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Devils to hire Bill Spaulding as PxP guy


mikemarc1

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17 minutes ago, mfitz804 said:

Not sure I would call 1987-1993 the "glory days", but he was definitely the guy calling games when I was just starting out as a young fan and I was very upset when he was replaced. 

But he was replaced by one of the best guys to ever do the job. 

Thorne also called two cup clinchers, granted nationally, might be more what he meant. 

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9 minutes ago, jagknife said:

Thorne also called two cup clinchers, granted nationally, might be more what he meant. 

That makes more sense, I suppose. Truthfully I am kind of annoyed by national broadcasts, I would rather hear the guy who calls the games all season call them. But I guess if you have to have someone else calling games, the "former guy" is a good second. 

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30 minutes ago, MB3 said:

I love everything about Gary Thorne. He's the voice of the glory days to me, even more than Doc is. 

Gary's delivery had a way of making moments seem that much more special and memorable.    

Doc was awesome too, for much the same reason...one of the very best ever.  It was great having both of them calling Devils games during their careers.  

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1 minute ago, mfitz804 said:

That makes more sense, I suppose. Truthfully I am kind of annoyed by national broadcasts, I would rather hear the guy who calls the games all season call them. But I guess if you have to have someone else calling games, the "former guy" is a good second. 

The Apple+ broadcasts for MLB at the absolute worst.  Cliff Floyd (who's at least kinda funny and was a former player) and a couple of eye-candy gals who know little about the teams that they're covering, and can't shut up for five seconds (often not even talking about the game).  Just brutal. 

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6 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

The Apple+ broadcasts for MLB at the absolute worst.  Cliff Floyd (who's at least kinda funny and was a former player) and a couple of eye-candy gals who know little about the teams that they're covering, and can't shut up for five seconds (often not even talking about the game).  Just brutal. 

Unfortunately that seems to be somewhat of a trend right now. 

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3 minutes ago, MB3 said:

I understand what you mean but I do feel the need to point out that Katie Nolan isn’t just a pretty face. She’s worked her ass off to get where she is, had several successful sports podcasts — one successful enough that ESPN turned it into a TV show where she was a host for a while. 

She’s beautiful but she’s also really hard working, really talented and knows her stuff. Dismissing her because she’s “an eye candy gal” is getting a little close to misogyny. 

EDIT: to add, I think if you had that context and still contend she’s where she is because of being a pretty girl would be misogynistic. I don’t think that’s what you’re doing, and there are SEVERAL girls that are employed for the sole reason that they look pretty. I’m just saying that Katie isn’t that girl.

also i love her 

 

 

 

 

marry me 

Yeah wasn't going for misogyny, or hinting at "Duh I don't want no broads doin' my games!"...like I've said many times, all I care about is that whoever is doing the games is doing their jobs.  I've only seen a few games on Apple+ (only the Mets, have no reason to tune into Apple+ otherwise), but other than the fact that I can watch the games on my phone while sitting by the pool, the experience is terrible.  Nolan may very well be knowledgeable, but she and the rest REALLY need to work on their in-game skills, because that knowledge isn't coming across.  And they need to do this desperately.  ALL of 'em.

It probably didn't seem like it in my post, but Cliff Floyd is part of the problem too...what the whole crew really needs is someone to steer them back to the game...they're all guilty of going off on these goofy tangents (often having nothing to do with the game or even baseball itself), when none of them are particular articulate enough to make such stories funny or entertaining...after a few minutes, you're thinking "WTF could the three of you just STFU for 5 seconds?  PLEASE?!"  Maybe as this new outlet for watching baseball takes off, they all learn from their (many) mistakes, and get better at their crafts.  Because right now I'd rather watch Apple+ games in complete silence.  

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1 minute ago, MB3 said:

Ironically enough, the twitter hoards called for Nolan’s head early in the season because she didn’t talk enough. 

I’ve watched a few Apple games this year and I do agree; the cadence of their play by play is odd and unnatural.

The bolded sums it up perfectly.  It almost feels like three friends who watch a lot of baseball together said, "Hey, we watch games all the time, we have a blast talking baseball, we can be commentators!  How hard can it be?"  

People CAN improve of course...hopefully they'll do lots of playback watching in the offseason, and really take note of where they can do better...it probably shouldn't have come as any major shock that they struggled in this first season.  But the broadcasts can't continue to feel so amateur in the seasons to come.    

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28 minutes ago, MB3 said:

I wasn’t even born when he was calling the Devils as their primary play by play guy. But my earliest memories / what I think of with the “glory days” (and games Ive watched now as an adult) were the bigger games, the playoff games, the finals games. And they’re probably 70-80% called by Thorne. Obviously some by Doc too but my memory is Gary Thorne and the devils winning cups. 

When i think of Doc, I think of the Parise teams, the Devils teams I fell in love with as a teenager when I went from “I’m a Devils fan! Yay!” to “if the devils don’t win this wednesday night game against the thrashers in october I will be borderline suicidal.” 

Not sure if that makes any sense.

I kind of figured out after that your knowledge of the glory days was probably derived from watching recordings of the championship games rather than the full experience of having followed the team at that time. 

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18 minutes ago, MB3 said:

I remember the 2000 and 2003 cup. But I don't really remember much else about those seasons other than the MAJOR moments. 

The first year I really remember everything about was the 2005-2006 season. 

Sometimes I forget how young you are, since we both act like 12 year olds. 

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22 minutes ago, MB3 said:

I remember the 2000 and 2003 cup. But I don't really remember much else about those seasons other than the MAJOR moments. 

The first year I really remember everything about was the 2005-2006 season. 

I was following the Devils from December 1983 on, but for me the real memories start from 1987-88.  That's the season that my Dad finally caved and got Sportschannel, but also I got my driver's license before that season started.  I went to a bunch of games that year, sometimes alone...I remember the first time that I did that, being so nervous...I had only had my license for a few months, and to drive over an hour away might as well been like driving to Boston at that point.  More than once I got "You better not be ditching your homework to go to these damned Devils games!" and "Why do you have to go all the way to Brendan Byrne Arena for?!  You can just watch the games RIGHT HERE!". 

And of course as a new driver, if it was raining hard out or especially inclement, I sometimes got a flat-out "NO!" from my parents, where they simply wouldn't let me take any of the cars...looking back on it, I'm glad they did.  Part of being a parent is making those smart decisions that make your kid hate you in the moment, but appreciate you that much more later. 

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On 8/16/2022 at 11:14 AM, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

The Apple+ broadcasts for MLB at the absolute worst.  Cliff Floyd (who's at least kinda funny and was a former player) and a couple of eye-candy gals who know little about the teams that they're covering, and can't shut up for five seconds (often not even talking about the game).  Just brutal. 

Lol... 

 

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Anyone remember how the debate started? I'm fairly positive it was when a state rep I suppose with nothing better to do, decided to draw up a resolution making the (not sure which) TH or PR, egg and cheese, the state sandwich.  Then all hell broke loose....

BTW, my bagel place writes, THEC, (in Morris co.)

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