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No more "Track it down, Marge!" for UND Football


choyt3

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Hammer is a good football announcer, hockey....not so much.

Sweeney is average at Hockey and I don't believe I have ever heard him do football.

Jack Michaels is pretty good on football. For baseball, Jack is truly on another level. I thought Jack did a great job for UND but I never did like the whole set-up of having our Play by Play guy pimp Bison football all week....but Jack was absolutely as professional as one could be with those circumstances.

Just don't let Pat do any interviews or interact with people as those are usually all kinds of awkward.....just make you cringe to watch.

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Hammer is a good football announcer, hockey....not so much.

Sweeney is average at Hockey and I don't believe I have ever heard him do football.

Jack Michaels is pretty good on football. For baseball, Jack is truly on another level. I thought Jack did a great job for UND but I never did like the whole set-up of having our Play by Play guy pimp Bison football all week....but Jack was absolutely as professional as one could be with those circumstances.

Just don't let Pat do any interviews or interact with people as those are usually all kinds of awkward.....just make you cringe to watch.

Heres a little sample of Sweeney and football.

http://youtu.be/jS9PGrMpvgM

http://youtu.be/Sj1akRRqzNE

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Heres a little sample of Sweeney and football.

http://youtu.be/jS9PGrMpvgM

http://youtu.be/Sj1akRRqzNE

 

See, I like Pat, he's a GF/UND institution.  But I always considered him a so-so play-by-play guy on TV.  Knowledgable and likeable, but also a bit awkward and corny. 

 

The thing is that play-by-play on TV is a totally different animal than play-by-play on radio.  To be solid on radio, you have to be so much more descriptive and reactive.  Hopefully Pat is up to the task. 

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The corny part of Pat bothers me. I don't want that "corny, hick North Dakota" stereotype going out on Fox College Sports (television) broadcasts. However, on regional radio "corny" doesn't bother me quite as much. 

 

The "corny factor" isn't my biggest worry.  I just wonder how well he will be at describing the game.  A good radio guy doesn't leave you wondering what happened.  UND has been pretty spoiled.  In the last two decades, they have had arguably two of the most talented football play-by-play voices the region has ever had to offer in Ed Schulz and Jack Michaels.  In between those two was Dan Hammer, a guy with tons of TV experience, just like Pat Sweeney, but not a lot of radio time.  He never really sounded like he felt at home calling games on the radio.  We could have the same situation here.

 

Does anybody remember listening to Pat on the radio in 1992?

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  • 1 month later...

 

The "corny factor" isn't my biggest worry.  I just wonder how well he will be at describing the game.  A good radio guy doesn't leave you wondering what happened.  UND has been pretty spoiled.  In the last two decades, they have had arguably two of the most talented football play-by-play voices the region has ever had to offer in Ed Schulz and Jack Michaels.  In between those two was Dan Hammer, a guy with tons of TV experience, just like Pat Sweeney, but not a lot of radio time.  He never really sounded like he felt at home calling games on the radio.  We could have the same situation here.

 

Does anybody remember listening to Pat on the radio in 1992?

Well, my question was answered yesterday.  Bless his heart, but having 30 years in front of a TV camera doesn't necessarily translate behind a radio microphone.

Edited by bincitysioux
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I'd say like everything else, give Pat some time to get better.  It's one game. He hasn't called a football game on the radio since the early 90's I believe.  TV and radio are totally different for a PBP guy.  Need to be much more descriptive on the radio and be excitable.

He obviously struggled a bit yesterday, but I believe he will get better at it with experience and practice.  You could almost hear the nervousness in his voice.

Like any football coach, I'm sure he will go back and review the tape to see how he can get better.  Plus he has Coach Berg to help out.

Edited by UNDvince97-01
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I think he got a little better as the game went along.  He just needs to do a better job stating down and distance and time in the quarter. He's got a real good color guy with Coach Berg and Rolston does good on the sideline.  Pat also has the UND history so he can do some stories but they took over the broadcast a little yesterday. 

I'm hopeful it improves as the year goes along. 

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I hope he learns from his mistakes.

Like others have said, his biggest problem areas were his indicative emotions and continual updates, or lack thereof. On the radio, emotion initially tells the audience whether or not a play is good or bad more so than descriptions. Lastly, fans need to be regularly updated on down and distance and time on the game clock/play clock. Just stating what yard line the ball is at is not entirely helpful. 

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It's puts some perspective on Jack Michaels' abilities as a PBP guy.  I was not a fan of his bison allegiance/conflict of interest on 740 KFAN, but I really thought he did a great job with everything.  His excitement on the call late last year was contagious.

Again, Pat will get better.

Edited by UNDvince97-01
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I know Pat and you can bet the guy will be putting in lots of prep time - now he's got a tape to listen to and learn from. I listened to the entire game via Internet and I agree he needs to re-learn the importance of sharing the basics of what's happening up front - "First down", "He's going all the way", "stopped short" for example and also resetting the game more often with time, down and distance, Keeping in mind this is not his primary job I hope that UND will give him time on the job to polish his skills. He's a hard-working guy. 

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I hope Pat gets his eyes checked. Seemed like he had trouble with catch/no catch, players numbers, flag on the field types of things. Apparently the press box was high over the field and Wyoming's uniforms were part of the problems. I wasn't impressed and we need better. That said, it isn't easy.

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I hope Pat gets his eyes checked. Seemed like he had trouble with catch/no catch, players numbers, flag on the field types of things. Apparently the press box was high over the field and Wyoming's uniforms were part of the problems. I wasn't impressed and we need better. That said, it isn't easy.

I agree... I heard him mix up Santiago & Norberg on a play or 2.  Not exactly similar looking players. 

I wasn't impressed for many of the reasons others had listed, particularly down & distance and giving audience the time remaining during the closing minutes of the game.  Hopefully he improves, he needs to. 

Good news is I'll be at every home game and in Fargo, and will be able to catch all away games on Big Sky tv. 

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