The Rest of College Football

[SeattleLionsFan]

I love Brandy as a color guy. I personally think the Michigan announcers should be huge homers. Brandy meets that criteria by a lot!

[Tom W]

Yes, he is horrendous. A shining example of why a color guy rarely has any business whatsoever doing PxP. You need a guy with rare talent for that job.

I don't think the talent to do decent play by play is rare at all. We've just been lulled into thinking that by the lifetime appointments that Beckmann and Ernie Harwell seemed to have had. Brandstatter was just a lazy appointment by Brandon that didn't get much attention because everything else he did was even worse. There had to have been better candidates- even at the high school ranks- than Jimbo

[edindetroit]

I would not have guessed that. Blaha for basketball is a real pro -- he gets you the information you're looking for, in that sense.

Stops...pops.....drops!

[Hannibal]

I don't think the talent to do decent play by play is rare at all. We've just been lulled into thinking that by the lifetime appointments that Beckmann and Ernie Harwell seemed to have had. Brandstatter was just a lazy appointment by Brandon that didn't get much attention because everything else he did was even worse. There had to have been better candidates- even at the high school ranks- than Jimbo

It's not just Harwell and Beckmann, but in general it seems that having a great PxP voice, excellent narration skills, and a flair for capturing drama and excitement are something that about 99.9% of the population probably lacks. Brandy lacks at least the first two. So do most other studio hosts, color guys, and sideline reporters who get promoted to the PxP chair. The best announcers that I have heard like Mike Emrick, Ron Franklin, Ken Daniels, Dave Strader, Brad Nessler, Sean McDonough, provide details very quickly without getting tongue tied. Even though Musburger is annoying I have to give him his props for being able to do this. The mediocre and crappy PxP guys pause during plays and in the middle of sentences because they can't turn what they are seeing into coherent words fast enough. I think that it's probably a lot harder than it looks.

[hack]

Stops...pops.....drops!

Dude this is a family-friendly forum -- please no sexual innuendo. (Fires and it falls.)

[Tom W]

When Spielman calls a Michigan game it's obvious that he sees the game as football first, and not through the prism of the rivalry. He likes what he sees this year and wants to see more, it seems.

Spielman LOVES the rivalry and has been openly critical of Michigan for not holding up its end of the bargain. This would be a completely alien concept to a Sparty.

[hack]

Yeah. Just a high-quality guy. One who rose above.

[Da Geezer]

Agreement all around on Spielman. Excellent color guy and even better when doing a UM game. I think the time he spent in Detroit gave him some insight into how UM fans view THE GAME and how they view MSU. And he has total empathy for UM v. OSU and what we are going through right now.

Welcome to Lem B., always glad to have new blood.

[lineygoblue]

Still not a fan of Spielman.

His OSU connection still boils under the surface. I hear it in his voice all the time.

[Cody_Russell]

Not that many good games today.
ESPN has been advertising Iowa vs Maryland, it's that bad.

Temple vs ND maybe? We could see NC State be competitive vs Clemson.

[lineygoblue]

This will actually turn out to be no big deal, .. I'm sure his "punishment" will be a vigorous slap to his non-throwing wrist, .. but when one reads how it was "handled" by the Columbus Police ... well, .. you just can't make this stuff up.

http://michigan.247sports.com/Bolt/Sources-Barrett-arrested-for-OVI-40676957

[Mike]

How was it handled by police? The link doesn't make any mention of it.

[Cody_Russell]

He is a starting QB, you probably get special treatment, right?

[iam416]

Looks like Ohio State is handling it a bit harsher than M did with Glasgow. But, hey.

Anyway, it was a checkpoint. Jones drove him home. He was cited for a misdemeanor which means he's not subject to automatic suspension. UFM has nonetheless suspended him for the Minnesota game.

Seems appropriately handled by all parties.

However, this will certainly disrupt the offensive flow. I'd now say there's zero chance OSU beats M and MSU is now 50/50 at best.

[Ghengis Jon]

OMG. Who taught you those sandbagging skills? Is that an osu graduate course?