UCONN-ND rerun and Doris Burke

[winlots]

Watched my tape of that Final Four game this evening. Comes a time here at Buzzards Crest most evenings, as those few of you who have visited know, when a bourbon or three might be poured and some small group attempts, ranging from ghastly to "hey, that's pretty damn good", are mounted to replicate some good old Philly street corner vocals. Tonight, we went with the ND rerun instead of the vocals.

Now, I don't pay much attention to game announcers unless they are distracting from the game with inane comments about seeing Tim Krulish downing a chilly dog at Wally's Wagon. And I wouldn't know Doris Burke from Korella Mushnagel if she was snging on the street corner with us. But tonight, she got my attention a time or two, with comments like (these are close enuf to verbatim to merit quotation marks, I think):

"You know, she subjugates her offense for her defensive efforts, always drawing the toughest opponent to guard....and she never says one word about the shots she is therefore passing up." Did any of you guys ever even THINK about moaning about passing up shots when you drew the other team's hotshot? Is this stuff sponaneous, or do they have writers, or pregame notes which they are determined to jam in at some point, or what?

"Well, if anybody step ups and saves the day in a tight game, it's going to be a senior." There's a hypothesis that could use a little testing.....maybe in the Kentucky men's program for starters.

Maybe she's usually terrific at what she does; really never paid any attention to her. I do associate her name with some high profile game appearances, so I guess she has the goods. I know that one of the frequent flyers with the mike is always into the thing of, " With that pass, she decided to reward the big girl for hustling down the floor." Don't have any idea if that is a Burke line or not, but it seems to be right up there (make that down there) with the concept of griping about sacrificing points to focus on defending, when it comes to the realities of playing ball. Any of you folks ever think about "rewarding" a team mate by dishing off an assist to him???

 

[alexrgct]

I admire and respect Doris Burke for breaking through in a male-dominated profession and being one of the first women to do so.

That being said, her shtick is incredibly tired at this point. She is far less annoying doing men's games, where she has to tone it down considerably. When she does women's games, she takes on this persona that's not especially insightful and totally over the top...and with a tendency to try to sound hip and young instead of owning being the middle-aged white lady that she actually is.

 

[uconnell]

I miss Robin Roberts. Called the game period! Never forgot her schocked reaction when Shea went down with another ACL. Just total silence.
Get well soon Robin, love you.

 

[slimmer56]

I really used to love Doris Burke. and I still think she is a decent analyst. Some of the remarks she makes...just get to me. "Twice on the pipes babe" ! What the "H" does that mean. Loves Skylar Diggins to death, and thinks she gets fouled everytime a UCONN player gets close...Natali Novosel too ! She kept harping about how she would want the ball in Skylar's hands at crunchtime. Well, DUH ! Skylar DID have the ball in her hands at the close of regulation and MISSED ! Thank you very much Natalie Novosel

There are a whole lot of announcers/analysts that are worse than her though, and she IS appealing to the eye ! JMHO !

 

[easttexastrash]

Doris is too rehearsed and stale. She is trying to make herself a part of the game instead of just doing a good job of calling the game.

I've noticed that almost all of the big-name announcers for the women's games tend to develop a theme that the are determined to pound into the ground during games. Peck is the same way. She and Burke both drive me crazy. I like Lobo's analysis but I wish she were a little less monotone with her speech patterns. But she definitely knows her stuff.

 

[sarals24]

I love Lobo because she is incredibly sarcastic sometimes. Once, when they stopped a game (I think it was the second round against KState when UConn was up by 20 in the first seven minutes or so) to see if Bria had her foot on the line for a three (she didn't) Rebecca said, "Yeah, because that's going to make a difference in this game"

And she kind of makes fun of Doris also, if you listen closely. Once Doris asked her why she wore number 50, and Rebecca said "David Robinson". And Doris said, "See? That's a good story" and Rebecca answered, "That's not a story, it's a name."

(Forgive me if that wasn't Doris, I am pretty sure it was. And if not, Rebecca is still hilarious.)

 

[uconnfan68]

I admire and respect Doris Burke for breaking through in a male-dominated profession and being one of the first women to do so.

That being said, her shtick is incredibly tired at this point. She is far less annoying doing men's games, where she has to tone it down considerably. When she does women's games, she takes on this persona that's not especially insightful and totally over the top...and with a tendency to try to sound hip and young instead of owning being the middle-aged white lady that she actually is.

I agree with all you said, but that middle-aged line really hit home. ;^)

 

[meyers7]

Any of you folks ever think about "rewarding" a team mate by dishing off an assist to him???

Well if you are a guard maybe not so much, but if your a big man and you just busted your butt to get down the court on a break away and the guard decides to take it himself and go 1 v 2.....the big man is sure gonna think about it.

 

[meyers7]

"Twice on the pipes babe"

Twice on the pipes....if the answer is no. (assume used after a rejection)

Yea, that's pretty middle aged white.

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

I admire and respect Doris Burke for breaking through in a male-dominated profession and being one of the first women to do so.

That being said, her shtick is incredibly tired at this point. She is far less annoying doing men's games, where she has to tone it down considerably. When she does women's games, she takes on this persona that's not especially insightful and totally over the top...and with a tendency to try to sound hip and young instead of owning being the middle-aged white lady that she actually is.

Agree. She is much better doing men's games. I often wonder if the persona you describe is an edict from ESPN (i.e., amp it up for the women's games so it generates more excitement with the viewers...or generates enough negativity to warrant feedback and additional traffic on ESPN.com).

Ryen Russillo did an in-depth interview with Burke on the NBA Today podcast last year. Her knowledge of the game is impressive, and you can tell she commands a lot of respect among her male peers.

 

[easttexastrash]

I agree that she has a high level of knowledge. I just wish she would stop trying to make herself a bigger part of the game than she is. If I had to hear her say "lift" one more time in the championship game I was going to have to go on mute.

 

[cookie447]

She's fallen down and can't shut up!

 

[winlots]

She's fallen down and can't shut up!

COOKIE: terrific .....Geno-level humor. Keep 'em comin....and, above all, do not let the cookie crumble.