Brandy Improving on PBP
September 10th, 2017 at 5:00 PM ^
...but still has significant room for improvement. He still does too much analysis and not enough meat & potatoes down, distance, table setting, etc.
Dierdorf's best days have passed.
It's a shame we haven't had a top notch radio team in quite some time now (Beckman stayed on way too long).
September 10th, 2017 at 5:13 PM ^
I like Dierdorf. I think he and Brandstatter step on each other's commentary too much, but I find Dierdorf's analysis enjoyable. Perhaps that's in contrast to Brandstatter's PBP.
September 10th, 2017 at 5:11 PM ^
I want to agree with you ... but I can't.
I listen to all the football games. I don't have TV here in West Virginia, but I do have Sirius radio. I listened to all games last year, and the first two this year.
First, a positive -- I really like Dan Dierdorf doing color. He's very good.
My chief complaint with Brandstatter is he takes way too long to announce the results of a play. For example, if it's 3rd and 6 and Ty Isaac runs for what is clearly a first down, Brandstatter may take 5 or 10 seconds (or more) to get to that key fact**. The really smooth play-by-play guys will get the key result announced in the first few seconds ... exact details to follow. Brandstatter tends to elaborate on tangential things for a bit before getting around to down and distance.
I just wish he'd practice a bit on being timely and concise on the net/net of the play results before providing more description.
** I have literally screamed at my radio out of frustration at this. The cows in the pasture look at me like I'm crazy.
September 10th, 2017 at 5:15 PM ^
September 10th, 2017 at 5:57 PM ^
He turns the corner at the.....thirty. Down to the.....twenty, 15, 10, 5, 4, 3, 2...it's.....it's....he steps out of bounds, he stepped out of bounds at the two.
September 10th, 2017 at 7:19 PM ^
September 10th, 2017 at 7:02 PM ^
Handoff to Isaac, he runs left.... and.... and.... he... and.... they get him down. Ty Isaac with a great run. Ya know Dan, these wolverines just look a whole lot better, the intensity that Harbaugh brings to the table is really starting to show through them. So that was a handoff to Isaac, who ran for 20 yards, it's now 1st and 10.
September 10th, 2017 at 5:54 PM ^
September 10th, 2017 at 6:18 PM ^
...he is one of the very best analysts I have ever heard, college or pro. He can clearly articulate details of a play in 10 seconds. Never understood why he didn't get a national gig. As a play by play guy...well...not very good. The thing that irritates me the most is you often do not know when the players are set and the ball is snapped. Amazing how those details help convey the rhythm of a game.
Contrast: "Speight under center, Crawford in motion left to right, the ball is snapped, give to Isaac. Running left, up over the 40 to the 42"
With: "Isaac running left and he's brought down at the 42"
September 10th, 2017 at 6:44 PM ^
September 10th, 2017 at 7:24 PM ^
They do graze cattle near Tucson, but I'll be darned how they survive. They limit the cows per land area, and it's something like one cow per square mile, or something like that.
I spend summers and falls in West Virginia helping take care of my wife's inherited farm here. I'm cheap labor. Boondocks ... no cell coverage, satellite internet, and no TV because I'm too cheap.
September 10th, 2017 at 9:00 PM ^
September 10th, 2017 at 5:07 PM ^
When he took over PBP, he was so used to being the "color" guy for years that he talked incessantly between plays. This year, it seems he's more willing to let Dierdorf perform his role as analyst. Brandy still drives me crazy in that it always seems to take him two-three guesses as to where the ball will finally be spotted. On almost every play, it seems. He also gets pretty excited on run plays, and loudly calls out the first yard marker crossed—many a time it's only the line of scrimmage. But, he is making incremental improvement. There is hope for him.
September 10th, 2017 at 5:07 PM ^
"Safety.....the Michigan defense"-JB
"Its a Touchdown" - DD
"That's a Touchdown" -JB
He may be improving, but in my opinion it's still a hard listen.
September 10th, 2017 at 7:55 PM ^
September 10th, 2017 at 5:07 PM ^
September 10th, 2017 at 5:09 PM ^
September 10th, 2017 at 5:14 PM ^
September 10th, 2017 at 5:16 PM ^
September 10th, 2017 at 5:18 PM ^
September 10th, 2017 at 5:27 PM ^
September 10th, 2017 at 6:32 PM ^
Probably because Mark Champion was better and never should have been fired.
September 10th, 2017 at 6:50 PM ^
Mark Champion was way better than Dan Miller. Miller is too much of a Lions slappy and his voice is so annoying when he yells TOUCHDOWN DETROIT LIONS. The team could be down by 30 and he has the same ecstatic tone.
September 10th, 2017 at 10:52 PM ^
September 10th, 2017 at 5:20 PM ^
September 10th, 2017 at 5:43 PM ^
Your take on Brandstatter is harsh, but your point about the professionalism of other announcers is valid. I've listened to various announcers on Sirius. Other teams have some good PBP guys. Michigan can do better.
September 10th, 2017 at 11:25 PM ^
September 11th, 2017 at 12:01 AM ^
The direction "across the radio dial" is hardly unique to Blaha and helps people with preconceived mental concepts of the field relative to the camera fixtures (or other landmarks if they've been in the stadium) visualize where the action is. A lot of us paint mental pictures of the game.
The rest of the stuff ("two and thirty four") is Blaha schtick, but he has done things that way consistently for decades without pretending to be something he's not. He's not my favorite announcer but neither is he my least favorite and he does a fine job at it.
The main issue with Blaha, as far as I've detected in recent listens, is that he's losing his fastball.
September 11th, 2017 at 5:19 AM ^
September 10th, 2017 at 5:29 PM ^
be excellent, knowledgeable, and easy to listen to. When I synch up the tv/dvr to the radio broadcast, I don't mind Brandy's play calling. Brandy is getting better as PBP person. I enjoy Dierdorf's takes so much while watching games on TV in synch, that I don't some of the vague PBP, though I probably would if only listening to the radio. Just happen to think Dierdorf is a treasure as a color commentator in the both for Michigan football. Hope he stays on a long time.
September 10th, 2017 at 5:33 PM ^
Let me start by saying I have never met Brandy and am forced into listening to games on the radio only rarely. For that I am forever grateful. He might just be the worst play by play announcer I have ever heard for any sport in my not so insignificant time on this earth.
Christ, he makes Harry Carey sound like Vin Scully. Not really but we all knew that with Harry you were getting nothing more that a half....to fully drunk Cub fan with a mic in his hand. Brandy, on more than one occasion, has made me feel like the guy who was liquored up because he just made a call on a play and I had little fucking idea what just happened.
I will never question his love of Michigan nor his football IQ. I have no doubt he is a great guy doinig the very best he can. This is simply not his thing. To be honest, I feel bad for him. He has to listen to some of his calls. Many are disorienting and cringe-worthy. He is a solid color guy. UM can and should do WAY better in hiring a play by play announcer and moving Brandy back overy to color where he is both knowledgable and insightful.
Neg away, but he is just not good, especially given who his predecessors are. Massive shoes to fill. Brandy has small play by play feet.
September 10th, 2017 at 5:39 PM ^
September 10th, 2017 at 6:23 PM ^
BRAVO !!! All true brother.
September 10th, 2017 at 6:55 PM ^
IMO, Dierdorf is a way better color guy than Brandy ever was. Brandy is a great guy and a perfect host of Michigan Replay or Inside Michigan Football, but he's just not that good in the booth.
September 10th, 2017 at 7:52 PM ^
September 10th, 2017 at 5:36 PM ^
...disagree.
Listened for about twenty minutes on Saturday. Brandy is taken with watching the game. Like listening to superfan podcast of "Jim and Dan Watch The Big Game At The Big House". Hanging on for agonizing seconds to...hear...if...the...........pass...........is complete!
Listened for about twenty minutes to the Lions game this afternoon. Brandy is totally comfortable, informative, -- and, well, colorful -- while doing the commentary.
Love the guy. Ill suited for play by play.
September 10th, 2017 at 5:43 PM ^
Compared to OSU's pbp, we are sorely lacking. We need a pro.
September 10th, 2017 at 6:21 PM ^
We need another Bob Ufer and then we won't need both a PBP and color commenter. Every generation needs their Bob Ufer, <sigh> there will never be another Bob Ufer.
September 10th, 2017 at 6:11 PM ^
September 10th, 2017 at 10:58 PM ^
September 10th, 2017 at 5:44 PM ^
September 10th, 2017 at 6:57 PM ^
Dan Dickerson would be perfect. No to Miller or Sheppard. I think Shep does a good job calling basketball games, but I don't want him doing football.
September 10th, 2017 at 7:01 PM ^
September 10th, 2017 at 11:01 PM ^
September 10th, 2017 at 7:27 PM ^
September 10th, 2017 at 6:00 PM ^
September 10th, 2017 at 6:02 PM ^
with a professional, made-for-radio voice with play-by-play. It would need to be someone who could thrive doing ONLY play-by-play, since Jim and Dan tend to ramble on.
We have been pretty spoiled in this state- Harwell, Ufer, Bruce Martyn, Ken Kal, Blaha (Pistons), and Beckman.
I just looked it up, and Ken Kal did UM hockey games in past. Did not know that!
September 10th, 2017 at 6:15 PM ^
JB is bad, and he's not getting nor going to get better.
September 10th, 2017 at 6:23 PM ^
I was at a car show Labor Day weekend, so listened to JB and DD call the game. It was like a breath of fresh air (on a 98 degree day) compared to, for example, Brock Huard and whoever else did the TV broadcast yesterday. If I could find a reliable, easy way to sync the web stream of JB and DD with the TV video feed I'd do it every game.
The WSU/Boise State team was worse. The color guy made my ears bleed. So many games on TV now that they dipped way, way down into the pool of on air talent and what they've dredged up is not my favorite at all.
That said, I grew up on the likes of Ufer, Harwell, Carey, Kaline, etc. so the bar was set high.