Showing posts with label Broadcast. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Broadcast. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 18, 2018

How Mark Davis Screwed Over Greg Papa with $500K Raiders' Broadcast Gig; Papa 'Lifer' Position with Al Davis Ultimately 86ed; Musburger Hire Ultimate Middle Finger to Eastbay Fans; 415 Media Broadcast Inside Analysis

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Mark Davis
NOW EX-RAIDERS BROADCASTER, Greg Papa --replaced by the young and ebullient  79 year-old Brent Musburger-- was aced out of his gig by Mark Davis, the imbecile managing partner who's been battling Papa for over a decade.

As I reported here, Papa was beloved by the late Al Davis; Mark's father had a quasi "Raider lifer" arrangement with Papa that was essentially broken by the petulant younger son.

Papa was so close to Al that at one point senior Davis had considered giving him a non-broadcast, football-oriented job to Papa because he thought highly of Pop's football intellect. It never materialized because Papa was clearly not qualified.

The broadcast booth was another story. Papa thought all along that once the team was headed to Vegas he would have the green light to join them even though he'd been battling several personal issues of late including a divorce, a case of severe vertigo and his ongoing argument with Mark Davis. Papa didn't really want Vegas; sure, like Bill King, the late, great Eastbay broadcaster, took the LA gig because, like Vegas, it's only an hour plane ride from the Bay Area, and he could still handle his A's duties and be near the Raiders. Of course Al Davis was alive back then and like Papa, loved Bill King and wanted him to remain with the organization.

Image result for greg papa
Greg Papa
Mark Davis and Greg Papa were another story. Mark had no love for Papa; hated him. Papa didn't have any respect and detested the younger Davis. In fact, Papa used to tell Raiders' officials behind the scenes that Mark was an unintelligent fool. I'm paraphrasing but it was, and is, the truth.

And now with the hiring of Musburger Davis has effectively won the power play over Papa. And now Papa is out; how big a gig? Papa was paid nearly $500,000 a year to broadcast Raiders' games. For a guy like Papa with a lot of overhead that's a lot of money to suddenly kiss goodbye.

Image result for brent musburger
Brent Musburger
So now Davis has once again given a middle finger to Oakland fans with the hiring of the antiseptic and old Musburger and the heave-ho of one of the team's most legendary broadcasters. The Black Hole and Eastbay broadcast scene is mourning and Greg Papa is no longer a "Raider lifer." Mark Davis ultimately sacked the last remnant of authentic, Oakland Raider radio.

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Dave Flemming Wasn't Entirely Happy With Radio Broadcast Set-Up Which Is Why He Didn't Make It To The SF Giants Victory Parade

 THE SANITIZED version of why Giants versatile and respected play-by-play radio broadcaster, Dave Flemming, was noticeably absent from the World Series victory parade was that he was working an ESPN college football game. He was.

But don't be fooled.

Everybody in the Giants organization, from the janitors to the front office were there.

Every name politician was there too. The broadcasters from KNBR, Comcast, you name it, made it to the parade.

Except Flemming.

Flemming, a good company man will not publically bitch and moan because he doesn't want to rock the boat. Flemming wasn't there because he didn't work but one measely inning at the World Series. Under the set-up, only Jon Miller, Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper could work the Series --which was a radio-only affair and quite frankly, too crowded to include Flemm. He worked only one modest inning, the 4th.
 And let's not say that the ESPN prior engagement was priority over the Giants parade. It was not. Flemming was at all the previous ceremonies.

Flemming was steamed that he wasn't allowed even a modest two innings of work at the Fall Classic. Jon Miller worked the majority of innings while Kuiper did the rest. Krukow, the color analyst worked all nine innings. It's that simple only the irony is that Flemming, who just concluded his tenth season with the Giants is considered the heir-apparent to Miller when he hangs it up.

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