A new contender for worst broadcaster of all time (Leah Hextall)

[ElGuapo]

He didn’t have a traditional radio voice but I wouldn’t say he “didn’t have a voice for radio” in the typical rhetorical sense. His voice and energy were awesome, and being distinct imo helped separate him as the main guy.


She just doesn’t have a voice for radio or tv play by play. Grating

I thought he had a really bad, high and nasally voice. Like definitely a huge overcoming of the odds to get where he did just because of having that voice in the first place I'd think would make it tough to break in.

 

[AvroArrow]

Instead of forcing a woman into a broadcasters role, how about we just hire the most qualified person regardless of gender. I would be ok with all female broadcasters as long as they were qualified and the best possible option.

 

[WaitingForThatCab]

Neither did Mike Emrick.

Most people do not. For instance, I wouldn't be successful on radio or doing Play by Play.

 

[Clare2904]

She knows her stuff but her voice just doesn't sound like it's meant for play by play, doesn't carry well over the mic. She's pretty quiet too

Came here to say that same thing, it is her voice, it is too "plain"

 

[Chips]

I thought he had a really bad, high and nasally voice. Like definitely a huge overcoming of the odds to get where he did just because of having that voice in the first place I'd think would make it tough to break in.

Idk, I’m sure some people disliked him as they do anyone but I saw more criticism for some of his favorite phrases (which if we’re fair, tons/all of the big pbp guys have some) than his voice. There’s “best calls” compilations and everything


I don’t think he’d have gotten the top job for as long as he had it, or ever after the decades he’d been around, if people mostly didn’t like him, and he had tribute videos and everything and is still brought back for like documentary type stuff.

I love his constant energy, every moment of the game no matter how relatively insignificant the play compared to goals, and obvious enthusiasm infinitely more than any of the current pbp guys even if I like them overall.

Idk who called the Canes-Preds series on nbc, but him combined with AJ Mleczko was dreadful, sounded like golf commentary; they very much sounded like they were at work and it made the games feel more boring


Doc made less quality plays sound more intense, slower games sound more exciting and, and truly great games sound amazing. Imo game commentary is about atmosphere more than anything


At the game you get amazing atmosphere from all the people cheering making you feel the same thing, just like laugh tracks trick people into laughing at sitcoms, except here there’s actually something to be excited about. You barely get that at home, the commentators give you a sense of the game and what people at home are hearing/feeling

 

[ElGuapo]

Idk, I’m sure some people disliked him as they do anyone but I saw more criticism for some of his favorite phrases (which if we’re fair, tons/all of the big pbp guys have some) than his voice. There’s “best calls” compilations and everything


I don’t think he’d have gotten the top job for as long as he had it, or ever after the decades he’d been around, if people mostly didn’t like him, and he had tribute videos and everything and is still brought back for like documentary type stuff.

I love his constant energy, every moment of the game, and obvious enthusiasm infinitely more than any of the current pbp guys even if I like them overall.

Idk who called the Canes-Preds series on nbc, but him combined with AJ Mleczko was dreadful, sounded like golf commentary; they very much sounded like they were at work and it made the games feel more boring


Doc made less quality plays sound more intense, slower games sound more exciting and, and truly great games sound amazing. Imo game commentary is about atmosphere more than anything


At the game you get amazing atmosphere from all the people cheering making you feel the same thing, just like laugh tracks trick people into laughing at sitcoms, except here there’s actually something to be excited about. You barely get that at home, the commentators give you a sense of the game and what people at home are hearing/feeling

I didn't say people didn't like him. I liked him despite the annoying voice. The one guy I can't listen to because of his voice is Cuthbert. But I think that's just me. People seem to like him.

 

[Smart Alek]

I like Randorf, but I can never NOT hear Canada WJC and Spengler Cup teams when I listen to him.

If you don't like Randorf, you're probably suffering from a personality disorder.

 

[3074326]

Instead of forcing a woman into a broadcasters role, how about we just hire the most qualified person regardless of gender. I would be ok with all female broadcasters as long as they were qualified and the best possible option.

I think that's where we're headed, but in order to get to that point, we're going to have to get more women in the profession and give them a reason to try.

Play by play is dogshit most of the time anyways. I'm not bothered by this. If the men were killing it, that would be one thing. They aren't.

 

[57special]

"Anaheim Wilds" she not only has a poor voice and energy, but is woefully unprepared. Worst I have ever heard.

If you need a woman with a good set of pipes, a good personality, and who is knowledgeable, try Marnie Gellner. She does the local WNBA, but has also done some NBA, and some MLB. I thought she was really good at all of them, and being based in MN, and coming out of ND, she knows something about hockey.

 

[MettleMcOiler]

Would be pretty awesome to see a female sports broadcaster get to the NHL energy level required to get fans going especially after goals.
Every broadcaster has their haters, I'm sure she will get better overtime and hopefully encourage quality female play by play sportcasters in the future.

 

[Five Alarm Fire]

Instead of forcing a woman into a broadcasters role, how about we just hire the most qualified person regardless of gender. I would be ok with all female broadcasters as long as they were qualified and the best possible option.

The jump to national broadcaster is admittedly a big step for someone with limited play-by-play experience (but a 20-year career in TV and radio sports broadcasting). But if "most qualified" is play-by-play experience and women haven't been historically hired for these roles, then nothing is really going to change under this approach.

Should this be happening at the lower levels of broadcasting? Sure, but that process can be streamlined if the standard is being set by the most accessible networks such as ESPN and TNT.

 

[CalgarySnow]

I like her she’s easy to zone out. Of the women commentators I think Kendall Coyne did a good job, Cassie Campbell-Pascoe is ok but her voice grates on me a bit. I was annoyed I couldn’t get the Stars feed as I like Razor.

 

[AvroArrow]

The jump to national broadcaster is admittedly a big step for someone with limited play-by-play experience (but a 20-year career in TV and radio sports broadcasting). But if "most qualified" is play-by-play experience and women haven't been historically hired for these roles, then nothing is really going to change under this approach.

Should this be happening at the lower levels of broadcasting? Sure, but that process can be streamlined if the standard is being set by the most accessible networks such as ESPN and TNT.

Very good point. Before throwing someone on air for an NHL game maybe get some more experience with junior games etc. Then again we had idiots like Romanuck on air for how long ?

 

[Sol]

She's absolutely terrible at the job. Another amazing example of name and nepotism getting someone an NHL position. She's just terrible.

 

[Shocker]

I bet they see the criticism, hockey journalists write a bunch of articles about hockey’s sexism problems, and they make a “statement” by giving her the entire SCF.


Not really but I would legit turn down my nice tv for a shit quality internet stream of the Canadian broadcast if it came to that

It's a lose-lose situation for a viewer, complain=get called sexist, don't do anything=continue torturing my ears.

 

[tarheelhockey]

It's a lose-lose situation for a viewer, complain=get called sexist, don't do anything=continue torturing my ears.

Complaining about how she does the job is totally fine. We do that all the time.

Framing that complaint as a referendum on women broadcasters in general is sexist and should be called out as such.

So there’s a pretty easy solution here. Complain about the way she does her job and leave the gender out of it. Problem solved on all fronts.

 

[TheTotalPackage]

You don’t like women commentators, you’re being sexist against them. You see a hot girl on TV in a role primarily based on her looks and make a comment on her appearance, you’re a sexist pig. If women are qualified, by all means. But for the love of goodness, stop force feeding it to meet some quota or act all “woke” (God I hate that term). Most see right through it.

And this is by no means just picking on Hextall, who is not good in this role. There are many men who commentate that suck at their jobs and we criticize without all this gender hoopla. On a macro level, there just aren’t many good up and coming hockey broadcasters, men or women, period.

 

[ForsbergForever]

No way she’s worse than Cassie Campbell. And I say this not as a sexist but someone who likes good play by play and color commentary, that’s it!

My Mom absolutely hates Cassie Campbell and Jennifer Botterill on CBC, every intermission during the Habs playoff run she'd go off on how terrible they are.

 

[HTFN]

You don’t like women commentators, you’re being sexist against them. You see a hot girl on TV in a role primarily based on her looks and make a comment on her appearance, you’re a sexist pig. If women are qualified, by all means. But for the love of goodness, stop force feeding it to meet some quota or act all “woke” (God I hate that term). Most see right through it.

And this is by no means just picking on Hextall, who is not good in this role. There are many men who commentate that suck at their jobs and we criticize without all this gender hoopla. On a macro level, there just aren’t many good up and coming hockey broadcasters, men or women, period.

It's not about hitting a quota or being woke. The first people through the door generally have to fight disproportionately hard battles just to be allowed to do what they want to do. If you can, as an organization, create some of those firsts so that the people to follow don't have to also prove that ___ person can do the thing to begin with you can create avenues that people wouldn't have imagined possible before.

I'm not female but I honestly can't imagine trying to rise through every level of broadcasting as a play-by-play without constantly being limited by "not having the voice for it" or whatever else. There are infinite excuses to create a ceiling for me that keeps me out of the national spotlight just because people aren't really used to it and a lot of better uses of my time and talent. It's a lot easier to believe and stay the course if I've seen some admittedly bad commentators at the national level already, I can just focus on honing my craft and stop wondering if it's possible at all.

 

[FiveFourteenSixOne]

Complaining about how she does the job is totally fine. We do that all the time.

Framing that complaint as a referendum on women broadcasters in general is sexist and should be called out as such.

So there’s a pretty easy solution here. Complain about the way she does her job and leave the gender out of it. Problem solved on all fronts.

Very few people are complaining about ALL female broadcasters. Quit it with the straw man. People are complaining about her because she's dismal at her job, and the only reason she got the job is because she's a woman. If Leah Hextall was Lee Haxtell then he'd still be busting his ass four levels lower than the NHL. End of the f***ing story.

 

[Chips]

It's not about hitting a quota or being woke. The first people through the door generally have to fight disproportionately hard battles just to be allowed to do what they want to do. If you can, as an organization, create some of those firsts so that the people to follow don't have to also prove that ___ person can do the thing to begin with you can create avenues that people wouldn't have imagined possible before.

I'm not female but I honestly can't imagine trying to rise through every level of broadcasting as a play-by-play without constantly being limited by "not having the voice for it" or whatever else. There are infinite excuses to create a ceiling for me that keeps me out of the national spotlight just because people aren't really used to it and a lot of better uses of my time and talent. It's a lot easier to believe and stay the course if I've seen some admittedly bad commentators at the national level already, I can just focus on honing my craft and stop wondering if it's possible at all.

Fine, but there’s like 175million women in the US, and some more in Canada, surely they can find one better than he

that’s why I doubly don’t like her hire, she’s not just grating, they’re pretty much asking people who weren’t already sold with hiring women to not jump on board. They’ll struggle to find her merits and just point to the first thing they see. If you’re trying to demonstrate and change minds you should pick the strongest option available as an example

It’s like in my middle school, our cc school news put a girl on the sports coverage… first topic she chose was how cute the uniforms looked and nothing about sports (our female math teacher was pissed lol)

 

[HTFN]

Fine, but there’s like 175million women in the world, and some more in Canada, surely they can find one better than her

that’s why I doubly don’t like her hire, she’s not just grating, they’re pretty much asking people who weren’t already sold with hiring women to not jump on board. They’ll struggle to find her merits and just point to the first thing they see

It’s like in my middle school, our cc school news put a girl on the sports coverage… first topic she chose was how cute the uniforms looked and nothing about sports (our female math teacher was pissed lol)

They will. That's the whole point. Honestly, you could find some of the very best right out of the gates and you'd still hear all the same bitching about their voices, demeanor, whatever, because it's change and people are stubborn. It genuinely wouldn't matter (for a while) how good they were.

I'm not saying it's a calculated move but it's a chain reaction and it's easier for people to replace a bad female voice with a good one and feel satisfied than be introduced to a good one and overcome the initial change. I don't really get how this is the same as talking about team style instead of sports but let's use that. Now any other girl in the school who might have wanted to do the sports coverage but was afraid of being picked apart and told she doesn't belong now just has to outperform that other girl. They just have to go in and do a pretty good job and now nobody will make it about their voice or being a girl because that first girl already kind of ate all that heat.

 

[Breakers]

Is this Ron Hextall's daughter???

Her wiki doesnt mention anything

 

[heysmilinstrange]

You don’t like women commentators, you’re being sexist against them. You see a hot girl on TV in a role primarily based on her looks and make a comment on her appearance, you’re a sexist pig. If women are qualified, by all means. But for the love of goodness, stop force feeding it to meet some quota or act all “woke” (God I hate that term). Most see right through it.

And this is by no means just picking on Hextall, who is not good in this role. There are many men who commentate that suck at their jobs and we criticize without all this gender hoopla. On a macro level, there just aren’t many good up and coming hockey broadcasters, men or women, period.

I've seen several posts in this thread saying that women's voices aren't suitable for commenting, which is absolutely sexist.

 

[Lays]

Is this Ron Hextall's daughter???

Her wiki doesnt mention anything

Sister I believe

Also I thought people were overreacting when they were calling her brutal this season, I tuned in and she was even worse than I thought she’d be.