Zach Strief’s first Game (2 Viewers)

I listened to him while driving home. I thought his calls towards the end of the game added some electricity and excitement. I also felt the lows, like the penalties and the Boston Scott no-throw. During the slow times, he and Deuce had a great back and forth chemistry that I really liked too. Strief talking about Coach making them grapple and doing MMA training during training camp, Deuce repling "Ya'll can have that mess" was priceless. Strief painted a good mental picture of where the ball was, the down, the distance, the formation, where the play was going, and he immediately knew who made the tackle or the key block without hesitation.

I really loved Jim, but he was really struggling to make out player numbers towards the end of his career. Deuce was constantly politely correcting him. Strief added a lot of insight into the line play that Jim simply couldn't.

Strief did great, quit hating because his voice sounds different. There was tons of dead air between Jim and Deuce, but I feel that is gone now because of the chemistry Strief and Deuce have.

Overall, I can't wait for the season, because I listen more than I watch.

What you just described is great... for color commentary, not play-by-play.
 
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I will give him a chance, but his voice is not play by play to me. He is smart and interesting as an analyst. Henderson was good.
 
Well,

First I have never listened much to radio broadcast since 2001 when I left New Orleans for Chicago. Usually, I just listened to the TV guys especially since syncing audio was a pain.

Zach dd alright for his first time out. I didn't expect too much. Personally, I thought Deuce was the weaker link. I felt like Zach did a better job doing occasional color than Deuce. For all that I (we) know, Zach was chosen to help out Deuce. For now, Zach lacks a personality. It makes sense, he is more concern with the mechanics. As he becomes comfortable, his personality will come out and his PbP will improve.

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I wish they would let Bobby Hebert do one game, just for fun. Comedy gold.
Be careful. This is WWL we’re taking about. I’m sure they are happy with Strief’s novice performance but I’ll bet they are saying “if we only had a guy who can’t speak at all it would be even better”.
 
We were very spoiled. I can't comment on Strief as I haven't had the chance to listen to the radio broadcast but Joel Myers and Stinchcomb sound pretty polished for their first time out in the TV broadcast, imho. Hopefully Strief can get his sea legs under him. Play by play isn't easy.

It was not their first time. They did it last year. Play by play on radio is harder than TV.

Strief seems to be the 2nd fiddle here to Myers.

So will the routine be different come regular season?

HUH? Strief isn't broadcasting with Myers

It's fine. It ain't Jim Henderson and never will be but no shame in that.

But Myers is the lead pbp here and and Strief the color guy.

Is that supposed to flip at some point?

Myers = TV play by play , Strief = WWL radio play by play

I think Strief has a solid future in broadcasting. But he really is better suited to be a color analyst rather than the play-by-,play guy. The real question is whether he would have been considered as a serious candidate to do the play-by-play for any other NFL team or a major college team.

Give him time--it's preseason for everyone else. But the difference between Strief and Joel Myers is striking. If it doesn't work out--and it may be that Strief is wearing the wrong hat--blame WWL.

Big difference doing play by play on TV and radio.

Strief makes debut as 'Voice of the Saints' and as wait for redemption ends

There’s a few clips at that link. I couldn’t listen during the game but he sounds pretty likable and will obviously get more polish as he develops his chops.

I think he can get better.

I listened for a few series of plays.

He just doesn’t have a radio voice. It doesn’t draw you in. That’s not likely to change.
His color is bland. He doesn’t articulate very well and his vocabulary seems limited.
That will improve in time.

This is professional football and he sounds about like you’d expect. Like a guy learning. Not exactly what you want at this level.

Doesn’t really matter and I don’t think WWL cares.
I won’t be listening. WWL didn’t care enough, why should I?

WT hell is a radio voice? And why should I care. I just want to have the play by play reported accurately. I don't need the comforting voice of Frank Sinatra.

Lol.

i was not so much against Strief as I was for Hoss. He was qualified and I personally like him. I would be remiss if I didn’t advocate for him. So I did.

Hoss handled it all like a class act- which he is.

I wanted to hold out judgement on Strief until I heard him in live action. Now that I have, it’s clearer than ever that this is a guy that not only has a lot to learn but simply doesn’t have the voice.

It’s clear what happened here.

I like Mike Hoss. He’s earned it after many decades in the business. It just stinks that a guy I like a lot didn’t get a square shot at the job.

Strief is a great guy. I’m happy for him but he didn’t deserve this high level spot .... yet.

As far as I know , Hoss has never done play by play either.

That's not true at all.

There are play-by-play broadcasters who naturally have that warm, rich, take-me-away baritone voice. Brent Musburger, Pat Summerall, Dick Enberg, Ernie Harwell, Harry Kalas (Chunky Soup voice), John Miller, Dick Stockton, and Vern Lundquist are examples of this type (Shadoe Stevens is a similar example from outside of sports). Guys like those do have an advantage in broadcasting, because they can generally stay in their natural voice and sound amazing.

There are also play-by-play broadcasters -- huge legends, even -- who had to work with an imperfect natural instrument and fashion a radio voice of their own. Guys like that often sound a lot different face-to-face than on the radio because when broadcasting they are "performing" with their voice. By nature, a lot of these guys have nasally, thin, higher-pitched voices. Others are gravelly, twangy, or heavily accented. With work, technique, and practice, however, guys like that can and do find their radio voice and become huge successes. Examples of this latter type of broadcaster include legends like Howard Cosell, Vin Scully, Chris Berman, Marv Albert, Bob Costas, Al Michaels, Casey Kasem (outside sports), Harry Caray, Keith Jackson, Jim Nantz, Mike Tirico, Jim McKay, and Bud Collins. Oh -- and also our beloved Jim Henderson.

Yeah, it's a sink-or-swim situation for Zach Strief to be sure. First games are tough enough ... to do it on an NFL broadcast is all the more of a challenge. It's not like Strief has had 5 years of doing Nicholls State games to find his voice. We'll be hearing him find his voice this year, and next, and maybe the year after that, too. And I, for one, don't mind giving Zach Strief the chance to do that.

Well said, Doug.


I wish they would let Bobby Hebert do one game, just for fun. Comedy gold.

Oh, please no, jessy.

Be careful. This is WWL we’re taking about. I’m sure they are happy with Strief’s novice performance but I’ll bet they are saying “if we only had a guy who can’t speak at all it would be even better”.

They have one, his name is Bobby Hebert.
 
WT hell is a radio voice? And why should I care. I just want to have the play by play reported accurately. I don't need the comforting voice of Frank Sinatra.

Actually, Frank’s voice is a great example of a voice that makes the parts of a speaker move.
Great bass, midrange and decent upper range.
Howard Stern has a great radio voice. Al Michaels sounds great. Politics aside, Al franken and glen beck have a fantastic radio voices. At WWL, Scoot has a very good radio voice. Tommy Tucker in the morning also has a good radio voice. I laugh at Steve Kort. Incredibly low bass.

Speakers have components that move and create sound. The originating voice or music, coming through needs to be able to move those components. Strief’s voice really doesn’t move the parts. At this level, typically a guy has a proven voice. It’d be different if this was a low level broadcasting gig.

Voices naturally vary, Like body size. Strief has the body size to play OL on a professional level. And he did. Very well.
He would not have been a good db or widereceiver. He could learn some techniques to improve at those other positions but he’d not make it at a high level. OL is his forte. In the world of broadcasting, color analysis is not his forte.

Strief’s natural voice is soft, Lacks bass and rather bland. He lacks the varied tones and natural brightness that I’d want from an NFL level radio color guy. It’s the kind of voice that just gets lost. Easy to ignore. Not at all what you want in NFL radio color. Maybe an NPR piece on the history of the NFL...

Deuce doesn’t have it either but he’s doing color so he can get away with it.

I’ve heard of voice coaches who can help develop a voice. Maybe that can work. No one will advocate this but Smoking cigs can change a voice. As it stands though, his voice is akin to what I hear on friday nights when I listen to high school games. Not an NFL level job.

I have a degree in communications. Within that study there was radio work. We had a radio station. The professors would let us fool around with the equip and they showed us how we measured on the sound scale. They’d show us what sound did to the speakers. High, low and midrange. Some people moved the bass but not the midrange. Some didn’t move anything much at all. Some were varied and could move everything. Those were the ones that they plugged in to dj. I didn’t want to do it but my room mate did. Oddly, I didn’t think his voice would carry because he had little bass in his voice but when he spoke through the equip, he moved the speaker. He did really well.

Look, a lot of this is subjective. You think Strief was the best man for the job. You like his voice.
I think we was most certainly not the best man for the job. Not in experience or even in sound.
He’d be okay to take over for Deuce but that ain’t happening. Some of this is not subjective. Usually what people differ on is technique or sctick or other technical aspect. The actual voice sound though is less subjective.
Like Strief being the right size for an NFL OL. Like me not being the right size for an NFL OL. His voice is not his strength.
But you like it. And that’s fine. Again, I like the guy but he’s just not ready for this level broadcasting job. Do some high school and work your way up.

And as for Hoss, he hs been in broadcasting for over 25 years. He’s done radio. This is a broadcasting job. He’s more than qualified. That said, he didn’t have the best voice for this. It’s good but not the best. It’s much better than Strief though.

What I find really puzzling is why people get angry when people differ in opinion on Strief. It’s so obvious that he’s not the best of the ones that tried out and people are pointing it out, and that offends people.... wth?
 
I have also been in radio and have DJ'd since the late 80's off and on for the past 30 years. Nothing I've said is personal.. I love the guy but he does NOT have a radio voice. Everything that Brown said imo is 100 % right. I hope he does well, and assume he will get a little better but this was a very bad choice by WWL, and I guess we are just stuck with it. I have always turned down the TV and listened to the radio broadcast, just don't see that tradition being continued very much going forward.
 
Down, distance, personnel, who made the tackle, who made a key block is all I want from a play by play guy. I want accuracy, Not Wolfman Jack who is spinning the platters that matter. Voice for radio be damned.
 
Down, distance, personnel, who made the tackle, who made a key block is all I want from a play by play guy. I want accuracy, Not Wolfman Jack who is spinning the platters that matter. Voice for radio be damned.

One thing is not exclusive from the other thing. There is a reason why there are only a handful of real professionals that can do it all, and be amazing at it. Not just passable, spitting information off of a cheat sheet.
 
You can't do PLAY BY PLAY from a cheat sheet. You need to see, analyze and report in a very short period of time, and do it accurately. Sure, you can fill dead air time from your broadcast notes, but PLAY BY PLAY has to be done on the fly. And I really don't care about a "radio voice", just accuracy.
 
Sorry Dan but, what are you talking about? They have nothing but cheat sheets laying all over with the names of players... coaches.. referees... sponsors.. stuff that's coming up later in the broadcast... and a million other things.
 
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That's not true at all.

There are play-by-play broadcasters who naturally have that warm, rich, take-me-away baritone voice. Brent Musburger, Pat Summerall, Dick Enberg, Ernie Harwell, Harry Kalas (Chunky Soup voice), John Miller, Dick Stockton, and Vern Lundquist are examples of this type (Shadoe Stevens is a similar example from outside of sports). Guys like those do have an advantage in broadcasting, because they can generally stay in their natural voice and sound amazing.

There are also play-by-play broadcasters -- huge legends, even -- who had to work with an imperfect natural instrument and fashion a radio voice of their own. Guys like that often sound a lot different face-to-face than on the radio because when broadcasting they are "performing" with their voice. By nature, a lot of these guys have nasally, thin, higher-pitched voices. Others are gravelly, twangy, or heavily accented. With work, technique, and practice, however, guys like that can and do find their radio voice and become huge successes. Examples of this latter type of broadcaster include legends like Howard Cosell, Vin Scully, Chris Berman, Marv Albert, Bob Costas, Al Michaels, Casey Kasem (outside sports), Harry Caray, Keith Jackson, Jim Nantz, Mike Tirico, Jim McKay, and Bud Collins. Oh -- and also our beloved Jim Henderson.

Yeah, it's a sink-or-swim situation for Zach Strief to be sure. First games are tough enough ... to do it on an NFL broadcast is all the more of a challenge. It's not like Strief has had 5 years of doing Nicholls State games to find his voice. We'll be hearing him find his voice this year, and next, and maybe the year after that, too. And I, for one, don't mind giving Zach Strief the chance to do that.

Good points but they actually bolster my point. The guys in your first paragraph have voices that work on the radio. Strief’s voice is nothing like anyone you mentioned bbut not sure you meant to imply that he did.
Strief could contrive a radio voice but that’d be really annoying and I hope that doesn’t happen. Supposing he won’t do that, I seriously doubt that we’ll hear anything different than what we heard last thrs.

His lack of experience is why I question his hiring. There were other guys with many years of broadcasting experience.

Look, it’s gotta be painful for him and those that love him, to hear that he’s not very good at this. He has no experience in broadcasting and others did yet he, the ex player, got hired.
It’s a high profile job though and it goes with the territory.


#insidejob #deadhorse #itswhoyouknow
 
Strief could contrive a radio voice but that’d be really annoying and I hope that doesn’t happen. Supposing he won’t do that,

Contriving a radio voice seems to be really common. Not sure why Strief wouldn't do it "semi-naturally" as he gets experience and gains fluency.


I seriously doubt that we’ll hear anything different than what we heard last thrs.

You think his first game call ever will be the best he ever gets?
 

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