ESPN 540 Color Commentary

[ZiggysFryBoy]

Buzz messed with Mac.  Buzz ain't here anymore.

[real chili 83]

Buzz messed with Mac.  Buzz ain't here anymore.

Early contender for post of the year.

Showing a little Premium ZFB, eh?

[wadesworld]

Quickest poster on ignore for me, anyone else?

No kidding.  This is hilarious.  Makes a username and posts 18 times in a thread regarding the color commentary that is just fine on 540 AM for Marquette games.  Must be a recent communications grad who was looking for a job with 540 and didn't get it.

[Litehouse]

Buzz messed with Mac.  Buzz ain't here anymore.

That's a damn shame.

[mu_hilltopper]

Include me in the JMac fan club.  I believe he adds a ton of perspective from being a former MU and NBA player.  He understands the game, the coaches, and sees the game from a unique perspective, sharing that with listeners.

With great luck, he and Homer will be doing MU games for another 20 years.   Lots of fans mute the TV just to listen to these guys.

Nephew, the reason people have put you on "ignore" .. should be taken as a hint that your position that JMac is bad / should be replaced / should alter his commentary .. isn't that people just disagree with you, but that it's so over-the-top dumb that people are taking an immediate dislike to you.    Sorry.    

[Rudy]

I think Mac does a great job.

If you ever read his blog, he is a very interesting guy.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

Factually speaking, MU radio broadcasts are a low rated, low priority property.

MU does pretty well in attendance, but as far as overall "fandom", MU just doesn't resonate that much locally. "Joe Six pack" is more likely to listen to a Packers scrimmage than an actual MU conference game. That's just the way it is.

So, while I think it would be cool if MU had high-end broadcast talent, the revenue from the broadcast don't really support that investment.

That's why MU has (insert broadcast person).

I think legit critiques are valid, but expectations for the staffing need to be realistic.

[Benny B]

There is absolutely no scale on which to judge a Color Commentator.

Ron Santo was horrid.  Absolutely horrid.  Yet, he'll go down in Cubbie history as one of the best CC's there was because he always said exactly what Cubs fans were thinking:

"ahhhhhhhhh"
"nooooooooo"
"rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr"
"dahhhhhhhh"

Larry McCarren is football's Santo.  Again, horrid, but endearing to Packer fans because he know exactly when to inject his dose of neanderthalic utterances.

The most important characteristic of any CC is knowing when to talk.  There's nothing worse than a CC who isn't on the same page as his partner.

Very rare do you have a PBP guy who can carry a broadcast without a CC.  Whoever the Ted guy is that does Bucks games is difficult to listen to without Krause.  Guys like Scully and Uecker are a dying breed.  Frankly, if you have the talent to survive without a CC, they pull you out of the booth and put you into a suit in front of a camera.  Personally, I'd like to see Bob Costas get his ass out of the studio and back into a booth.  When a guy like Troy Aikman can be your A-Team color guy, that's pretty much all you need to know about the intellect needed in front of the CC mike.

Color Commentary is one of those jobs that has the lowest talent to "significance-of-role" ratio of any profession.  He/she is nothing more that someone who fills a gap.  There are good CC's, and there are bad CC's, but the river that divides the two camps has just about run dry.

Mac is good.  He knows the game.  He has a great rapport with Homer.  He doesn't have a squeaky voice.  And he loves Marquette.  That's exactly what I want on the radio broadcast.