Bill Walton

[vogue65]

What about Lavin?
I like him, he has creds., but?
Please stop the non-stop talking.
Do these guys get paid by the word count?
I can't consentrate on the game with all the blather.
Do I have to hear everything he knows on ever broadcast?
We get it, you know a lot, you coached a lot, but please, consentrate on the game at hand.
O.K., got that off my chest.
Thank God my clicker has a mute button.

[4everwarriors]

Grate poem, hey?

[vogue65]

Look out brother, next time I'll try rap.
Surprised I haven't seen any on MUScoop.

[4everwarriors]

Wee could due a duet. Eye'll ad motherfooker after each verse, hey?

[Jables1604]

Wee could due a duet. Eye'll ad motherfooker after each verse, hey?

Still not funny. Or creative. Or original for that matter.

[vogue65]

Still not funny. Or creative. Or original for that matter.

I agree, but as Miles would say, So What. 
Just turn your back on the cat and play.
I play a little jazz trumpet, everyone has an instrument.

[Scoop Snoop]

Anyone else hear Walton ask during the UNC/Stanford game (when Butler U. came up in the conversation) "Brad Stevens isn't still coaching at Butler, is he?"

I'm showing my age with this one but waaaay back when Roger Staubach was QB at Dallas, Brett Mussberger's co-announcer, a former FB player, commented on the way Staubach returned to the huddle, saying "Roger runs like a sissy."
Long pause. Mussberger finally replied "WHAT did you say?" The guy repeated it. Another long pause. Then Mussberger asked "When you played football, did you wear a helmet?"

[TallTitan34]

It's just ESPN schtick.  They did the same thing with Vitale, whose genuine enthusiasm was turned into an act.

I was the mascot at the 2006 CBE when Marquette played Duke and Vitale and Shulman were on the call.  They called me over to sit behind them in the stands as they recorded a segment.  Vitale was a regular guy and talked to people like a normal human being but as soon as those lights came on he turned it up to 11 with all of his yelling and over the top nonsense.  Once they stopped filming he was back to his normal self.  It has to be exhausting doing that act every time you are on camera.

[Billy Hoyle]

I was the mascot at the 2006 CBE when Marquette played Duke and Vitale and Shulman were on the call.  They called me over to sit behind them in the stands as they recorded a segment.  Vitale was a regular guy and talked to people like a normal human being but as soon as those lights came on he turned it up to 11 with all of his yelling and over the top nonsense.  Once they stopped filming he was back to his normal self.  It has to be exhausting doing that act every time you are on camera.

It made him a ton of money and got him into the Basketball and College Basketball Hall of Fame.

I remember seeing an old ESPN Classic broadcast of a game Vitale was doing in the early 80's. No screaming, no catchphrases, just analysis, and observations.

What about Lavin?
I like him, he has creds., but?
Please stop the non-stop talking.
Do these guys get paid by the word count?
I can't consentrate on the game with all the blather.
Do I have to hear everything he knows on ever broadcast?
We get it, you know a lot, you coached a lot, but please, consentrate on the game at hand.
O.K., got that off my chest.
Thank God my clicker has a mute button.

Not to sounds like Chicos here, but knowing Lavin personally, that's who he is. A 5 minute conversation with him would go 20 with multiple tangents.  He's a good dude though.

[Silent Verbal]

It made him a ton of money and got him into the Basketball and College Basketball Hall of Fame.

I remember seeing an old ESPN Classic broadcast of a game Vitale was doing in the early 80's. No screaming, no catchphrases, just analysis, and observations.

Not to sounds like Chicos here, but knowing Lavin personally, that's who he is. A 5 minute conversation with him would go 20 with multiple tangents.  He's a good dude though.

I like Lavin.  Kind of a sleaze as a coach, but a college basketball lifer who loves the game and doesn't think his word is law, like Bilas does.

[wadesworld]

Bilas is great. He can get on a high horse at times but overall he's informative and entertaining. Lavin is solid.

I just hope these guys can do it from the arena. I'm assuming they're doing it from somewhere they do not need to travel far to? And that travel is the reason they aren't doing it from the arena? Otherwise I'd think they could very easily call it from 20 rows up and be plenty distanced. It was brutal having them call it from outside of the arena on Tuesday. And it's really not their fault.

[vogue65]

Bilas is great. He can get on a high horse at times but overall he's informative and entertaining. Lavin is solid.

I just hope these guys can do it from the arena. I'm assuming they're doing it from somewhere they do not need to travel far to? And that travel is the reason they aren't doing it from the arena? Otherwise I'd think they could very easily call it from 20 rows up and be plenty distanced. It was brutal having them call it from outside of the arena on Tuesday. And it's really not their fault.

I was watching W.V. vs. Gonzaga tonight and Bilas was doing an actual play by play.  Refreshing.
He was remote and there was no fake, distracting crowd noise.  You would think the young producers would be against 1960's canned sound tracks.  Perhaps they have watched too many sitcoms or game shows. 

[JWags85]

I just hope these guys can do it from the arena. I'm assuming they're doing it from somewhere they do not need to travel far to? And that travel is the reason they aren't doing it from the arena? Otherwise I'd think they could very easily call it from 20 rows up and be plenty distanced. It was brutal having them call it from outside of the arena on Tuesday. And it's really not their fault.

Agreed, not only is the vibe off, but they miss blatant plays and call fouls the wrong way cause they can't see or hear the referees. It's jarring. It's inconsistent cause some games have them in person, others don't, they should be able to be there.

I was watching W.V. vs. Creighton tonight and Bilas was doing an actual play by play.  Refreshing.
He was remote and there was no fake, distracting crowd noise.  You would think the young producers would be against 1960's canned sound tracks.  Perhaps they have watched too many sitcoms or game shows. 

That's not the producers or the network, the crowd noise is pumped in at the game to try and make it sound or feel a bit more normal for the players. It's been true across sports.

[vogue65]

That's not the producers or the network, the crowd noise is pumped in at the game to try and make it sound or feel a bit more normal for the players. It's been true across sports.
[/quote]

There was no fake crowd noise at the W.V. GONZAGA game, (Jimmy V. Classic).   For me, it was better.

[JWags85]

That's not the producers or the network, the crowd noise is pumped in at the game to try and make it sound or feel a bit more normal for the players. It's been true across sports.


There was no fake crowd noise at the W.V. GONZAGA game, (Jimmy V. Classic).   For me, it was better.

Totally fine, and makes sense as it was a neutral court. But the point remains it's not producers replicating laugh tracks from game shows

[swoopem]

LOVE Bill Walton. I've seen him at Dead shows a few times but haven't had the chance to talk to him. When I do get to talk to him first thing I'm gonna bring up is Maurice Lucas and then let him go from there

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I'm in the minority I guess, I appreciate the crowd noise. I prefer that to hearing a bunch of shoes squeaking for 40 minutes. Feels weird watching a game with no ambient noise.

[vogue65]

Totally fine, and makes sense as it was a neutral court. But the point remains it's not producers replicating laugh tracks from game shows

1.   Tune DOWN the fake crowd noise.
2.   Tune up the play by play.
3.    Use the arena announcer, with the loud reverb if you must, to highlight plays and give credit for plays.
4.    It's a learning curve and not as easy as it looks.
5.    I agree, it's producers not yet knowing what they are doing. 

[GooooMarquette]

I'm in the minority I guess, I appreciate the crowd noise. I prefer that to hearing a bunch of shoes squeaking for 40 minutes. Feels weird watching a game with no ambient noise.

I don't mind having something to cover the squeaking shoes and such, but it'd be nice if they could do better than a mostly constant din, and turn up the cheers when the home team goes on a run or hits a big shot. It's 2020 - I can't believe Fox, ESPN and the other big networks couldn't do that with a simple soundboard....

[Galway Eagle]

I think they should pump in classical music to have them play to. See how that effects opposing teams

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

I think they should pump in classical music to have them play to. See how that effects opposing teams

Ha, that reminds me. Back in high school, had a volleyball match against a school that played classical music when it was our turn for warmups.

Next time they came to play at our place, coaches had a special soundtrack lined up for them. The only song I remember from that list was the one they opened with, Old Man River.

[Billy Hoyle]

Ha, that reminds me. Back in high school, had a volleyball match against a school that played classical music when it was our turn for warmups.

Next time they came to play at our place, coaches had a special soundtrack lined up for them. The only song I remember from that list was the one they opened with, Old Man River.

I laughed at this!

I remember my first HS road game and when we came out the band had a guitarist and played Iron Man.  That was cool (we got killed too and the bastards pressed us the entire game).

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I laughed at this!

I remember my first HS road game and when we came out the band had a guitarist and played Iron Man.  That was cool (we got killed too and the bastards pressed us the entire game).

Did you play ball in the twin cities. Cause our band definitely had a guitarist and we played iron man every game

[Galway Eagle]

Ha, that reminds me. Back in high school, had a volleyball match against a school that played classical music when it was our turn for warmups.

Next time they came to play at our place, coaches had a special soundtrack lined up for them. The only song I remember from that list was the one they opened with, Old Man River.

When I was on the Club MULax team at MU there were a few games that we blasted Love Story by Taylor Swift before hand and I vividly remember whoever we were playing just staring at us like we were lunatics during warm ups

[Mr. Nielsen]

I'm ready, I hope you are ready!!