Musburger out as ABC/ESPN lead announcer?

[garyasher]

I think NBC should hire BM for the ND games and a couple ND grads to train for our future telecasts. I am sure he could do a whole lot better than the crap we have now.

 

[phgreek]

I really don't like Fowler as the announcer for the Thursday night games. Just doesn't have much passion or intensity.

I agree the guy is better for the pre-game lead. The guy is articulated and smart just not very energetic.

AGREE...like watching football with the office engineer...nice guy, knowledgeable, brilliant observations on the fly...but I solved my insomnia by recording the guy's voice...

I might replace his tape with Fowler...

 

[phgreek]

I think NBC should hire BM for the ND games and a couple ND grads to train for our future telecasts. I am sure he could do a whole lot better than the crap we have now.

I'm ok with our booth...I like Mayock, and I don't miss Hammond...

Brent needs to embrace being a specialty guy...the pro from Dover. Come in and do a few high profile games a year...and go teach. No matter what you believe about the man...he is talented, and could give so much to aspiring voices...voices we need. All the guys I knew are gone...and no one with their flair and abilities seems to be coming on.

 

[garyasher]

I think NBC should hire BM for the ND games and a couple ND grads to train for our future telecasts. I am sure he could do a whole lot better than the crap we have now
.

I'm ok with our booth...I like Mayock, and I don't miss Hammond...

Brent needs to embrace being a specialty guy...the pro from Dover. Come in and do a few high profile games a year...and go teach. No matter what you believe about the man...he is talented, and could give so much to aspiring voices...voices we need. All the guys I knew are gone...and no one with their flair and abilities seems to be coming on.

I am really talking about the whole NBC ND product. I really think the pregame is boring and there is never a wrap up. The half time conversations are boring as well. I think Brent could be involved in all 3 and maybe bring in some ND guys like Tom Thayer. I believe a lot of our guys major in Film Television and Theatre, some would have to be pretty good at it. So I do agree with that he should embrace a special assignment with NBC/ND

 

[WakeUpEchoes]

Fowler is going to get this gig.

Just finishing up "The System," a super cool college football book done recently by a couple of investigative reporters. There is a chapter on College GameDay and all that goes into its production. The ultimate takeaway is that Chris Fowler is a freaking genius and the show could not possibly run without him.

Seeing as how his contract is up, he has a ton of leverage. I hate the Thursday night games too, but it's mostly because of Palmer and Pollack bro'ing out the whole time.

 

[zbikowski88]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Shots fired??

<a href="https://twitter.com/10AJMcCarron">@10AJMcCarron</a> has some words for Brent Musburger regarding his very famous girlfriend. MUST-SEE: <a href="http://t.co/uerYPMkaSv">http://t.co/uerYPMkaSv</a></p>— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) <a href="https://twitter.com/nflnetwork/statuses/428998451641069568">January 30, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[palinurus]

No, this is the Voice of God.

<object width="420" height="315"><param name="movie" value="//www.youtube.com/v/r5CTKlF45Ds?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="//www.youtube.com/v/r5CTKlF45Ds?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="420" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

John Facenda. RIP.

 

[palinurus]

Personally, I like the lead guys who aren't too assertive: Al Michaels, Nussler, Lundquist, McDonough. Jackson was just this side of acceptable but the fake familiarity and overdone description of what's obvious drives me nuts. Mel Allen's been gone for 50 years and it's TV, not radio.

 

[philipm31]

He's nearly 75 years old. I've heard his voice in sports most of my life, so like him or not, I will miss him when he's gone.

THIS.

And he did call one or two of the greatest ND games, ever, both Ws vs Da U in 1988 and 1990.

#JustSaying

 

[johnnycando]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Shots fired??

<a href="https://twitter.com/10AJMcCarron">@10AJMcCarron</a> has some words for Brent Musburger regarding his very famous girlfriend. MUST-SEE: <a href="http://t.co/uerYPMkaSv">http://t.co/uerYPMkaSv</a></p>— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) <a href="https://twitter.com/nflnetwork/statuses/428998451641069568">January 30, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I guess I don't get it.

I mean, he talked about his girlfriend a lot I recall.

Just don't get why it's a "zinger."

 

[NCND]

THIS.

And he did call one or two of the greatest ND games, ever, both Ws vs Da U in 1988 and 1990.

#JustSaying

Totally agree. Watch ESPN replace him with some scrub. His spot should go to Nessler.

 

[Huntr]

I won't miss him. I haven't really liked him in years. Pretty much since he left CBS Sports eons ago.

Used to love him and Irv Cross on this tho':

 

[philipm31]

Okay, I get it, that people think that Brent needs to step aside, but for CHRIS EFFIN FOWLER????

I am going to LAUGH AND LAUGH when he falls on his face. To think that HERBIE will have to carry the broadcast because Fowler can't do his job is going to be hilarious to watch.

NBC should snap him up immediately. He and Mayock would be damn good, or at least he could do better than Dan Patrick behind the anchor desk.

 

[philipm31]

Totally agree. Watch ESPN replace him with some scrub. His spot should go to Nessler.

TOTALLY agree. Nessler is one of the best in the business.

And BTW, I do not see anyone on here HOWLING about Verne Lundquist, who just happens to be about the same age, but the gravitas that he and Musburger have just MAKES each broadcast that they do SEEM that much more impressive.

Definitely we need to have some new blood, but honestly, there are TONS of lead announcers better qualified.

Good luck, Brent.

 

[KPENN]

Brent Musburger on not calling title game, move to SEC Network - College Football - Richard Deitsch - SI.com

Brent Musburger was on the phone on Wednesday doing what he does very well: Being optimistic. He was talking up next season's Texas A&M-South Carolina game and explaining how much he's looking forward to an upcoming trip to China with his wife, Arlene. He said he can't wait to travel to Oxford, Miss., one of the few college football hotbeds where Musburger has yet to call a game.
Earlier in the day, official word came down that Musburger will no longer call ABC's Saturday Night Football package or the national title game. Instead, Musburger and Jesse Palmer will serve as the lead broadcast team for the upcoming SEC Network when it launches in August. The new team will debut on Aug. 28 when the Aggies visit the Gamecocks.
"I'm enthused about doing SEC games," Musburger said. "This is not, 'Oh my goodness, I'm not doing the national championship game.' I'm going to spend that night, in fact, with my wife and sons in Montana. We'll sell (betting) squares, and have a great time. I'm in a very good place. I'm an old guy with a three-year contract and I can afford to buy my own beer."

Musburger's new role as the lead football voice of the SEC Network includes 15 regular-season games and a bowl game involving an SEC team that is not tied to the national semifinals. Musburger had the opportunity to call SEC basketball, too, but he felt a level of comfort with Big 12 basketball, his current producer and director, and partners Fran Fraschilla and Holly Rowe. He will remain with that team.
Musburger said he was told that he would not call next season's national championship in the press box prior to the BCS title game in January. ESPN president John Skipper and ESPN executive vice president for programming and production John Wildhack delivered the news.
"When they told me they were going to make a move, they told me in the next sentence that we want you to be the lead play-by-play guy of the SEC Network," Musburger said. "Skipper said, 'Brent, we want to make this happen with the SEC Network.' I told John, joking, that my brother (Todd) is my attorney but I'm the tough guy. We laughed about it but what are you going to do? Todd had said to John a few weeks earlier: 'John, Brent deserves at least to know what direction you are heading in.' So that's how it went down.
"Obviously, I was disappointed I was not going to be doing one of the semifinals and the final. I'm not going to mislead anyone with that and I have told Skipper and Wildhack the same thing. But I also know that was not going to change anything. It was time to take a different challenge and move on. Did I sit around and cry about it? Absolutely not. There's no need for me to look back. I have to look forward."
Musburger said he was enthused by the opportunity to call games for such a passionate fan base, especially given ESPN's commitment to the new network.
"It's the attractiveness of the SEC, the passion, the stadiums and the talent that is down there," Musburger said. "I'm going to be 75 in May. You can take someone who is 75 and tell them, 'Hey, it's been great. You did a terrific job. Thank you very much but we have to move in another direction.' I get that. It happens in corporate life all the time. So if this was a good time for them to take a different direction, they should go for it. I'm delighted to be offered a three-year deal when I am 75 years old. I love going to games, I love the excitement and I want to continue. It is a heck of an opportunity for someone who does not want to play golf every day."
I asked Musburger if he was interested, or had inquired, about who would replace him on broadcasts of ABC's Saturday Night Football and the national championship game, which airs on ESPN. He said he had not. Chris Fowler and Rece Davis are the leading candidates.
"It's either going to be Chris (Fowler) or Rece (Davis)," Musburger said. "But that's one thing I stay away from. They'll make the announcement and I'll see who it is and I will be watching. It isn't like I'm going to turn away from those games. I watch all the great things I've been part of, whether it's airing on CBS or ESPN."


Read More: Brent Musburger on not calling title game, move to SEC Network - College Football - Richard Deitsch - SI.com

 

[PANDFAN]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>College Football Live returns to the air daily starting today at 5 pm ET on ESPN2</p>— Joe Schad (@schadjoe) <a href="https://twitter.com/schadjoe/statuses/451037624757936128">April 1, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[ab2cmiller]

Musburger is retiring at age 77

Sports broadcasting icon Brent Musburger to end play-by-play duties on Jan. 31

 

[Irish#1]

Loved Musburger is his younger years, but felt the last 10-15 he was always pushing to be anointed as the best ever. His comments about McCarrons girlfriend and mom were priceless. He took too much heat for that. He only said what every guy watching the game was thinking.