OT: Brent Musburger to retire

Submitted by translator82 on

Brent Musberger announced he's retiring from sportscasting and he'll be calling his last game on Jan. 31 (Tuesday). 

Link

Long before his ABC/ESPN days, Musberger was the face of CBS' The NFL Today. 

Michigan highlights he called that stand out in my mind include the 1989 basketball national championship game, 1991 football vs. Notre Dame (Desmond Howard's diving catch), and UTL I.

Edit: AP reports that ESPN and Musberger said the Sugar Bowl/Mixon comments did not factor into this decision (I personally find that dubious)

UM Fan from Sydney

January 25th, 2017 at 1:16 PM ^

Kirk's going to OSU does not bother me, either. The guy is the best NCAA football analyst and I like his insight. I am very jealous of him because he has such a great job. I'd love to be able to be in his shoes (minus the OSU shit, of course).

lilpenny1316

January 25th, 2017 at 1:22 PM ^

Not a Fowler fan.  I think ESPN/ABC erred in not pairing Nessler and Herbstreit.  

I would've taken Kevin Harlan also.  I listened to Kevin Harlan call the Wisconsin/OSU game while I was on the road, then flipped on the TV when I got to my hotel.  The game was much more interesting on the radio even though it went to OT.

My only criticism of Musberger was when he tried to interject humor.  His calls were great, but he's not very funny.

M go Bru

January 25th, 2017 at 5:57 PM ^

They say enough without being too wordy or overbearing.   

Herbie talks too much. I prefer quality of what is said over quantity. Sounds like his mouth is too fast for his mind. He needs to slow down.

Fowler is terrible. He tries too hard to use different expressions and it sounds too clumsy and contrived.

Musberger was good in his prime, but he tries to be too overly dramatic, too often.

Give me Chris Jackson or Dick Enberg! 

LSAClassOf2000

January 25th, 2017 at 11:29 AM ^

I keep imagining this post read by the late great Bill Bonds and it makes it riveting in its own way, as many of his announcements and editorials were. 

As for Musberger, I think the quality of his broadcasts was in marked decline, but growing up, his was one of the voices I was actually drawn to whenever football was on. 

ChiCityWolverine

January 25th, 2017 at 11:15 AM ^

Will never understand how someone could hate Herbstreit with the same vigor as those other two hacks. He never beat Michigan while at OSU (though he did lead them to a tie in Columbus during the year he started). While he doesn't always know the inner workings of the program in Ann Arbor, he's generally pretty fair about the Wolverines -- especially keeping in mind that doubting UM was correct in pretty much every year from 2007-2014. Although he doesn't exactly bring the football IQ of a Collinsworth-type to the booth, he sometimes brings some genuine insight into his analysis. 

Do I love Herbie? Nah. But he's fine. 

salami

January 25th, 2017 at 7:41 PM ^

Herbie did drop that whole Les Miles to Mich announcement, which prompted LSU to re-sign his contract on the spot.  Not saying it was malicious intent, maybe he was just attempting to scoop the story, but I think it did screw with the post-Carr coaching search, leading to 7 years wandering the desert.

In general, I'm pretty cool with Herbie, at least he's smart enough to get out of Columbus and get to Nashville.  He does play the OSU homer, but then so does Desmond, so fair play I suppose.

SteamboatWolverine

January 25th, 2017 at 1:30 PM ^

He tweeted that Taylor Lewan was, "an absolute fraud" after an unnecesary roughness penalty. Meanwhile, Mike Weber shows a pattern of questionable behavior throughout the season, including laying out Brandon Watson after the Jabrill Peppers interception play had ended - and Herbie has nothing to say.

I also took exception to his ranking of UM  - consistently lower than other on-air personalities throughout the season.

Ty Butterfield

January 25th, 2017 at 11:03 AM ^

Still remember that Bama vs ND title game. Everyone knew it was over half way through the first quarter and Brent was already talking about how he wanted to hook up with A.J. McCarron's girlfriend.

Amaizing Blue

January 25th, 2017 at 11:03 AM ^

Hated him way back in the day on CBS NFL show.  By the end of his career, I enjoyed having him call the game. He was no Keith Jackson, but still enjoyed him. Sad to say, one of my least favorite current announcers is Brian Griese.  Doesn't seem prepared, has very little to add of value, IMO.  

ijohnb

January 25th, 2017 at 11:25 AM ^

a day when that would have been crazy to say.  Musberger was almost the voice of Michigan football from 1999 through 2006.  Back when he was paired with Danielson, they seriously called 5 Michigan games per year.  But your right, somewhere along the way he became a detractor.  He never had Sean McDonaugh distain for Michigan but he would clearly favor Michigan opponents on his calls, IMO.

Robbie Moore

January 25th, 2017 at 11:04 AM ^

...when  Brent was a sportscaster for, if I remember correctly, channel 2 in  Chicago. But then again, I'm old. Didn't think much of him then and never thought he was all that as an announcer. And if he said "A train" one more time I would've thrown my shoe at the TV.

mkelleycpa

January 25th, 2017 at 11:08 AM ^

I couldn't stand listening to him at the end... he hung on too long, I think.  Nice run, Brent!

He gave us many cringeworthy moments, including yelling, "Big TEX!" every time Ryan Mallett touched the ball.

He also butchered Roy Roundtree's catch in UTL to win the game.  "Rory Roundtree!"