News Article: Colorado Avalanche Media Coverage Part VI

[S E P H]

I prefer Altitude over any US national broadcast but whenever the Avs play a Canadian team I treat myself with the Canadian feed.

Night and day.

There are some fantastic American regional teams worth chequing out.

- Dallas Stars (Probably the best out of any team including Canadian regional ones)
- Tampa Bay Lightning (Engblom talks too much at times though)
- St. Louis Blues
- New York Rangers
- New York Islanders
- Washington Capitals
- Philadelphia Flyers
- Vegas Golden Knights

Sabres and Bruins have meh announcing teams, but solid intermission teams. Bruins could have one of the best intermission teams in the entire league including national.

Horrible ones include the Ducks, Red Wings (don't like Redmond), Wild, Predators, Penguins, Jets, and Blue Jackets. Everyone else is either meh or has bright spots with horribleness like the Kraken.

 

[Pokecheque]

I think it's in our culture (if not nature) to comment more when we want something (or someone) we care about to be better. I know I'm a lot more critical and negative on this board than I am in real life. Not because I think I'm jerk here or anything (maybe I am) but because I tend to talk about things that need improvement. So if you look at what I have to say, a lot of it probably is negative. It doesn't mean I don't like or care about the players, team or broadcast crew. I just want them to be better.

Altitude though...It was really tough for me when I got CI because I was really bummed by the quality of the broadcast. This was back in the mid-00s. It wasn't that they lacked professionalism, it's that their hook was juvenile. You had the Keefer doing the frat boy thing in the studio and Hayes and McNab just rambling on about anything but the game in hand. I eventually found a bit of charm in having a couple of random dudes just talking hockey beside me while I was watching a game. It got better with Moser, but he's still got a schtick that is "I'm a rootin', tootin', hollerin', redeneck with guts all over the place!" Everything is 11 with that dude. He just can't find the quieter moments in a game that allows his over the top calls to actually stand out.

See, I'm critical and negative about them whenever I speak? Although, I do love the addition of Katie Guass (sp?). Not like some of y'all loved the LJs. Don't get me wrong, she's cute, but she's absolutely fantastic at her job. She provides great energy and really knows the game. We've also literally seen her grow from confident but with flubs to confident with much less flubs right before our eyes. She's getting better most every broadcast. The last time I've seen such rapid growth I think was Peter Rutgazer (sp?). He was the guy that worked the studio with Brian Engblom. I think he left to do basketball somewhere but Brian really took him under his wing and the guy got GOOD at hockey from the studio.

I get it. It's human nature to not only complain, but to remember negative aspects about any person, place, or thing, more easily than positives. They did a study on this and people really do retain negative comments much more often than positive ones. So perhaps I too am guilty to an extent of just focusing on the negative comments here but I feel like there's a contingent present in this forum (obviously not you) who would be bitching to high heaven no matter who Altitude had calling the games and hosting. That's just MHO, and the irony of me bitching about bitchers is not lost on me.

Altitude has gotten much better over the years from their Saran-Wrap-on-the-soundstage-windows beginnings, and holy shit, I totally forgot about Ruttgaizer. I do remember Engblom, who switched off with Rycroft before Ryker eventually took over. I remember Julie Browman (whom I didn't think was phenomenal but maaaan she got a lot of hate over the years), Doug McLeod (who deserved every bit of the hate he got), and Jerome Jurenovich.

It's Gaus in case you were curious. And I agree I think she's been great.

To me the Altitude product is not great, but it's acceptable, and while no one on their broadcast teams outside of Marlowe is elite IMO I can still watch, enjoy, and be entertained perfectly fine. I really didn't like Haynes and McNab as a team (really enjoyed Kelly and McNab though) but I still watched the games and wasn't too bothered. I dunno if I've ever seen a truly horrid broadcast. There's certainly some that I found annoying (ESPN's product is a mixed bag, TNT I generally like though) but nothing that made me want to throw things at the screen.

 

[hawk30]

I actually do watch it on mute 90% of the time.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

I get it. It's human nature to not only complain, but to remember negative aspects about any person, place, or thing, more easily than positives. They did a study on this and people really do retain negative comments much more often than positive ones. So perhaps I too am guilty to an extent of just focusing on the negative comments here but I feel like there's a contingent present in this forum (obviously not you) who would be bitching to high heaven no matter who Altitude had calling the games and hosting. That's just MHO, and the irony of me bitching about bitchers is not lost on me.

Altitude has gotten much better over the years from their Saran-Wrap-on-the-soundstage-windows beginnings, and holy shit, I totally forgot about Ruttgaizer. I do remember Engblom, who switched off with Rycroft before Ryker eventually took over. I remember Julie Browman (whom I didn't think was phenomenal but maaaan she got a lot of hate over the years), Doug McLeod (who deserved every bit of the hate he got), and Jerome Jurenovich.

It's Gaus in case you were curious. And I agree I think she's been great.

To me the Altitude product is not great, but it's acceptable, and while no one on their broadcast teams outside of Marlowe is elite IMO I can still watch, enjoy, and be entertained perfectly fine. I really didn't like Haynes and McNab as a team (really enjoyed Kelly and McNab though) but I still watched the games and wasn't too bothered. I dunno if I've ever seen a truly horrid broadcast. There's certainly some that I found annoying (ESPN's product is a mixed bag, TNT I generally like though) but nothing that made me want to throw things at the screen.

Julie gave my wife creepy stalker vibes when she interviewed our 18-year-old phenoms (Duchene and ROR mostly). From what I understand she was actually pretty good at the basketball side of things. I just don't think she really "got" hockey.

 

[Ceremony]

Put me over brother

Right down broadway.

 

[AvBuff]

I get it. It's human nature to not only complain, but to remember negative aspects about any person, place, or thing, more easily than positives. They did a study on this and people really do retain negative comments much more often than positive ones. So perhaps I too am guilty to an extent of just focusing on the negative comments here but I feel like there's a contingent present in this forum (obviously not you) who would be bitching to high heaven no matter who Altitude had calling the games and hosting. That's just MHO, and the irony of me bitching about bitchers is not lost on me.

Altitude has gotten much better over the years from their Saran-Wrap-on-the-soundstage-windows beginnings, and holy shit, I totally forgot about Ruttgaizer. I do remember Engblom, who switched off with Rycroft before Ryker eventually took over. I remember Julie Browman (whom I didn't think was phenomenal but maaaan she got a lot of hate over the years), Doug McLeod (who deserved every bit of the hate he got), and Jerome Jurenovich.

It's Gaus in case you were curious. And I agree I think she's been great.

To me the Altitude product is not great, but it's acceptable, and while no one on their broadcast teams outside of Marlowe is elite IMO I can still watch, enjoy, and be entertained perfectly fine. I really didn't like Haynes and McNab as a team (really enjoyed Kelly and McNab though) but I still watched the games and wasn't too bothered. I dunno if I've ever seen a truly horrid broadcast. There's certainly some that I found annoying (ESPN's product is a mixed bag, TNT I generally like though) but nothing that made me want to throw things at the screen.

Jerome Jurenovich. Man, there's a name from the archives.

I find Altitude fun, if not premier. I think Katie G is really good, and I generally like the pre/post game stuff. Johnny's Wine Cave is fun. But the game itself? I have the volume on low. I find Moser competent but grating after a while, and there's too much off-game yammering with him and Ryker during the action for my taste. Low volume is the answer for me. Small price to pay to be able to watch a team as entertaining as the Avs.

Most regional feeds are hit and miss, and Altitude in no different. It's better than most, and superior across the board to the ATT Rockies feed. If I hear "you just KNOW the Rockies are gonna start to hit" during a 0-6 road trip again, I may break some things.

 

[Pokecheque]

Where I found Moser annoying was when he was doing The Fan morning show. There was a promo photo of him they used and I'm kicking myself for not saving it. It was soooo bad, he was all decked out in baseball, football, hockey, etc. gear and he had the look of a porn star mid-orgasm on his face. It was a short stint, I can't remember who they moved in after that, may have been Lou from Littleton whom I absolutely HATED.

I really liked Mose as the postgame radio host, he was always nice and engaged well with the callers. I think he makes for a better host than he does a PxP guy but I still don't think he's bad.

 

[John Mandalorian]

I sometimes wonder if Moser is in the chair because his energy matches the brand that the Avs want to have (and they don't mind whatever flubs because this is more important to them). Yes, the Avs want to be successful but they want someone who brings energy that matches the excitement of the team. And in doing this, they're appealing to the fringe fan.

 

[Pokecheque]

I sometimes wonder if Moser is in the chair because his energy matches the brand that the Avs want to have (and they don't mind whatever flubs because this is more important to them). Yes, the Avs want to be successful but they want someone who brings energy that matches the excitement of the team. And in doing this, they're appealing to the fringe fan.

Interesting but if there was anything Haynes didn't lack, it was energy. I never felt like the guy was boring, that's for sure.

I think it was a cost-cutting measure, they just up and promoted Moser because they didn't want to pay Haynes anymore. I'm still surprised the guy hasn't found work yet after over two decades of calling Avalanche games.

 

[willy702]

Gotta be honest I don't know why some of y'all even bother watching or listening to Altitude. The constant bitching from some of you about EVERY single person on the air makes me think you should either just mute the TV or pull up the radio feed of the opposition.

Some of us wish we had ways to watch Altitude to begin with. Now with Evoca chased out of business it's pretty clear they don't really care if we watch their product or not. When I do I can't say I'm thrilled to hear any of their people.

 

[Pokecheque]

Some of us wish we had ways to watch Altitude to begin with. Now with Evoca chased out of business it's pretty clear they don't really care if we watch their product or not. When I do I can't say I'm thrilled to hear any of their people.

Well, that's another issue entirely, and I feel like there's a sea change coming to the way sports are broadcasted very, very soon. Whether Altitude survives it or not depends on if they have the means, desire, and wherewithal to bring Avs games online. Looks like their first attempt was a big failure.

 

[redacted]

RSOs have been dying a slow death... just a matter of time before they all go belly up and sports ends up another full on streaming package ala carte (that ends up more expensive than just buying cable/satellite).

 

[AvBuff]

Some of us wish we had ways to watch Altitude to begin with. Now with Evoca chased out of business it's pretty clear they don't really care if we watch their product or not. When I do I can't say I'm thrilled to hear any of their people.

I'm a Comcast/Xfinity guy and simply bit the bullet and downloaded Fubo on my Roku. I cut about $40 worth of channels off my Comcast package, so Fubo/Avs is only costing me an extra $35 a month net. The irony to all the Altitude nattering about dumping Comcast is the fact that a lot of us need Comcast high speed internet to stream anything, including Fubo.

It's billionaire v billionaire. Both are at fault. Just solve the problem.

 

[willy702]

I'm a Comcast/Xfinity guy and simply bit the bullet and downloaded Fubo on my Roku. I cut about $40 worth of channels off my Comcast package, so Fubo/Avs is only costing me an extra $35 a month net. The irony to all the Altitude nattering about dumping Comcast is the fact that a lot of us need Comcast high speed internet to stream anything, including Fubo.

It's billionaire v billionaire. Both are at fault. Just solve the problem.

I don't hold Comcast blameless in this at all. I only use their internet, the TV side is ridiculous paying $20+ per month for "Broadcast TV" which I can get off my antenna for free.

 

[AvBuff]

I don't hold Comcast blameless in this at all. I only use their internet, the TV side is ridiculous paying $20+ per month for "Broadcast TV" which I can get off my antenna for free.

I hear you. Comcast isn't easy to root for. But Altitude isn't covering itself in glory either.

I'm a business litigation attorney in Denver and am tangentially involved in the case. It's not pretty. And Comcast isn't blameless. But Altitude royally screwed the pooch in suing Comcast for anti-trust in federal court in an effort to solve a business contract dispute. The lawsuit itself is borderline frivolous and the Judge told Altitude that the claims that survived the motion to dismiss weren't very good either. Remember - Dish told Kroenke to pound sand too and doesn't carry KSE either. But its not big enough to sue.

Thing is, once Kroenke dragged Comcast into federal court, sued them for damages for anti-trust and got the lawyers involved, it was no longer about reaching a business agreement. It then became about winning - and then maybe settling - the litigation. But settling an anti-trust lawsuit is different than reaching terms on a cable carrying agreement. Litigation is like quicksand - easy to jump in, sometimes impossible to escape. And like I said, once you're in court, you're no longer negotiating a contract. You're negotiating a litigation settlement. Kroenke's decision to sue Comcast simply took a level 7 private dispute and turned it up to 11. In public. With lawyers. Bad idea.

Just my opinion.

 

[SirLoinOfCloth]

I don't even hate Moser and co. I actually choose the Altitude feed for every game. I don't want to hear other team homer commentary. I want the Sea Eagles edition of the Avs play.

On the Moser front though he's not all that bad. Apart from getting player names wrong, mixing players up, talking about seagulls, being slow behind the play, missing plays completely, getting the wrong call, scissoring, squirting it through, pool cueing and other fun sayings he's fine.

 

[katfude]

And like I said, once you're in court, you're no longer negotiating a contract. You're negotiating a litigation settlement. Kroenke's decision to sue Comcast simply took a level 7 private dispute and turned it up to 11. In public. With lawyers. Bad idea.

Just my opinion.

Agree with everything except that it has been made apparent Comcast was not negotiating at all. They were asking for the channel for pennies or to be sold.

There's no good guy in this fight. Both sides did absolutely everything wrong that they possibly could.

I don't even hate Moser and co. I actually choose the Altitude feed for every game. I don't want to hear other team homer commentary. I want the Sea Eagles edition of the Avs play.

On the Moser front though he's not all that bad. Apart from getting player names wrong, mixing players up, talking about seagulls, being slow behind the play, missing plays completely, getting the wrong call, scissoring, squirting it through, pool cueing and other fun sayings he's fine.

I am getting really tired of OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS really fast, though.

 

[SirLoinOfCloth]

I am getting really tired of OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS really fast, though.

He needs to stop saying that IN THE WORST KIND OF WAY.

 

[AvBuff]

I hear you. Comcast isn't easy to root for. But Altitude isn't covering itself in glory either.

I'm a business litigation attorney in Denver and am tangentially involved in the case. It's not pretty. And Comcast isn't blameless. But Altitude royally screwed the pooch in suing Comcast for anti-trust in federal court in an effort to solve a business contract dispute. The lawsuit itself is borderline frivolous and the Judge told Altitude that the claims that survived the motion to dismiss weren't very good either. Remember - Dish told Kroenke to pound sand too and doesn't carry KSE either. But its not big enough to sue.

Thing is, once Kroenke dragged Comcast into federal court, sued them for damages for anti-trust and got the lawyers involved, it was no longer about reaching a business agreement. It then became about winning - and then maybe settling - the litigation. But settling an anti-trust lawsuit is different than reaching terms on a cable carrying agreement. Litigation is like quicksand - easy to jump in, sometimes impossible to escape. And like I said, once you're in court, you're no longer negotiating a contract. You're negotiating a litigation settlement. Kroenke's decision to sue Comcast simply took a level 7 private dispute and turned it up to 11. In public. With lawyers. Bad idea.

Litigation is rarely the solution to a problem. It's just another problem.

Just my opinion.

Agree with everything except that it has been made apparent Comcast was not negotiating at all. They were asking for the channel for pennies or to be sold.

There's no good guy in this fight. Both sides did absolutely everything wrong that they possibly could.


I am getting really tired of OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS really fast, though.

No question, Comcast was playing serious contract hardball.

 

[Hennessy]

They say familiarity breeds contempt, and McGahey is getting there for me.
I've always preferred him over Moser, mostly for his voice, but he's abusing that gift by coming up with the dumbest catchphrases as he tries to carve out a niche. They're mostly horrible or cliché or both.
Moser runs phrases into the ground as well, but I guess I just expect him to be lame. With McGahey I had hope, but that's fading with each passing attempt by him to find his personality.

 

[Bonzai12]

Agree with everything except that it has been made apparent Comcast was not negotiating at all. They were asking for the channel for pennies or to be sold.

As probably evil as Comcast is with this, I 100% understand why they are doing it. Comcast was just absolutely raked over in the 90s and 2000s with ESPN jacking up their rates year after year. It was ridiculous and Comcast always came out as the “bad guy” to the customer. You see the same playbook with other tv channels when they try to jack up their rates and then throw out the “Dish/Comcast is so evil - you’re gonna lose this channel. Call them immediately and tell them to resolve this” (or in other words, pay us whatever stupid increase we asked for).

It’s a weird relationship, and I have no idea how tv channels like Altitude think it’s some type of responsibility of the cable company to air their content at whatever price they want to conjure up.

 

[redacted]

Moser complaining about every time a player falls or gets hit that there is not penalty os by far the most annoying thing about him… and that is saying a lot. As he’s annoying af about scissoring.

 

[Balthazar]

Moser complaining about every time a player falls or gets hit that there is not penalty os by far the most annoying thing about him… and that is saying a lot. As he’s annoying af about scissoring.

Yes! Then people repeat the BS in the GDT

"Something happened, no call". Even watching without sound I know it comes from Moser.

 

[willy702]

As probably evil as Comcast is with this, I 100% understand why they are doing it. Comcast was just absolutely raked over in the 90s and 2000s with ESPN jacking up their rates year after year. It was ridiculous and Comcast always came out as the “bad guy” to the customer. You see the same playbook with other tv channels when they try to jack up their rates and then throw out the “Dish/Comcast is so evil - you’re gonna lose this channel. Call them immediately and tell them to resolve this” (or in other words, pay us whatever stupid increase we asked for).

It’s a weird relationship, and I have no idea how tv channels like Altitude think it’s some type of responsibility of the cable company to air their content at whatever price they want to conjure up.

Yeah that's what happens with the OTA channels now. It is pretty insane what they charge for channels most people can get anyways. I have heard some local channels want $3-5 per subscriber and then when the cable company says no they put up those banners on the air. All for channels that were supposedly set up to make money from ads and not getting any money from viewers.

Everything is a money grab and of course it starts at the source, the entertainment. How else can players get the money they do today? Its like health care, the insurers say its the doctors and the doctors say its the insurance and before you know it everyone making 5 times as much. I'm glad many like me have cut the cord. Its not even about the money, its about the delivery of value. Why do any of us pay for channels we never watch?

 

[expatriatedtexan]

Yeah that's what happens with the OTA channels now. It is pretty insane what they charge for channels most people can get anyways. I have heard some local channels want $3-5 per subscriber and then when the cable company says no they put up those banners on the air. All for channels that were supposedly set up to make money from ads and not getting any money from viewers.

Everything is a money grab and of course it starts at the source, the entertainment. How else can players get the money they do today? Its like health care, the insurers say its the doctors and the doctors say its the insurance and before you know it everyone making 5 times as much. I'm glad many like me have cut the cord. Its not even about the money, its about the delivery of value. Why do any of us pay for channels we never watch?

Funny thing is, now that I've cut the cord, I find myself flipping through endless generic exactly looking the same movies on netflix. There's 500 movies available and not a damn thing worth watching. They started making content instead of purchasing or making shows. Content is not entertainment, at least not for me anymore. Just about to cut all streaming except for Disney Plus...gotta keep my hockey fix and the wife's Marvel fix satiated.