ZipAnalyst Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 It has been alluded to in other topic disucssions. Is an athletic program on the rise in the public eye properly served by the broadcasting skill of Steve French.Unquestionably a nice man with close relationships with the coaching staff, does he provide an accurate picture of the game? For myself, I cannot listen to an entire Steve French broadcast because he obviously does not have a handle on what is really going on. All one has to do is to watch a telecast (with the sound off) and listen to the broadcase. Quite a disparity!What's more, what about the limited range of the station carrying the game; can't we do better than this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fear the brown roo Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 i've always thought that french has done a great job. he's not a robot or talking head, he adds emotion to the game. i've enjoyed being at the basketball and football games with my radio so i can hear his analysis. the only problem i see is strength of signal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liljc Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 Huh? Replace Steve French? Really? I disagree with you, I very much enjoy him ( or at least what I can hear thru all the static and whistling). I think it's refreshing to have someone who I consider to be a fan of the program doing the broadcasts for us. Go Zips! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zipster Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 Sorry to disagree, but I think Frenchie does an excellent job! He seems to love this University just as much as KD. To a new replacement, it would just be "another job". Frenchie has passion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MRasor0200 Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 I like Steve French. My only complaint is that he gets on the referees almost every play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AkronURocks Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 I agree and disagree. Frenchy on football is below average. He often does not know who has the ball or who made the tackle. I like his enthusiasm, but sometimes it is over the top and you can't tell what he says. There is no question he is a fan, but a broadcaster is not supposed to be a fan. His basketball is better, probably because he is closer to the action and can see what is happening.Now that he is a hall of famer, maybe it is time to move in another direction. Tommy G has been with the Zips for a few years, maybe it is time he takes over as lead broadcaster? I think he does a fine job on the womens games and I listened to him on soccer as well and he did a good job. A younger voice might be good for the broadcasts. Won't help the signal any, but might help the broadcast. On a final note, frenchy, if you read this, PLEASE give the time and score more often!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoZips88 Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 Have any of you listened to Bill Needle over at Can't or the guy doing Cleveland State games? I think we are fortunate to have someone like Steve French calling our games. Love the enthusiasm he brings to his call of the games. OK, so he gets on the officials - WHY SHOULDN'T HE TELL IT THE WAY IT IS?! MAC officials suck and have for YEARS!!!! Keep Steve French - he does a decent job and, like KD, WANTS TO BE HERE! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwilly Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 Joe Dunn should be taken out back and beaten with a stick for all he adds to the broadcasts.Steve French is one of the better announcers in the MAC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ziplock Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 I really like Frenchie and his call of the games. He is a passionate homer (and I think that is ok). He is always willing to discuss ZIP athletics on his Monday call in show without equivocation. Dunn, I could take or leave.By comparison, Bill Needle on the Can't State network is (for me) almost impossible to listen to, frankly. I am thankful that listening to him is only occasioned by my turn of the radio dial.Go Zips!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AkronURocks Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 Dunn is awful. That, I COMPLETELY agree on. Removing him from all broadcasts would be a great move. Hire a former player to do color for basketball. Stams does a great job on football and makes for a perfect color guy.Then move Tommy G from the studio to the sideline for football if you are not going to replace Frenchy on the call. Sometimes I take my radio to home games with me and while the refs are not great, he definitely exaggerates at times. Bill Needle is the worst ever. If I hear his voice, I change the channel. If he did our games, I would never tune in. Caught a little bit of the CSU game yesterday, don't know the guys name, but he is decent. Nothing special. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gozips19 Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 i think you can be a fan and do play by play for college sports! i love the fact that he thinks we got robbed on every call we don't get. he's better than Can't's guy and with the amount of money we spend (little) on the production of games its not like we can afford anything better. keep doing what your doing steve! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FearTheRoo Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 I hate to quote myself, but this is from the EMU thread:"...you make a good point that I have thought about a lot this year: Steve French is always all over the officials. Now, to be fair, I am a college and high school official, but when I am at a Zips game I am a ZIPS fan. But it always seems that Frenchy is riding the officials. When I go to the games, I usually have my radio on with earphones, so I see a lot of the calls that he complains about. Now, 70% of the time no one in the gym has a better angle or distance than the referee. Another 20% of the time fans just are ignorant to the rules (for example, there is no such thing as "3-seconds" in the key. It is called a "lane violation" and it usually takes about 5-6 seconds to get one called!).So, my point is that when there really is a bad call, we don't know because most of the time Frenchy doesn't like any of the calls!!!' :blink:OK, so all that being said, agree it could be much worse as we could have Bill Needle As for the comment above about him missing calls and players' names in football: he needs to have a spotter. The spotter is going to tell him information like that to supplement his play-by-play.Also, our braodcast have production value. Have you ever listened to a Can't State game? it is all monotone voice with no music beds or any of the 'extrasa' that provide color to the broadcast. They go into and out of commercials with voice and no music most of the time. Plus, can anyone actually get 100.1 FM?? I can get 1350 AM strong.Sure there are others better than Frenchie, but he better than what most have in the area! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue & Gold Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 Frenchie's the man! He's a fan. He's passionate. He sincerely cares. He can seem a bit too annoyed with Zips players occassionally, but that just shows his heart. And I think he's a good play-by-play man. Much better than Needle - that guys downright painful to listen to!I get 100.1 just fine. Unfortunately, 1350 is often horrible for me. The OU game was particularly awful. I drove around in my car trying to get decent reception - and that for a game I was anticipating all year!!! (Don't get ONN & Damon's never heard of it!)I think we should broadcast games on 88.1 WZIP!!! Why aren't we on our own college radio station?!?! strong signal, young audience - perfect fit!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoZips88 Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 Joe Dunn ... like nails on a chalkboard with his tinny voice. I LOVE homers but Joe has never seen a game he didn't think "Akron could get outta here with the win." Like the guy said in a previous post - take him out back and beat him with his trumpet! :chair:Stams does do a very nice job with football. :thumb:Are there ANY decent signals in the area that reach all of us? I agree that 88.1 WZIP is the logical place for Akron broadcasts. No problem getting it out here in Norton. I talked to someone at Akron a couple of weeks ago and he said WZIP controls their own programming and they simply weren't interested when approached to do the broadcasts about 5 years ago. Hopefully Mack Rhoades can leverage the recent athletic success at Akron in soccer, football, and basketball to get WZIP to reconsider. FM has to be the way to go - AM has too much variability. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akron1 Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 French is fine. The problem is 1350 AM, you cannot hear it outside of Akron city limits. If the non-belivers can't hear it how are they going to know just how good this program is. So my point is reconfigure the following: A new radio broadcast station(FM).The dance team...get rid of them.More pep band.Better concession stands...No more warm drinks! And faster lines.Keep winning! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zip37 Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 Frenchie is GREAT, I love a homer doing the hometown games. Joe is fair but I still enjoy his comments. KEEP THEM BOTH. Keep on the officials, the only thing about theirconsistency is inconsistency.WBALAL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zipboy Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 Seems like we get this subject a couple times per year. Everyone has different views. I know that I like our broadcasts a lot more when we win.In football, I like Joe on the sideline. It is a perfect spot. Stamms is great. I wish that Steve saw better. Does he even have a spotter?In basketball, Steve reminds me of Joe Tait. I think he does great. He does let his emotions get to him at times and especially when things turn sour, he does not help my blood pressure. But I know what is going on. Joe Dunn is the biggest Zip fan maybe ever, so I can't say anything bad about him. He has toned down a little with his enthusiasism for the Zips, but he is fine. I loved his Monday night shows and that is where I see him at his best, a call in show talking Zips athletics, post game interviews, etc. But I think as long as he and Steve want to be here, they will and I have no desire to push either one out. I do wish that Tommy G would get a bigger role but don't know where that is going to happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FearTheRoo Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 I travel a lot and listen to several Zips games over the Internet. Frenchie does a fine job helping me visualize the action with just the right touch of 'homerism'.Don't move to FM!! Look at Can't State! Can't even hear it in Akron!!AM is much better especially at night. 1350 could use to boost their signal, but don't look for that any time soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fear the brown roo Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 i gotta defend joe. he may not have the best voice for the job but no one knows akron u sports history (and local high school sports for that matter) better than he. he'd probably be the first to correct me and say there is no such thing as "akron u", it's akron or the university of akron. he may not be flushy but damnit, he's ours and he knows more about akron sports than this whole board put together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fear the brown roo Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 that's FLA SHY, not flushy. the board automatically turns fl ash into flush Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AkronURocks Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 Joe IS NOT a good announcer.He sugar-coats EVERYTHING.He often proclaims that he just saw the greatest call ever. Joe has seen a lot of games, I have a hard time believing that a Luke Getsy TD pass is the greatest play he has ever seen. Has anyone ever heard Joe ask a question on the post-game show? I have not. He makes statements and then expects the coaches to respond. I just wish once the interview would go like this.....JD: I'll tell you what Coach, the play of Romeo Travis tonight was some of the best I have ever seen.KD: Did you ask me a question Joe or just make an exaggerated blanket statement?The less I hear of Joe Dunn, the better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sloopy Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 Akron is not going to get on a FM station anytime soon. Other than WNIR there are no FM stations that carry sports in Northeast Ohio. WNIR only does Can't State basketball and has a long term contract. Akron has a long term contract with 1350 AM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LosAngelesZipFan Posted February 13, 2006 Report Share Posted February 13, 2006 french has the sound of big time sports, he just needs a spotter. The sound of Zips sports improved dramatically when he became the guy (he was still doing the morning show then and was hilarious). I can't help but associate JJ Dunn with the bad old days of UA sports. Lovely guy but this is an area that could be upgraded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UA Fan Posted February 13, 2006 Report Share Posted February 13, 2006 french has the sound of big time sports, he just needs a spotter. The sound of Zips sports improved dramatically when he became the guy (he was still doing the morning show then and was hilarious). I can't help but associate JJ Dunn with the bad old days of UA sports. Lovely guy but this is an area that could be upgraded. That's funny, to me French and Dunn are unique and seem like the anti-bigtime announcers. When I listen to opposing team broadcasts the announcers always sound alike, like 58-year-old clones of each other. And it's exactly because Steve & Joe have been there through all the lean years that I would have a hard time giving them the bum-rush out of the program before they get to enjoy some more success. I agree with working on the radio reach first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z-P Posted February 13, 2006 Report Share Posted February 13, 2006 I've posted "my vote" on this before, but just to repeat.......Frechie's the best in the area for BB, but needs help from the booth in FB. Stams has really improved, and is helping...........on both counts, keep Steve right where he is. We're lucky to have him. (But get him some baby wipes for his glasses at FB games)Joe's great on the FB sideline when his equipment is working (but that's another problem for another thread) but not very strong at the table for BB. He's not bad, just weak. However, Joe is Joe and he should definately stay around.......he's an area "historian" and really knows his HS Stuff also..........I say we've got a pat hand, and it's not bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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