Confirmed with Link: Mears and Errey fired

[Shaftception]

I'm fine with Getzoff and the rest, not many great options regardless if they choose to stay in-house.

Up until a Lange bot becomes a possibility that is. Throw in Barbaro and Lascheid bots while your at it and I'm set for life, ethical concerns aside.

 

[WickedWrister]

Wonder how this thread got to talking about Leah Hextall and wokeness. You know its boring September when you see weirdos saying dumb shit like that lol.

The weird fixation on Leah Hextall by the hockey community is one of the weirdest things ever, not any different than every other commentary, but gets 100x the hate, probably from alone misogynists.

Not going to comment on the wokeness aspect of the conversation but she's legitimately terrible. Full stop. Much prefer Emily Kaplan in her role.

 

[PensandCaps]

Not going to comment on the wokeness aspect of the conversation but she's legitimately terrible. Full stop. Much prefer Emily Kaplan in her role.

Yah, she's bad and annoying like anyone else. All of them suck, just turn it on mute if you hate it so bad, really no need to cry about her, or say something really incoherent like she only has the job because of wokeness. (only saying that because of her gender)

The hate she receives is borderline creepy. We all know where it is coming from (crazy misogynistic outcasts). Do people realize that it literally doesn't matter who the commentator is and that its just a game?

 

[WickedWrister]

Yah, she's bad and annoying like anyone else. All of them suck, just turn it on mute if you hate it so bad, really no need to cry about her, or say something really incoherent like she only has the job because of wokeness. (only saying that because of her gender)

The hate she receives is borderline creepy. We all know where it is coming from (crazy misogynistic outcasts). Do people realize that it literally doesn't matter who the commentator is and that its just a game?

I would say its more likely she has her job due to nepotism . I mean yeah, I'm sure some people that dislike her are just sexist, but not all criticism of women is rooted in misogyny. Anyway this conversation is straying away from hockey and into gender studies so I won't press the issue.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Most hockey media people are terrible or forgettable like Steigy/Edwards and Mears respectively. It's exceedingly rare that there's a good one.

 

[WickedWrister]

Most hockey media people are terrible or forgettable like Steigy/Edwards and Mears respectively. It's exceedingly rare that there's a good one.

TNT is probably my favorite from a national perspective, although there's definitely some Penguins bias at play there. Guys in the studio off the top of my head are Bissonnette, Colby, Tocchet (now coaching in VAN). Gretzky is usually praising Sid.

The Brian Boucher's and Keith Jones' are like those nameless grey faces to me, to use a Tomlinism.

 

[Fordy]

Yah, she's bad and annoying like anyone else. All of them suck, just turn it on mute if you hate it so bad, really no need to cry about her, or say something really incoherent like she only has the job because of wokeness. (only saying that because of her gender)

The hate she receives is borderline creepy. We all know where it is coming from (crazy misogynistic outcasts). Do people realize that it literally doesn't matter who the commentator is and that its just a game?

she is bad, there's nothing more to it, and it does matter who the commentator is, which is why we have a whole thread about it?

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

TNT is probably my favorite from a national perspective, although there's definitely some Penguins bias at play there. Guys in the studio off the top of my head are Bissonnette, Colby, Tocchet (now coaching in VAN). Gretzky is usually praising Sid.

The Brian Boucher's and Keith Jones' are like those nameless grey faces to me, to use a Tomlinism.

Yeah. It's not the level of like NFL or NBA media guys but it's better than the constant Eddie O, Roenick, and Milbury that hockey fans dealt with forever.

 

[Allie Kitsune]

Ex-Flyers are everywhere. There have to be two of them out there we can poach, right?

They DEFINITELY won't say nice things about us.

 

[PensandCaps]

she is bad, there's nothing more to it, and it does matter who the commentator is, which is why we have a whole thread about it?

She's bad, and saying so isn't bad.

But the amount and the way people talked about her was just plain weird behavior.

People weren't just saying she's bad ( again they all are) they were saying it non stop and saying misogynistic shit, i seen it all over any media. It isn't just her being bad, and there is certainly more to it.

And it absolutely does not matter who the commentators are, unless you are like 50+ years old and care for some reason.


You'd think she bombed a village or something with the amount of hate she gets. No, shes just a bad commentator.

Being a bad commentator doesn't justify the insane misogyny and hate she gets.

 

[WickedWrister]

I don't know if anyone posted this already, but The Athletic did a survey back in May of over 8,000 fans ranking each broadcast team. We finished 27th out of 32.

"For our methodology, we asked fans to rate their favorite team’s broadcast on a scale from one to five. Fans were also invited to rate as many other broadcasts as they wished on the same simple scale.

We then averaged out those results for local and national scores, and teams were assigned a national and local rank, which was averaged out for our composite score. This was far from scientific, and some teams had higher representation than others, but in the end, the results provide a snapshot of how fans across the league view and rate those calling the games."

 

[SEALBound]

She's bad, and saying so isn't bad.

But the amount and the way people talked about her was just plain weird behavior.

People weren't just saying she's bad ( again they all are) they were saying it non stop and saying misogynistic shit, i seen it all over any media. It isn't just her being bad, and there is certainly more to it.

And it absolutely does not matter who the commentators are, unless you are like 50+ years old and care for some reason.


You'd think she bombed a village or something with the amount of hate she gets. No, shes just a bad commentator.

Being a bad commentator doesn't justify the insane misogyny and hate she gets.

What's the difference between the hate Hextall gets and the hate people have for Mears and Errey here?

I dislike Hextall for a variety of reasons. I don't think she was ever all that qualified to do the job in the first place but she's got to keep her job even after game after game of cringe commentating. There are examples all over the internet and it's not just one person. "Everyone is wrong but me!" is never an argument based in reality.

Likewise, Mearsy and Errey are getting roasted for similar reasons. Would it be misogyny if the comments were "Hextall is a homer!"? What makes one right over the other?

Bottom line, in today's society and with use of social media and the relentless pursuit of equality, Hextall was judged based on equality. If a man came in and did the same job and kept getting pass after pass, fans would have the same reaction. If Hextall was objectively good at her job and still got the hate, you would have a point. But in fact, she's objectively NOT good at her job, so you don't have a good point. Being mad because she's bad at her job and getting rightfully called out for it is not misogyny.

Again, if Mearsy and Errey kept getting national telecasts for several seasons...what do you think the reaction of the fans, especially this one would be?

 

[BobCole]

Mears wasn't my cup of tea. On the plus side, he was professional, has a decent broadcasting voice, and played well off of Errey. But he had no "it" factor. I see him as eminently replaceable and I won't miss him.

Errey is a bit of a goofball but knowledgable about the game and his excitement for the game really shone through the microphone.

Stepping back, I must say that - especially compared to the broadcasts we have in Canada - the entire production of a Pens game is just not up to my expectations of a preeminent sports league. The between-period segments are particularly cringe. I get it, they don't have an infinite budget, but I just wish it were better. It's always a treat when I get to watch the Pens in the playoffs with a better production, be it a national US broadcast or a national Canadian one.

 

[Pancakes]

Leah Hextall isn't good but @PensandCaps is 100% right that some people take their dislike of her a little far. Not everyone, but there's a segment of fans out there who give her an unreasonable amount of shit.

Like let's be real. There's a lot of really bad male announcers. But I'm not sure I've seen anyone get the grief she does.

 

[WickedWrister]

Like let's be real. There's a lot of really bad male announcers. But I'm not sure I've seen anyone get the grief she does.

 

[Al Smith]

I don't know if anyone posted this already, but The Athletic did a survey back in May of over 8,000 fans ranking each broadcast team. We finished 27th out of 32.

"For our methodology, we asked fans to rate their favorite team’s broadcast on a scale from one to five. Fans were also invited to rate as many other broadcasts as they wished on the same simple scale.

We then averaged out those results for local and national scores, and teams were assigned a national and local rank, which was averaged out for our composite score. This was far from scientific, and some teams had higher representation than others, but in the end, the results provide a snapshot of how fans across the league view and rate those calling the games."

View attachment 741373

"This rating tanks without [Colby] and Jay Caufield." Seriously? Jay Caufield saves the broadcasts from hitting rock bottom? And I loved Mike Lange, and yeah there are no Mike Lange's out there, but get over that.

 

[Fordy]

Leah Hextall isn't good but @PensandCaps is 100% right that some people take their dislike of her a little far. Not everyone, but there's a segment of fans out there who give her an unreasonable amount of shit.

Like let's be real. There's a lot of really bad male announcers. But I'm not sure I've seen anyone get the grief she does.

steigy was a daily topic

 

[Ginormousthumbs]

I’ll miss Errey

 

[Factorial]

I'm fine with Getzoff and the rest, not many great options regardless if they choose to stay in-house.

Up until a Lange bot becomes a possibility that is. Throw in Barbaro and Lascheid bots while your at it and I'm set for life, ethical concerns aside.

AI Lange.

 

[FunkySeeFunkyDo]

I don’t think I’ve heard Hextall enough to know why she’s hated. Is she worse than Pierre?

Hot take: Edwards is good. He knows the game, the opposing players, has a good voice. Now when there’s a fight somehow the Bruin is always winning and the Bruins don’t take penalties and the refs miss a lot of penalties on the opponents. But otherwise he’s good. Brickley is boring.

Don’t know the Caps announcer’ names but they rub me the wrong way.

 

[Pens1566]

I don’t think I’ve heard Hextall enough to know why she’s hated. Is she worse than Pierre?

Hot take: Edwards is good. He knows the game, the opposing players, has a good voice. Now when there’s a fight somehow the Bruin is always winning and the Bruins don’t take penalties and the refs miss a lot of penalties on the opponents. But otherwise he’s good. Brickley is boring.

Don’t know the Caps announcer’ names but they rub me the wrong way.

Caps main guy is Benanati. He did some national games a while back (Versus maybe?). His voice annoys the shit out of me.

 

[McGroarty2]

Caps main guy is Benanati. He did some national games a while back (Versus maybe?). His voice annoys the shit out of me.

Very annoying, him and the Buffalo announcer that sounds like he's choking on something when he gets excited.

 

[Fogel]

If we were to go blank slate, I'd take Gary Thorne. I miss those 90s broadcasts.

 

[Rossi Rat]

On a more positive organizational note, I just saw that Jennifer Bullano Ridgley has been promoted to CCO (Chief Communications Officer). A very loud and proud PSU alumna and football fan. We Are.

 

[KareemTrustfund]

If we were to go blank slate, I'd take Gary Thorne. I miss those 90s broadcasts.

The Oilers current PBP guy sounds so much like Gary with his goal calls you’d almost think it was him. We need someone like that.