Bill Walton

[Galway Eagle]

Anybody watching Stanford vs UNC where he's literally talking about doing Mushrooms and touring with the Grateful Dead. Has he always done this and I never noticed? How is he still on TV?

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

He's ridiculous.  I would invite a maskless Dickey Simpkins to provide commentary in my living room over listening to Walton.  (And I'm not that picky about announcers either.)

EDIT:  It's just ESPN schtick.  They did the same thing with Vitale, whose genuine enthusiasm was turned into an act.  And with Madden, but at least Madden got to finish his career at NBC which showed everyone why he was popular in the first place.

[Jockey]

Anybody watching Stanford vs UNC where he's literally talking about doing Mushrooms and touring with the Grateful Dead. Has he always done this and I never noticed? How is he still on TV?

The stories are fine if you seldom listen to him. Those that listen often hear the same thing over and over.

The problem is that as an analyst, he doesn’t analyze. Tony Romo, meanwhile, goes off on a tangent now and again, but he is as good as it gets as an analyst.

[Billy Hoyle]

when he's doing a Pac-12 conference game do a shot every time he says "Conference of Champions." If you're alive the next day you've won the game.

[GooooMarquette]

Anybody watching Stanford vs UNC where he's literally talking about doing Mushrooms and touring with the Grateful Dead. Has he always done this and I never noticed? How is he still on TV?

1. Yes
2. Name recognition

[MU82]

Almost impossible to listen to.

I turned it on with about 6 minutes to go, muted the volume after the 4-minute TV time-out.

It's neither funny nor informative. Just bad.

[Jables1604]

Wooden: A Coach’s Life by Seth Davis is a great book. Really shows what a rectum Walton was during his time at UCLA.

[Mr. Nielsen]

I love Bill Walton games! Funny. Makes me laugh.

[Silent Verbal]

Mad props to Jason Benetti for hanging with him.  The guy’s terrific on White Sox broadcasts and will probably be getting more national games in the coming years.

[JWags85]

Mad props to Jason Benetti for hanging with him.  The guy’s terrific on White Sox broadcasts and will probably be getting more national games in the coming years.

Benetti is incredible with him. Especially since he doesn’t have the hours and hours of experience handling him like Pasch does. He was great today when Walton was going completely off the range by letting his bizarre thought hang in dead air and then pivoting, not trying to interject and allow him to keep roaming. I mean the dude talked like 2-3 min straight about LA area mountain ranges.

[Mr. Nielsen]

Jason Benetti worked with Walton last year in Maui. Plus, they did a Angels game in 2019.

[Silent Verbal]

Jason Benetti worked with Walton last year in Maui. Plus, they did a Angels game in 2019.

I think Benetti is head and shoulders above Brian Anderson.  Benetti is witty, cultured, and also comes off as a very warm person.  BA seems nice enough, but he’s very vanilla and wouldn’t know a pop culture reference if it took a dump on his forehead.  Would like to see Benetti get more love nationally.

[DegenerateDish]

Jason Benetti is the nicest person you will ever meet.

[Silent Verbal]

Jason Benetti is the nicest person you will ever meet.

That’s cool to hear, and I’m not surprised.

[JWags85]

Jason Benetti worked with Walton last year in Maui. Plus, they did a Angels game in 2019.

I wasn’t suggesting they were strangers, but that’s a wild and difficult personality to wrangle if you’ve only done a handful of games, like Benetti, and his ease and skill in doing so speaks volumes.

I think Benetti is head and shoulders above Brian Anderson.  Benetti is witty, cultured, and also comes off as a very warm person.  BA seems nice enough, but he’s very vanilla and wouldn’t know a pop culture reference if it took a dump on his forehead.  Would like to see Benetti get more love nationally.

I don’t disagree at all. I admit to having a bit of a bias against Anderson cause I always thought he was crap with MU calls despite being local, but while he’s competent and versatile, he’s just very generic.

Benetti reminds me of of early Matt Vasgerian when he did Brewers games. You just knew he was bigger and destined for more than just local coverage of a single team.  Benetti is a bit older and already a bit more established than similar stages, but I’d be shocked if he doesn’t move on from the Sox in the next few years cause he’s a top tier PBP guy at ESPN. He’s fantastic.

[Silent Verbal]

I don’t disagree at all. I admit to having a bit of a bias against Anderson cause I always thought he was crap with MU calls despite being local, but while he’s competent and versatile, he’s just very generic.

Benetti reminds me of of early Matt Vasgerian when he did Brewers games. You just knew he was bigger and destined for more than just local coverage of a single team.  Benetti is a bit older and already a bit more established than similar stages, but I’d be shocked if he doesn’t move on from the Sox in the next few years cause he’s a top tier PBP guy at ESPN. He’s fantastic.

Agree 100% about Vasgersian.  Unfortunately, his act has devolved into schtick over the years and he now seems to think people are tuning in as much to see him as to watch the game.  I don’t think the same thing will happen to Benetti.

If you want a great laugh, though, look up “Drunk Rick Sutcliffe” on YouTube.  Vasgersian is absolutely priceless trying to reign Sut in.

[Billy Hoyle]

Agree 100% about Vasgersian.  Unfortunately, his act has devolved into schtick over the years and he now seems to think people are tuning in as much to see him as to watch the game.  I don’t think the same thing will happen to Benetti.

If you want a great laugh, though, look up “Drunk Rick Sutcliffe” on YouTube.  Vasgersian is absolutely priceless trying to reign Sut in.

my favorite Vasgersian moment was his first season (I think 1999):

Bill Schroeder: "Don't forget to sign up for the Brewers fantasy camp, coming this February."
Vasgersian: "is that baseball or any fantasy? Because I've got one with that Britney Spears."

silence from Schroder and then after 5-10 seconds Vasgersian says "yeah!"

Bennetti reminds me of Dan Schulman, who was able to reign in Vitale too.

[Eldon]

my favorite Vasgersian moment was his first season (I think 1999):

Bill Schroeder: "Don't forget to sign up for the Brewers fantasy camp, coming this February."
Vasgersian: "is that baseball or any fantasy? Because I've got one with that Britney Spears."

silence from Schroder and then after 5-10 seconds Vasgersian says "yeah!"

Bennetti reminds me of Dan Schulman, who was able to reign in Vitale too.

Anyone remember this?

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/mlb/reds/2018/09/14/matt-vasgersian-yelled-reds-thats-way-beer-vendor/1305615002/

"Hey buddy, there's a game going on!!"

[Silent Verbal]

my favorite Vasgersian moment was his first season (I think 1999):

Bill Schroeder: "Don't forget to sign up for the Brewers fantasy camp, coming this February."
Vasgersian: "is that baseball or any fantasy? Because I've got one with that Britney Spears."

silence from Schroder and then after 5-10 seconds Vasgersian says "yeah!"

Bennetti reminds me of Dan Schulman, who was able to reign in Vitale too.

Bill Schroeder strikes me as a humorless oaf with a PG sense of humor, which is probably why he co-exists so well with BA.  I’m guessing he didn’t enjoy working with Vasgersian all that much.  Only in Milwaukee could a guy like Schroeder have a job in TV for 30 years.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Only in Milwaukee could a guy like Schroeder have a job in TV for 30 years.

Please.  Have you heard some of these guys?

[cheebs09]

Please.  Have you heard some of these guys?

I was shocked to learn the Brewers were pretty regularly viewed as having one of the top TV announcers. Then I listened to a few others and they were pretty brutal.

[Eldon]

Bill Schroeder strikes me as a humorless oaf with a PG sense of humor, which is probably why he co-exists so well with BA.  I’m guessing he didn’t enjoy working with Vasgersian all that much.  Only in Milwaukee could a guy like Schroeder have a job in TV for 30 years.

Dude, I love Schroeder (and John McGlockin and Jim Paschke).

Maybe it's just familiarity.

[Jockey]

Bill Schroeder strikes me as a humorless oaf with a PG sense of humor, which is probably why he co-exists so well with BA.  I’m guessing he didn’t enjoy working with Vasgersian all that much.  Only in Milwaukee could a guy like Schroeder have a job in TV for 30 years.

Dullness, thy name is Bill Schroeder.

[JWags85]

Brewers figured a forgettable catcher named Bob Uecker became a legend, so that must be the formula, hence Schroeder. Fans can look forward to Chad Moeller taking over when Schroeder retires

[wadesworld]

Shroeder is fine.  He's not the best, but he's far from the worst.