Mark Willard just loves and adores the Giants' alternate uniform; the ones that have an image of the GG Bridge and what is supposed to be fog, get it? Fog. I think that's kind of corny but the uniform itself (the Giants will wear them this weekend) look sort of cool. But that's not the point here.
What Willard, in his glowing endorsement, doesn't tell you is that he gets paid by the Giants. Yes, Willard does commercials that air on both KNBR (where he works as a talker and NBC Sports Bay Area-- the Giants cable TV outlet)--it's not a big deal but it crosses the line when it comes to objectivity. It also makes Willard look like a total sellout fraud, shill because his shtick on KNBR is always sort of cranky when it comes to matters like this uniform deal. And when the unis are getting
mocked in local media, you realize front and center how absurd Willard's opinion is; Willard is not alone on KNBR; Brian Murphy, the morning guy who is also a Giants' employee (he's on board their charity "Jr. Giants") has said he "loves" the alternate look.
Again, for the record, I think the uniform is cool. If the Giants play good and happen to sweep the Washinton Nats --(they play them this weekend at Oracle) the unis will be an after-thought and the rah-rah crowd will exult. If they lose? That's another story. This is about conflict and interest and it goes to the heart of "am I getting the real deal or is this just two radio guys who don't want to piss off the Giants and their bread winner?" It has ZERO to do with whether you're a Giants' fan or not.
I like the traditional orange and black uniform.
ReplyDeleteThe homerism is strong with the Gigantes. The whole crew. From the announcers to radio guys, there is zero objectivity. Brandon Crawford could fart in the face of Jon Miller and he'd say sensational, that's a breath of fresh air.
ReplyDeleteYou clearly don't listen to broadcasts. Miller and Flemming do criticize when they see bad plays by the Giants.
DeleteOther hosts on KNBR have panned the uniforms, so I think it's unfair to assume Willard and/or Murphy say they like them to appease the Giants. Isn't is just possible they actually don't hate these awful jerseys?
ReplyDeleteThe new unis are bush league. They are worse than the 49ers uniform switch in1996. Those were lousy too. They uniforms were "uniformly" panned. And the 49ers at least listened and did away with the new uniforms.
ReplyDeleteHint, hint...Giants ditch these horrible uniforms faster than recalling Governor Greaseball.
Mark T Windbag and Brian T Murphy part of the Larry Baer hit squad
ReplyDeleteThose new alternate jerseys are even worse than the "Turn Ahead The Clock" alternates from the late '90s.
ReplyDeleteMark Willard is a shameless fraud.
ReplyDeleteHe has zero integrity........his nose is so brown you can smell it a mile away.
You managed to write the very same thing I was going to write...
DeleteFabulous ability to read my mind
Willard has his lips permanently glued to Farhan's rear end too
DeleteWillard just isn't very good.
ReplyDeleteWhy do some assume that if Willard thinks highly of Zaidi, or is complimentary of what's going on with the Giants, he's merely shilling for the Giants? He had a closer view to Zaidi's work when he worked in San Diego while Zaidi was with the Dodgers. Is it not possible he sincerely thinks Zaidi is doing a good job? (Which by the way, the evidence suggests he's right.) Perhaps Willard has a more optimistic view of things generally than other hosts. Don't you want some different viewpoints? Plenty of other people can do the bashing when necessary - and frequently even when not. Sports talk doesn't have to always be "I hate _____ and _____ is a moron."
ReplyDeleteUniforms are hideous. But what do I know, I am old tradionalist. Fans at the game on Monday were buying the new uniform jerseys and caps off the shelf at the Dugout store. Guess I gotta make way for the next gen fans...you know the ones doing the wave at Monday's game (ugh).
ReplyDeleteMark Willard hasn’t worked at KNBR for almost a year. He is now at 95.7, ‘The Game,’ a radio station that used a bull horn to be heard outside of San Francisco. KNBR was too cheap to pay Willard a livable salary. Typical Cumulus chintzness. That’s the worst radio company in the country. They downsized KNBR and eviscerated KGO. .
ReplyDelete