Sounding off!

As we've been made aware by the boys at the Dispatch both the TV and Radio broadcast pairs contracts expire July 1st.

There is lots of speculation on who will and will not be back with Aaron Portzline of the Dispatch suggesting from his sources that if one guy is favored it would be Rimer b/c of his relationship with president of business operations Larry Hoepfner.

I know many Jacket fans, including myself, have gotten to meet at least one if not all four of these gentlemen. I can say from my own personal experience that in my time talking with Rimer and Gare they are stand up people who are very generous with their time and with the fans.

...and these are real men, with real families, with real jobs who have mouths to feed just like the rest of us. So it certainly gives me no pleasure to criticize anyone.

Here's the thing though -- they are in the spotlight and get paid to broadcast games and that is what I'm going to base my opinion on. Not on personalities, not on appearance.. just strictly on the job they do calling the game on the ice.

First I'll say these jobs are not easy. Hockey is a fast paced sport with a whole lot going on. It's damn near impossible to catch it all let alone speak to every detail. I sure as hell couldn't do it...heck I can barely type on a free blog.

With that in mind... they could all go and I wouldn't be upset and here's why:

Let's start with the TV crew.

I watch a lot of hockey..... and I mean a lot of hockey... so I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to a broadcast team. Rimer and Gare are right there between bad and ugly.

For the hardcore fan there are just too many mistakes and overlooked plays. It's inexcusable to get names of players wrong or not notice players getting injured until a full period later. I mean that's all these guys do is watch games, go to practices and hob nob with the brass right...? Heck you could take the jersey's off these guys backs and plant my butt in the rafters and I could name ever player based on body type and skating alone. That is the kind of attention to detail I want and expect my broadcast crew to pass along to their viewers.

For the casual fan both Rimer and Gare just aren't engaging enough. When a casual sports fan flips the channel because the TV guys are annoying them that is a problem. If anything the TV guys need to be able to pull the viewer in. This particular duo just isn't capable of that and when you're a market that needs to attract new viewers and fans having a broadcast team capable of capturing the attention of a viewer is a must.

Bottom line there just isn't a good chemistry.

The worst thing that happened to Gare was the hiring of Engbloom who was just fantastic. Also not that I want these guys rooting for another team but the homerism borders on absurd at times.

Remember too that both Rimer and Gare were MacLean hires. I don't think there was a whole lot of interviewing or scrutinizing of skills that went into these decisions.... similar to MacLean's player personnel acquisitions and we know how most of those turned out.

The radio guys are a bit trickier.

Lot's of folks love George Mathews... they get into his enthusiasm and his energy. Personally when I listen to him I want to bang my head on the steering wheel... Why? Because I don't know a damn thing that is going on... Which line is out there? Which zone is the puck in? How was the goal scored? Who is in the scrums? All I hear are a bunch of screams and "holy molly what a goalie" crafty one liners. It's style over substance and I'm more of a substance type of guy.

Bill Davidge is a guy I don't have a strong opinion on one way or another. The one thing that really bothers me about him though is the relentless cheerleading. Again I know they aren't going to spit on the spoon that feeds them but it gets excessive.

Look the die hards.. they will always be there.. you could put Kermit the frog in the booth and we'd still tune in. That said if there is room for improvement then by all means improve! The Jackets need to strive for excellence from top to bottom and that includes their broadcast teams.
If I were to guess the radio guys stay and the TV guys go.

All that said the Blue Jackets organization does not get out of this post unscathed.

First off it doesn't matter who is in the booth if you can't find the Jackets on the tube. The playoff programming was an absolute train wreck -- and those are the games you want the most people possible to be watching because that is hockey at its purest and highest level.

To top it off there was a very limited number of high definition broadcasts which was completely unacceptable.

Secondly these decisions should have already been made.

It's also obvious they have a tight leash around these broadcast teams. There is no objectivity... there is no negative analysis. It's one big cheerleading feast before, during and after the games.

Fans want the good... but they aren't fools.... they sure know when this team isn't playing well and it's in times like those that the broadcasters need to the room to give an honest evaluation of the events on the ice. They are professionals and they know where the line is and not to cross it.

...and what's with the crap about not being able to talk about Adam Foote, John H. McConnell or missing the playoff for 8 straight years? Hmm.. maybe if they won't talk about it folks will think it didn't happen. Note to powers to be -- fans are not idiots.

We criticize them but yet in their defense it obvious they have not been given the freedom to do their jobs and to be at their best. How can one celebrate the Jackets first post season clinch without being able to acknowledge the 8 year struggle to get there or tip their hat to the man that made it all possible? It's ridiculous. I mean seriously, is Doug MacLean still pulling some strings behind the scenes here?

Perhaps the people that really need their jobs evaluated are president of business operations Larry Hoepfner (who on top of this apparently doesn't think there is anything wrong with the in-game entertainment) and director of broadcasting Russ Mollohan (who can't get a Jackets playoff game televised in HD).

Fire away - your thoughts on the broadcast crews?

-LTL