Joe Bowen off TV only radio?

[Corn Flake]

What's wrong with focusing a lot on the best player in the world and another of the top players in the world?  I would imagine almost every broadcaster would do the same for them and for similar players in other sports.

It gets excruciatingly annoying when they talk up every single little play they do, even when the play is so basic everyone can do it.  See Healy RErice.

*Note: I don't know if Hughson is Healy-bad, but I'm throwing out a reason I have for hating Healy that could apply to Hughson here.

"oooh you see how Ovechkin skated over there really fast? Yeaaah he's just sooo good at going over there really fast. You can tell he's just really really good. Wow. I mean, there's nobody better at going over there like that."

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

What's wrong with focusing a lot on the best player in the world and another of the top players in the world?  I would imagine almost every broadcaster would do the same for them and for similar players in other sports.

It gets excruciatingly annoying when they talk up every single little play they do, even when the play is so basic everyone can do it.  See Healy RErice.

*Note: I don't know if Hughson is Healy-bad, but I'm throwing out a reason I have for hating Healy that could apply to Hughson here.

Yeah I don't know either - I know I notice Healy in a negative way a whole lot more than I do Hughson.

But like I said, I'm sure we'll continue debating this but it's one of those things that comes down to personal preference.  My opinion has certainly changed over the years as I've grown older.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

My problem with Bowen isn't so much when he's calling the games but when he isn't. All the times he, Hendrick, and Millen are yucking it up about something completely unrelated to what's going on on the ice drives me crazy. And don't even get me started on when they wheel Harry Neale out there. He doesn't even add anything to the PxP or colour. He just comes out and makes jokes about how old he is that the others laugh about for 45 seconds while something else is going on.

 

[Bender]

My problem with Bowen isn't so much when he's calling the games but when he isn't. All the times he, Hendrick, and Millen are yucking it up about something completely unrelated to what's going on on the ice drives me crazy. And don't even get me started on when they wheel Harry Neale out there. He doesn't even add anything to the PxP or colour. He just comes out and makes jokes about how old he is that the others laugh about for 45 seconds while something else is going on.

I actually really liked the Cole/Neale combo.

I don't like Millen, he comes off like a bit of an idiot, and Henny is just a Leafs lackey.

But even all that, listening to Bowen is still better than watching a game where the Leafs are leading and opposing team still gets all the credit and notice for being good or doing a good job than the Leafs are. It drives me mental.

And in regards to the "Im here to watch the game, not listen" (not directly to you Carlton) then what do you care at all what the commentary is like? Turn off the volume or ignore it. I don't mind that he has a Leafs bias because its nice to hear an announcer actually back the team, and personally, I like an announcer that actually, you know, gets excited when he calls the game.

I like a lot of announcers out there: Chris Cuthbert, Bob Cole (I wish he could do it like he used to), Gord Miller and a couple of others. But when I think of the more memorable games I've watched, Cole or Bowen were calling them.

 

[freer]

I have never heard him praise Kessel, as one of the top ten players in the league. Just saying.

Probably because Kessel isn't one of the top ten players in the league.

He has been in the top 10 for points the last two season. Just saying

 

[Bender]

I'm with Potvin.  I don't get the hate for Hughson.  He's perfectly competent and knows the game.

It's really just the 'smeagol' thing that bugs me - and, I guess, the often obvious Canucks' bias. Other than that, he's perfectly acceptable. He's not the most memorable of guys, but he does a good job and doesn't distract from the game on the ice.

And if he has a Canucks bias, the Leafs play them, what, twice a year?

See, I don't hold that against an announcer.  They shouldn't be blatant about it on a national telecast, but neither should they try to deny it or pretend it's not there (like Cole does with respect to the Habs ... they're obviously his favorites).  These guys aren't journalists, after all; they are entertainers.

I don't feel like Cole is so direct with it. When they're on specifically a national broadcast then yes, their biases shouldn't get into it.

If Hughson's considered an entertainer then it's time to put him out to pasture.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

And in regards to the "Im here to watch the game, not listen" (not directly to you Carlton) then what do you care at all what the commentary is like? Turn off the volume or ignore it.

Because I don't want to watch a hockey game on mute?  Because there are sounds of the game other than the announcers?  Because, in my case, I've stated I don't care too much unless they actually do something that annoys me?

If you care so much about the commentary why not just listen to the radio?  Not a serious question.

 

[Kin]

He has been in the top 10 for points the last two season. Just saying

Which is great, but it's important not to confuse consistency and health with talent. Kessel has outscored Toews in both years by a consistent margin but Kessel isn't a better player than Toews. Same with someone like Kopitar. Likewise, Evgeni Malkin hasn't been in the top 10 in scoring in the last two years but he's probably the second or third best scorer in the league.

An announcer's focus is naturally going to be on the talent of the player's he's seeing and Kessel's, while certainly in the upper echelon of the NHL, isn't superlative in the same sense of the guys we're talking about. That he's consistently scored at a good rate is, to some degree, statistical ephemera.

Just saying.

 

[cw]

I don't like Millen, he comes off like a bit of an idiot, and Henny is just a Leafs lackey.

Ditto.

I don't mind Bowen. Might even miss him some.

I wonder if he'd be more popular if the team hadn't sucked for so many of the years since the lockout. After losing so many games in the past decade, maybe folks associate losing a little with his broadcast.

Having said that, I'm not adverse to trying to improve.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Also Bowen is just as much of a Leafs lackey as Hendrick.

 

[Peter D.]

As part of the new deal, Rogers will not show any Leaf games regionally, correct?  If that's the case, I can see why Bowen will be pulled off the TV. 

And I'm sure TSN will be using their best guys for the bunch of regional games they will be showing.

He may be better suited for radio anyways because he brings an excitement to something we can't see that not many others are able to.

 

[jdh1]

I like Bowen the best .The TSN guys are too predictable,like if there teaching the game to 1st timers.

 

[Redleaf]

I don't like Millen, he comes off like a bit of an idiot, and Henny is just a Leafs lackey.

Ditto.

I don't mind Bowen. Might even miss him some.

I wonder if he'd be more popular if the team hadn't sucked for so many of the years since the lockout. After losing so many games in the past decade, maybe folks associate losing a little with his broadcast.

Having said that, I'm not adverse to trying to improve.

Kind of where I stand here too. He's become a comfortable pair of shoes, or pair of skates. Are there newer, more improved skates for sale now? Sure, but, it will probably take a while for me to grow accustomed to them.

 

[lc9]

I find him amateurish.  When I was 12 that was fine but now it's just annoying.

Tough crowd.  Hard to beat anyone better than Joe Bowen, really is.

 

[cw]

Also Bowen is just as much of a Leafs lackey as Hendrick.

I sense some distinction between the two.

A lot of the time, Bowen strikes me like he's a sincere fan of the team. He's a homer but like a fan, he's not adverse to making some criticisms. As a fan of the team, I can relate to that.

A lot of the time, Hendricks strikes me as a fan of MLSE management, asking leading softball questions to put the club in the best PR light. He may also be a Leafs fan but the club PR comes first and he stays clear of criticism. He tends to be a pedestal for the soapbox of putting the best spin on the club or it's players - even when controversy is going on. His questions can be rhetorical and he just gets someone else to spew the best PR answer.

I think Bowen is considerably more down to earth.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

I find him amateurish.  When I was 12 that was fine but now it's just annoying.

Tough crowd.  Hard to beat anyone better than Joe Bowen, really is.

That second sentence is a mouthful that I'm not sure I understand.  And not really a tough crowd, just different preferences.  He's not going to please everyone.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Also Bowen is just as much of a Leafs lackey as Hendrick.

I sense some distinction between the two.

A lot of the time, Bowen strikes me like he's a sincere fan of the team. He's a homer but like a fan, he's not adverse to making some criticisms. As a fan of the team, I can relate to that.

A lot of the time, Hendricks strikes me as a fan of MLSE management, asking leading softball questions to put the club in the best PR light. He may also be a Leafs fan but the club PR comes first and he stays clear of criticism. He tends to be a pedestal for the soapbox of putting the best spin on the club or it's players - even when controversy is going on. His questions can be rhetorical and he just gets someone else to spew the best PR answer.

I think Bowen is considerably more down to earth.

I think Hendrick's main gig is Leafs TV so he's an employee of the Leafs.

 

[Kin]

Also Bowen is just as much of a Leafs lackey as Hendrick.

I sense some distinction between the two.

A lot of the time, Bowen strikes me like he's a sincere fan of the team. He's a homer but like a fan, he's not adverse to making some criticisms. As a fan of the team, I can relate to that.

A lot of the time, Hendricks strikes me as a fan of MLSE management, asking leading softball questions to put the club in the best PR light. He may also be a Leafs fan but the club PR comes first and he stays clear of criticism. He tends to be a pedestal for the soapbox of putting the best spin on the club or it's players - even when controversy is going on. His questions can be rhetorical and he just gets someone else to spew the best PR answer.

I think Bowen is considerably more down to earth.

That's what I was getting at with the difference between neutrality and objectivity. Bowen has never been afraid to say that the Leafs played poorly when they did or present things in a way that didn't seem legitimate. He certainly never seems like he's trying to sell you on anything outside of it being exciting to watch hockey.

I'm not a Hendricks fan but the guy's a sideline reporter. I don't think there's much good in any between period interview.

 

[cw]

Also Bowen is just as much of a Leafs lackey as Hendrick.

I sense some distinction between the two.

A lot of the time, Bowen strikes me like he's a sincere fan of the team. He's a homer but like a fan, he's not adverse to making some criticisms. As a fan of the team, I can relate to that.

A lot of the time, Hendricks strikes me as a fan of MLSE management, asking leading softball questions to put the club in the best PR light. He may also be a Leafs fan but the club PR comes first and he stays clear of criticism. He tends to be a pedestal for the soapbox of putting the best spin on the club or it's players - even when controversy is going on. His questions can be rhetorical and he just gets someone else to spew the best PR answer.

I think Bowen is considerably more down to earth.

I think Hendrick's main gig is Leafs TV so he's an employee of the Leafs.

I think so as well. Or that's what he was before the merger.

It was quite a clever thing for MLSE. Before the 2005 lockout, the team was fairly decent but the media coverage was pretty nasty relative to their standings.

I think Hendricks addition diluted some of the media nastiness as did LeafsTV and the internet. Nearly every media scrum or press conference, he gets to ask his softball  question or two that often stops it from snowballing into a consensus bash fest.

I can't say that I blame MLSE. I'd probably do it as well if I were them. But sometimes, when it happens in those scrums, it's a little sickening because it's so obvious what they're up to. He's masquerading like he's a member of the media when he really isn't. He's a MLSE employee with his thumb on the media scales.

 

[Highlander]

Stop being so harsh on Joe, he reminds me of The Family Guy.