I doubt at this point the franchises' broadcast situation is being closely examined, but sooner or later, the powers-that-be will have to decide on the TV guys, (Bob Fitzgerald and Jim Barnett) and radio tonsil, Tim Roye.
My two cents:
As much as I detest Fitzgerald as a talk-show host on KNBR, I actually enjoy him and Barnett in particular, on Warriors TV broadcasts on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area.
**KGO Radio's precipitous slip to 4th place in the PPM June radio ratings was met with utter disgust inside the offices at 900 Front. The real surprise? That KGO's upper mgt. was that shocked.
KGO is all about Ronn Owens, Ed Baxter, and a few other assorted flavors.
I like Gil Gross and John Rothmann is compelling political content at night, but they lack significant bite and only reinforce KGO's reputation as the "CBS of the Bay Area."
**East Bay Express is a well-thought-of, fairly respected weekley that ostensibly covers the bulk of Oakland, Berkeley, Eastbay news and culture too. And yes, even sports, right? Wrong.
On a night where the Bay Area sports and news media was at Ozumo in Oakland covering the tribute to Vida Blue, EBE was nowhere to be seen. (Full disclosure: In my other hat, I organized this evening for Vida)
**Even the local outlets couldn't help themselves by polluting the TV/radio airwaves of the lunacy of one, Mel Gibson. Wouldn't it be nice if someone, just someone, had the sheer audacity to say, "NO!"See, another sign that the business has gone to the -hitter: "we just have to do what the other masses are doing"; uh, the hell you do. You just might get NOTICED for NOT running the crap that the others are running. Yeah, Gibson is a nutcase--we knew that before this.
**Congratulations, Bay Area sports minions, for predicting that Larry Ellison was DE MAN that would buy the Warriors; all of 'yous was wrong, (including me) which goes to show that nobody knew or had a clue ...Speaking of Fitz, it was Rudy too who predicted that the Oracle man would pounce on the W's.
**Joe Starkey is 'oh, what a bonanza"-ing the Gilroy garlic festival and while campy, the 30-sec spots are hilarious.
**Still can't believe that KCBS' Hal Ramey called Barry Bonds an "a-hole" on XTRA, but Hal's not alone.
**Follow me on Twitter
I can't remember a broadcaster for one of the Bay Area professional teams that was more disliked than Bob Fitzgerald. I'm a W's season ticket holder, and with rare exception, almost everybody I talk to absolutely loathes the guy. Some of it goes back to how he came in to the job (by betraying his former friend Greg Papa, while Papa was negotiating a contract extension with Cohan). There are just a lot of fans who feel he's an illegitimate heir to Papa, and the only reason that a bush-league talent like Fitzgerald has the job at all is because he back-stabbed a friend to get it. Very uncool. The other reason he is disliked is because he doesn't give an honest accounting of the game. Every time the Warriors fall behind by 30 in the second quarter to a lousy team, it's because that opposing team is "having the greatest shooting night of their lives, and the Warriors are helpless to stop it." Imagine Bill King saying something like that, and not acknowledging poor defense or poor effort on the part of the W's. Fitzgerald is just a shoddy, second rate broadcaster, and he's not a major-league talent. He also has an annoying, pip-squeak voice, and that's not his fault. Some guys just have a great voice for radio and TV, and he doesn't. He sounds like he's about 12-years-old and it's grating.
ReplyDeleteHow he handles himself on the radio, I won't even get in to. He comes across as a a smarmy, self-absorbed t-bag. And how can the new owners forgive the breach of ethics/good judgement that Fitzgerald exhibited when he started posting under phony names on Kawakami's blog and the blogs of other writers? (Under the TC Firehouse and Flunkster Dude monikers.) I mean, c'mon, what kind of paranoid weirdo would even DO something like that? It's just so bizarre. Can you see Jon Miller doing it? Or Lon Simmons? Or Bill King? Fitzgerald is just a colossal loser, and he needs to go pronto. I think that a media mogul like Guber will want to upgrade the Warriors' TV presentation anyway. That's his specialty. I doubt he'll review tapes of a Fitz broadcast and say, "That's our guy." Instead, he'll say: "Can you get me Greg Papa on the phone?"
Barnett is still good on the telecasts, while Roye, probably one of the jinxed broadcasters around because he did the Sacto Kings before coming to Oakland, is listenable and presents a good picture in describing the game.
ReplyDeleteBut I wouldn't miss Fitz.
If it's not making excuses on the Warriors poor performances, it's kissing up to the Warriors' star of the moment. Now it's Curry and Ellis. A couple of years ago, it was Davis and Jackson. And as soon as they leave, they belong to the evil empire (somebody ask Fitz why he seemingly has nothing good to say about Derek Fisher?)
Best post ever written here.
ReplyDeletefitz pulled some shennanigans to originally get his job on knbr way back when.
ReplyDeleteHe isnt anything special as PBP. So, whats left? Just a despised local sports mouth.
ReplyDeleteGary Radnich loves him. Gary loves everybody.
I could not agree with Darbyo more. He should be a greeter outside one of those clubs on Broadway in North Beach and the insufferable Radnitch along side.
ReplyDelete