Brady Quinn/Fox announcing was...not great Bob
I was pretty unimpressed with the announcing team, and Brady Quinn in particular.
This isn't the standard "He went to Notre Dame, he flamed out in the NFL, he sucks" type of critique. But it seemed like he did no research ahead of this game, and just generally is not very observant. The short version is:
Not doing his research, and not picking up on little details throughout the game, you can see indications of why he was not a successful NFL QB. He's still new at this, so maybe he'll improve but I thought this was pretty poor for what I assume is one of their top announcing teams. Other folks' thoughts?
A few examples that stuck out:
-Amid the wondering why Ty Isaac wasn't getting more carries, they don't mention that he was injured last week until like the fifth time they drone on about his limited attempts.
-On the Speight injury, it takes like four replays for Brady to suggest that MAYBE it was the second hit that caused the injury, which I'm guessing basically everyone saw live or at worst on the first replay.
-Confusing Robbins for Nordin for two quarters. Ok, they have the same number. Still, Hart has struggled, Robbins is the clear backup....again, a tiny bit of study of the teams you're covering would put you on notice for this change.
-On the ineligible man downfield, they correctly identified that it would have been bogus on Hill, but then just moved on, then later on show no replay when they finally suggest it was on someone else. Compare that to the diligence that happened on the garbage ineligible receiver call in the Florida game.
September 25th, 2017 at 8:37 AM ^
Yeah I liked it; I'd rather see more than less. Especially these days with TV screens the size of my bed. Err on the side of zooming out, not in.
September 25th, 2017 at 6:49 AM ^
At least there were moments where you could actually see what the safeties were doing.
September 25th, 2017 at 4:27 AM ^
September 25th, 2017 at 8:34 AM ^
Several times he talked about Michigan player's "fumble problems". WTF? Evans fumbled a ball and in this game Higdon fumbled. A couple games ago Speight had some handoff/timing problems. I don't think we have a fumble problem like Quinn professed. He seemed like a lazy student of the game who did virtually no prep other than maybe reading MGoBlog for five minutes or so.
September 25th, 2017 at 5:18 AM ^
September 25th, 2017 at 5:44 AM ^
do you really think you should be sharing the fact that you went and that you are happy? how do you think that makes the rest of us feel....?
September 25th, 2017 at 8:24 AM ^
September 25th, 2017 at 10:14 AM ^
EDIT: double post, thats how not happy I am
September 25th, 2017 at 10:30 AM ^
September 25th, 2017 at 12:35 PM ^
I sat next to some folks from St. Louis on about the 42 yard line on the painfully sunny side of the stadium. Drove down from Ann Arbor for the day with my 76-year-old father.
As an aside, while the game was reasonably fun to watch, and Purdue fans were friendly and mostly just happy that their team doesn't suck anymore, I can report that they were largely delusional about what constitutes (a) holding; (b) pass interference; (c) targeting, especially. The complaints about the targeting calls were...extensive.
Also, Ross-Ade ran out of bottled water and ice during the 2nd quarter, except for the first responders stations, who were distributing it to people bailing out of the stadium for heat-related problems. It was clear that the stadium concessions demand forecasters hadn't had a sellout in 9 years, and that they hadn't factored in the 91 degree heat in their forecasts or purchasing decisions. Not to mention the fact that a ton of alumni/homecoming weekend warriors were in town for homecoming, and were drinking a lot more than they might otherwise, which added to the heat complications.
Setting aside those 2 issues, I can report that WL was a pretty enjoyable day trip. Purdue fans were hospitable and happy. Ross-Ade is only 57,000 people, but it was a solid spot to watch M's defense slowly strangle Purdue's offense. Post-game exit from the stadium and the city were also surprisingly easy. We were in our car within 15 minutes, and on the freeway within another 15 minutes.
Bottom line: would do again.
September 25th, 2017 at 12:45 PM ^
September 25th, 2017 at 12:48 PM ^
I did appreciate that they weren't gouging for water. $3 is not unreasonable.
Apparently they only ran out on the sunny side. But there was no water on the sunny/east side of the stadium from mid-2nd to late 4th quarter. Must've walked some over from the shady side.
It was pretty bad though - the east exit steps around mid-field were entirely populated by people who had been helped out of the stadium due to heat complications, and first responders were working their way across the steps, back and forth, until well after the sun dropped behind the press box.
September 25th, 2017 at 5:26 AM ^
September 25th, 2017 at 5:44 AM ^
I usually don't rag on the broadcast crew as many are tolerable, but Brady Quinn...not so good. He just doesn't seem to be in the know about a lot of things college football related and certainly was not very observant nor did he ever add anything of value. I give them a D+.
September 25th, 2017 at 8:03 AM ^
September 25th, 2017 at 6:02 AM ^
September 25th, 2017 at 6:01 AM ^
September 25th, 2017 at 8:04 AM ^
September 25th, 2017 at 6:01 AM ^
September 25th, 2017 at 6:17 AM ^
September 25th, 2017 at 10:12 AM ^
I didn't even find these guys particularly bad. You want bad? Listen to a Mike Patrick. I thought these guys were adequate. Quinn isn't sharp yet but I actually thought he had a couple of interesting things to say.
September 25th, 2017 at 6:48 AM ^
September 25th, 2017 at 6:30 AM ^
let's be honest here, Quinn as a color guy was below average, the play by play guy was above average, but the real reason they were there was b/c they're pretty
September 25th, 2017 at 6:30 AM ^
He went to Notre Dame, he flamed out in the NFL, he sucks
September 25th, 2017 at 11:47 AM ^
The first is Bieber, the second is a below average commentator.
PSA - pull the center channel speaker from your surround sound and you get the sounds of the game without any commentary. It has changed my life.
September 25th, 2017 at 6:46 AM ^
They were horrible, but I actually like the minimalist graphics.
As to the announcing team, why doesn't TV do the same as radio and have people dedicated to teams who might actually have a clue who is even on the field? "Nordin with the punt..." (READ THE JERSEY THAT SAYS "ROBBINS" YA KNOB!" Yes, I know that they don't want a bias, as radio has their own network & two separate teams... but would it be too dificult to have a 3 man booth with one on play-by-play and dedicated color guys for each team who actually know more than the sheet with a dozen bullet points they printed out 10 minutes before the game?
September 25th, 2017 at 7:15 AM ^
Listening to the radio broadcast of the game you have to accept a level of bias, yes. But if you want the Michigan bias you also have to endure a level of pain known as PBP by Jim Brandstatter.
I thought I saw, during a replay of the game, that the Fox broadcast had three at the game with access to a rules expert for a total of four.
September 25th, 2017 at 8:07 AM ^
September 25th, 2017 at 8:40 AM ^
so I had to listen on the radio. I got so frustrated with Brandy's PBP that I turned it off for long stretches. He's so godawful at describing the play that I generally had no clue what was actually happening. On top of that, he was frequently stumbling over player identification, like calling Mo Hurst Mo Ways.
September 25th, 2017 at 9:07 AM ^
You are right Don. I went swimming with the kids and on the way home from the beach, I wanted to know what the score was. It took about 15 minutes before he said what the score was. I was yelling at the radio to just tell me the score.
It is time for Brandy to go from PBP. Please give me Shep or someone with some quality PBP experience.
September 25th, 2017 at 6:49 AM ^
It felt like he was pulling for Purdue, complaining about every call that we got while ignoring a lot of their dirty play.
September 25th, 2017 at 9:35 AM ^
September 25th, 2017 at 6:59 AM ^
September 25th, 2017 at 8:10 AM ^
September 25th, 2017 at 7:01 AM ^
My favorite was when the PBP guy (Not Quinn) yelled "It's another trick play!" and it was just a basic sweep. I lol'd and thought "these guys are hilarious".
September 25th, 2017 at 7:26 AM ^
September 25th, 2017 at 7:32 AM ^
but it wasn't just on them.
I've worked in TV production and that entire broadcast was a FOX clusterfuck from head to tail.
Poor network management, poor directing, horrible producers and assistants that should have all the relavant info laid out for the young, inexperinced announcing team.
This was the TV equivalent of a young (probably bad) QB with some seriously bad coaching.
Poor game-day prep by team FOX, and it showed.
September 25th, 2017 at 7:38 AM ^
September 25th, 2017 at 7:46 AM ^
To be honest, outside of a few commentators. Most of these guys are hot garbage. The announcing crews for most college football games this year is amateur hour.
ESPN must be getting their talent directly out of undergrad college seniors. No wonder their ship is sinking, because I just mute the station now if I am watching a game. They add nothing to the broadcast.
September 25th, 2017 at 8:40 AM ^
This game was on Fox, not ESPN.
September 25th, 2017 at 9:09 AM ^
I know it was on Fox, but commentators no matter what network are brutal these days.
September 25th, 2017 at 7:51 AM ^
September 25th, 2017 at 7:55 AM ^
September 25th, 2017 at 8:07 AM ^
Michigan is 23 - 0 under Harbaugh when we rush for 100+ yards.
September 25th, 2017 at 8:10 AM ^
September 25th, 2017 at 8:10 AM ^
September 25th, 2017 at 8:24 AM ^
Fox' coverage of college football just isn't nearly on par with that of ESPN's. I know ESPN gets a lot of shit from people, but no one covers college football more and better than they do. They do a great job with our beloved sport.
September 25th, 2017 at 10:20 AM ^
ESPN covers college football better than anyone, it's arguably the only good thing they do... It also helps that they have yet to overly polticize it like they do with everything else. ESPN ruins most sports but for whatever reason they've got college football figured out.
September 25th, 2017 at 8:34 AM ^