINTED LEGEND" that he is right now. I think the last time I really enjoyed his call on a game was The Game 06. He really grasped the importance of that game and set the stage well. Since then he has become a caricature of himself and in the worst way possible. He can never just say something without thinking "what would Brent Musberger say right now." It is very choppy and self important. Keith Jackson was able to be a legend calling a game but still had a way of making the game the story. I feel like Brent tries to hard to make himself the story and the importance of the game suffers.
March 13th, 2014 at 12:31 PM ^
To me, Musberger would just beat storylines to death sometimes and detract from what was really important in a particular game. It got really annoying over the past several years. Thank God Herbstreit was there to balance that out with actual analysis. I also hated how he pronounced "buckeyes".
See my earlier post for reasons why. It's probably a generational thing. For those 25 or younger, they probably only caught the tail end of Musburger's prime and thus, don't have the same appreciation for his calls or the way he could make a game feel truly "big". I'd still take Keith Jackson every time over Musburger for a big Michigan game, but Musburger was no slouch.
Some of his calls are so classic in part because they precisely captured the enthusiasm for the team that had just made a huge play at a critical juncture. To the fans of the team who made that play, his call sounded like pure elation and an extension of what they were already celebrating in their living rooms; to the fans of the team who the play was against, his call sounded like having the opposition fan right in their faces, celebrating their team's failure as loudly as possible.
I remember some time ago reading on 11W how a bunch of those guys thought Musburger was biased against OSU in the 90's, but then realized after OSU turned the tide against Michigan in the 00's that it wasn't really the case. He simply always got excited for the team that made the big play in the moment, and was very effective at communicating that excitement. It's why in Columbus to this day they still celebrate his calls for "Holy Buckeye" in 2002 vs. Purdue and the ridiculous Anthony Gonzalez catch in the 2005 game vs. Michigan, while in Ann Arbor we'll always celebrate 4th and 1 and "THEY LEFT HIM ALONE!"
I would give anything to see Urban throw his headset after we beat him.
March 13th, 2014 at 11:16 AM ^
It's a huge win for the B1G.
March 13th, 2014 at 11:16 AM ^
and Todd Blackledge might get a bump to the primetime slot.
March 13th, 2014 at 11:33 AM ^
March 13th, 2014 at 12:00 PM ^
As most have stated, I am not really upset about losing Musberger. This won't happen as he'll have to work his way up, but Griese and Herbstreit in primetime would be fun.
March 13th, 2014 at 12:59 PM ^
I think Griese's got some pretty good potential for a higher profile analyst role. His commentary has really improved over the last 4 years. If he was on BTN, he'd easily be their top color analyst. Hell, even if he showed up drunk and disoriented he would still probably sound smarter than Glen Mason.
March 13th, 2014 at 12:26 PM ^
Not gonna lie, I will miss that.