And Some Of You Actually Complained About Van Gundy?

[meyers7]

Because maybe in time it will change if the noise is loud enough. As suggested they already have a great upgrade available in Eric.

But why do you care if you don't listen to them anyway?

 

[Icebear]

But why do you care if you don't listen to them anyway?

I said when possible. Often I am where I cannot do both simultaneously.

 

[ChicagoGG]

Then why the need to come on here and bash Meghan and Bob after pretty much every game?

Just listen to the radio and then you won't have to come on here and whine and complain all the time. Seems like it would make your life more bearable (pun intended).

Sadly, the radio is often quite out of sync with visuals. Some games more than others. Last night the discrepancy was very noticeable. Agree with your main point, tho!!

(But more Eric Frede, please!)

 

[EricLA]

Because maybe in time it will change if the noise is loud enough. As suggested they already have a great upgrade available in Eric.

why, thank you!!

 

[FairView]

I believe Meghan in the problem.

 

[earl the pearl]

They are horrid.

How about VAPID.......

 

[Icebear]

How about VAPID.......

Fair enough.

 

[meyers7]

I said when possible. Often I am where I cannot do both simultaneously.

Then you can turn down the volume and watch the game. Nobody is making you listen to them.

Also I assume since you are so adamant about getting them replaced, you are, besides whining and complaining on here, writing and calling CPTV to let them know.

 

[tomcat]

It's television. A visual media. I don't need a play by play description of things that I can see with my own eyes. I know who the UConn players are and at least in the case of teams like C of C, I don't care who the players on the other team are. Games like the one last night should never be played. Is it any wonder that the announcers drifted off - just like me?

Criticizing Picozzi for mispeaking is petty and making fun of Cuolmo's laugh is childish (churlish?). If you don't care for them, zone them out. If you need play by play to understand what's happening, sit closer to the screen and do your own.

I seldom disagree with literally everything in a post, but you got me this time, so here goes: Television is a visual medium, you're right, but while play by play announcers know they have some latitude to talk about other things (as opposed to radio announcers, who have to provide every play), what Picozzi does is beyond the pale. Many of us are less concerned about a literal play by play description than about announcing major events in the game, which Picozzi often forgets to do. Let me give you an example.

There came a time about four minutes in when the score, I think, was still 0-0, or maybe 3-0. The team was playing very poorly. Some subs were put in, including Kiah for Stef. Play resumed with no mention of the subs. It was only as one of the C of C players touched the ball and Picozzi realized that she was newly in the game that he announced that she had come in and that Kiah was not in the game, too.

Now, why is that a big deal? Because to anyone even a little familiar with the team, Stef was playing really badly, andit would have been important to not only note that Stokes was in, but perhaps to engage Culmo in a conversation about why. He could have spoken about the fact that Stef has not played up to potential in recent games -- this, to my way of thinking -- is the major story of the season with this team right now. They might have talked about the fact that under other circumstances, Buck would have come in but is injured, and speculated about how that changes UConn's game when Dolson is not doing well. They might have speculated on what Geno would tell Stef in order to get her more engaged in the game. But none of that happened at that point, because this substitution, which was very telling, was handled as an "Oh, by the way..." Yes, fans who are close-up to the screen might have been able to tell there had been personnel changes, but that kind of information is exactly what play by play TV announcers are supposed to do. Why, so the fans can concentrate on the game.

The basic communication principle at work here is that whatever the announcer says does not have to describe exactly what is happening on the screen at any given moment, but should complement it in some way, so the viewer gets a richer impression from the combination of visual and auditory information. If you believe the announcer should be essential, then the announcer should provide essential information.

Granted, some viewer like you, don't care about who the other players are, just like you don't care about hearing the play by play. But others, like me, very much care. So I want to hear the take of someone more k nowledgeable than I about what I am seeing on the screem, and it is important to me to know a bit about the other team, and when substitutes are coming in, that's important. Otherwise, UConn is simply playing a generic bad team, or on some nights, a generic representative team, or rarely, a generic good team. I like my basketball a bit more personalized than that. And the problem is, on many days, I am not convinced that Picozzi knows much more than I do, because his level of preparation does not seem to go beyond the surface. If I needed a play by play announcer to know what is happening, I would turn on the radio, because I am not convinced that Picozzi knows.

I cannot speak for everyone, but I am not making fun of Culmo's laugh. Rather than being childish, I am critiquing the fact that she inserts it in places where it is inappropriate to laugh. This is something that she can control, and therefore fair game for criticism. To laugh when your broadcast partner announces that neither team has scored for four minutes is sort of like the idiot anchor who smiles as she announces a fatal accident. Different degree of seriousness, granted, but the same point, and one that those of us who have done any broadcasting are taught early on. There's a time and a place for everything, and when it comes to laughing, Culmo manages to find the wrong one with a remarkable degree of consistency. That said, she has come into her own this year with the Telestrator (which was not working last night). She does it well and offers valuable insights. They should have her do it more often.

As for Picozzi's mistakes, if it were simply getting tongue-tied or misspeaking, that'd be one thing, but we're talking people's names here. If an announcer gets a politican's name wrong -- Robert Blumenthal, for example, instead of Richard -- wouldn't you expect that someone would correct him? And if he continued to misspeak it, don't you think people might start to comment on his ignorance? That is how I feel when I hear "Laura Engeln." As for his latest, KLM, it would sort of be like calling Kennedy JKF or Roosevelt FRD. It is unthinking, it makes no sense, and it is the kind iof thing that broadcast people find themselves doing when they are mailing it in.

Plenty of people have commented on how engaged Picozzi is when he calls other games. I think this is simply a matter of the man being burned out on UConn women. CPTV should recognize this and go in another direction. Based on past performance, Eric Frede would be a fine choice.

 

[rington]

Apologies to Oldecoach, all disclaimers noted about how lucky we all are to be able to watch at all, and not to pile on - but this one really was dreadful.

Picozzi's mind-numbing regurgitation of the same irrelevant factoids (spectacularly timed to coincide with something interesting occurring on the court) over and over (and over and over...) and Culmo's repeated sycophantic declarations - how many variations of "I love Kelly Faris game" are there? Let us count the ways - have gone beyond tiresome and annoying.

A sidenote - it appears as if at least these past few away games are being broadcast by CPTV in pseudo-HD. Perhaps captured on SD cameras and upconverted to HD? Either way - there's no way the picture broadcast on CPTV via DirecTV was true HD.

Besides all that it was a brilliant broadcast.

I thought the same myself; it was not true HD.

 

[EricLA]

i do have to say the radio announcers do more of what tomcat was suggesting - not only better since there is no visual on radio and they have to be different, but also in talking about why the team is struggling, issues with players, who's playing well and who's not, etc etc.

 

[phil sampieri]

I seldom disagree with literally everything in a post, but you got me this time, so here goes: Television is a visual medium, you're right, but while play by play announcers know they have some latitude to talk about other things (as opposed to radio announcers, who have to provide every play), what Picozzi does is beyond the pale. Many of us are less concerned about a literal play by play description than about announcing major events in the game, which Picozzi often forgets to do. Let me give you an example.

There came a time about four minutes in when the score, I think, was still 0-0, or maybe 3-0. The team was playing very poorly. Some subs were put in, including Kiah for Stef. Play resumed with no mention of the subs. It was only as one of the C of C players touched the ball and Picozzi realized that she was newly in the game that he announced that she had come in and that Kiah was not in the game, too.

Now, why is that a big deal? Because to anyone even a little familiar with the team, Stef was playing really badly, andit would have been important to not only note that Stokes was in, but perhaps to engage Culmo in a conversation about why. He could have spoken about the fact that Stef has not played up to potential in recent games -- this, to my way of thinking -- is the major story of the season with this team right now. They might have talked about the fact that under other circumstances, Buck would have come in but is injured, and speculated about how that changes UConn's game when Dolson is not doing well. They might have speculated on what Geno would tell Stef in order to get her more engaged in the game. But none of that happened at that point, because this substitution, which was very telling, was handled as an "Oh, by the way..." Yes, fans who are close-up to the screen might have been able to tell there had been personnel changes, but that kind of information is exactly what play by play TV announcers are supposed to do. Why, so the fans can concentrate on the game.

The basic communication principle at work here is that whatever the announcer says does not have to describe exactly what is happening on the screen at any given moment, but should complement it in some way, so the viewer gets a richer impression from the combination of visual and auditory information. If you believe the announcer should be essential, then the announcer should provide essential information.

Granted, some viewer like you, don't care about who the other players are, just like you don't care about hearing the play by play. But others, like me, very much care. So I want to hear the take of someone more k nowledgeable than I about what I am seeing on the screem, and it is important to me to know a bit about the other team, and when substitutes are coming in, that's important. Otherwise, UConn is simply playing a generic bad team, or on some nights, a generic representative team, or rarely, a generic good team. I like my basketball a bit more personalized than that. And the problem is, on many days, I am not convinced that Picozzi knows much more than I do, because his level of preparation does not seem to go beyond the surface. If I needed a play by play announcer to know what is happening, I would turn on the radio, because I am not convinced that Picozzi knows.

I cannot speak for everyone, but I am not making fun of Culmo's laugh. Rather than being childish, I am critiquing the fact that she inserts it in places where it is inappropriate to laugh. This is something that she can control, and therefore fair game for criticism. To laugh when your broadcast partner announces that neither team has scored for four minutes is sort of like the idiot anchor who smiles as she announces a fatal accident. Different degree of seriousness, granted, but the same point, and one that those of us who have done any broadcasting are taught early on. There's a time and a place for everything, and when it comes to laughing, Culmo manages to find the wrong one with a remarkable degree of consistency. That said, she has come into her own this year with the Telestrator (which was not working last night). She does it well and offers valuable insights. They should have her do it more often.

As for Picozzi's mistakes, if it were simply getting tongue-tied or misspeaking, that'd be one thing, but we're talking people's names here. If an announcer gets a politican's name wrong -- Robert Blumenthal, for example, instead of Richard -- wouldn't you expect that someone would correct him? And if he continued to misspeak it, don't you think people might start to comment on his ignorance? That is how I feel when I hear "Laura Engeln." As for his latest, KLM, it would sort of be like calling Kennedy JKF or Roosevelt FRD. It is unthinking, it makes no sense, and it is the kind iof thing that broadcast people find themselves doing when they are mailing it in.

Plenty of people have commented on how engaged Picozzi is when he calls other games. I think this is simply a matter of the man being burned out on UConn women. CPTV should recognize this and go in another direction. Based on past performance, Eric Frede would be a fine choice.

If there are plenty of people who believe in your rhetoric why is it always the same few who bother to fill up this site after every game?

 

[tomcat]

Well, Phil, it's sort of like the Barking Dogs. I'm sure you don't know what I'm talking about, but you quickly will get the reference. I mean the "musical group" that we can count on hearing several times each holiday season woofing its way through "Jingle Bells." Some people are terminally annoyed by that number. Some have even nominated it, along with that all-time loser, "Dominick the Donkey" as the worst holiday song ever. I am dead certain that (although I cannot understand it myself), some people think the Barking Dogs' rendition of Jingle Bells is funny or cute. And the vast majority could not care less.

This is how it is with Picozzi and most other things in this world. There are those of us, myself among them, that rate him right up there with the Barking Dogs in terms of irritation-inducement, style and intelligence. Others, yourself among them, think he's fine. The great majority probably don't care as long as someone calls the game.

I'm not going to get into a counting match with you to see how many people like the guy and how many don't. Suffice it to say there are some regulars here in each camp, that's all. We can all agree to disagree. To suggest we shouldn't write about this or any other topic related to UConn women's basketball is to suggest that's not what the Boneyard is for. And while I'm far from the oldest member here, my limited experience tells me that's exactly what it's for. And, as some of our grumpier colleagues have suggested in the past, anyone not liking a particular topic can always not read it. Suggesting people take their opinions elsewhere is not really the option we want to see, is it?

What we were bringing to the table with this topic was new information on the same old topic, kind of like what people do when they bring new information to a subject that's been rehashed before. All sorts of people have lamented the fact that Heather is hurt and speculated on what might be wrong with her wrist. But when someone posts news on a diagnosis of what has actually happened to Heather's wrist, that'll be one of those moments. Well, when Bob Picozzi called our star freshman player the name of an airline in Holland, and then did it again later, that was new news on an old topic and, IMHO, worthy of discussion.

That's all it is, Phil, just chewin the fat on a subject that intrigues a few of us, is all. Myself, I think that listening to Picozzi is like watching an impending train wreck. Part of me doesn't want to do it, but the rest of me cannot turn away. I guess there are a few others like that in the Boneyard.

 

[CCinCT]

But why do you care if you don't listen to them anyway?

I would love to listen to the radio broadcast and watch the TV broadcast - but
I have to DVR many games and that makes it impossible.

On the occasions when I do get to watch live, something in my family room creates a great deal of static on the radio, which requires so much concentration that it kills the enjoyment and then there is the syncing issue.

Listening to the home team announcer repeatedly mispronounce names of home team players smacks of "I can get by without a lot of prep" or "OK is good enough" - the kind of thing I expect from Mike Patrick when he calls a game, although for all I know, he might be doing a lot of prep and it isn't taking.

 

[meyers7]

I would love to listen to the radio broadcast and watch the TV broadcast - but
I have to DVR many games and that makes it impossible.

I DVR most games also. I usually have the sound down pretty low (or off too). I just don't come on this forum whining and complaining about them after about every game.

 

[CCinCT]

I DVR most games also. I usually have the sound down pretty low (or off too). I just don't come on this forum whining and complaining about them after about every game.

My first post ever regarding either Picozzi or Culmo, positive or negative. But I do happen to agree with the premise that the quality of the CPTV broadcasters could improve very easily - if they cared.

 

[tomcat]

Meyers, you obviously have much more self-control than I. An admirable trait, methinks.

Actually, I had kind of resolved to not talk about them any more, but then Picozzi did the KLM thing, thereby raising the ante to stratospherically new heights. I mean, come on. Is it not reasonable to figure out what the kid's initials are and then, heaven forfend, say them in the correct order?

 

[Icebear]

Then you can turn down the volume and watch the game. Nobody is making you listen to them.

Also I assume since you are so adamant about getting them replaced, you are, besides whining and complaining on here, writing and calling CPTV to let them know.

I am not adamant at all about getting them replaced. I do believe in speaking honestly about what I see as an area of the coverage that can be improved from my point of view. The reasons are simple and clear the play by play of the game presently suffers. Clearly given the thread I am not the only one who feels this way. I have already indicated that with Eric Frede providing the play by play most all the issues are greatly improved. I don't expect perfect coverage what I would like to have happen is the game itself given more attention involving the details of who is on the court, who committed fouls, etc. I have not once mentioned Bob's miss naming players anyone can make an error, it is disconcerting, however, when it is repetitive as some indicated KLM was last night. Getting players names correct is a part of respecting the team. When doing coverage with Eric Frede Meghan's contributions are significantly improved. I do believe that the coverage of Bob Joyce and Kara on WTIC is better that is not to say they must or should be hired to replace Meghan. Simply it would be an improvement.

Yes, I did send an email to CPTV last year asking for more focus or attention to be given to the play by play. Bob can do it. He does do it in other broadcasts. As I have said in the past it seems to be a production value.

Nothing of this is whining. Just observation of what I see as lacking in a good product and something that can be addressed and improved to produce a great product.

 

[Icebear]

I DVR most games also. I usually have the sound down pretty low (or off too). I just don't come on this forum whining and complaining about them after about every game.

If you find it easy to not listen to them it should be equally easy to bypass what you consider whining by ignoring the threads, as well.

 

[rington]

People complained about Van Gundy? Not basketball fans, Ill bet.

Not NBA fans, you mean. He should stay in the area he knows a little about. H knows nothing about WCBB!

 

[DaddyChoc]

Eamon McAnaney & Kara Lawson are doing a GREAT job calling the men's game right now on SNY.

 

[Icebear]

Eamon McAnaney & Kara Lawson are doing a GREAT job calling the men's game right now on SNY.

They are good.

 

[meyers7]

I am not adamant at all about getting them replaced.

Sure come across that way. Especially when you say things like:

Because maybe in time it will change if the noise is loud enough. As suggested they already have a great upgrade available in Eric.

Clearly given the thread I am not the only one who feels this way.

Yea, which makes it whinier.

Nothing of this is whining. .

No, when you guys continue to do it over and over again, it's whining.

 

[meyers7]

If you find it easy to not listen to them it should be equally easy to bypass what you consider whining by ignoring the threads, as well.

I could. But I just want to get across to you guys how whiny and complaining you are. Consider it a public service to the rest of us on here.

 

[meyers7]

Meyers, you obviously have much more self-control than I.

You have no idea.